The People’s Committee of the southern coastal province of Ba Ria–Vung Tau granted eight investment certificates to domestic and foreign projects with a combined capital of US$470 million during a ceremony on Monday.

Among the projects is an expansion of a $185-million beer factory project, with a total production capacity of over 610 million litres of beer per year, developed by Heineken Viet Nam Brewery Vung Tau Joint Stock Company.

Other projects include a steel plant, worth more than $38 million, invested by Steel Corporation Pomina 2 in the Phu My 1 Industrial Zone (IZ), and a $97-million glass plant financed by the Nam Viet Hung Construction Corporation.

Other projects include a float glass factory project in the Phu My 2 IZ, with a total investment of $108 million backed by the Viet Nam Urban and Industrial Zone Development Investment Corporation (IDICO) and Viet Nam Glass and Ceramics for Construction Corporation (Viglacera), in cooperation with the Khai Thinh Science and Technology Corporation.

At the event, Choi Young-gyo, president of Hyosung Corporation’s Chemical Division, signed a memorandum of understanding with the province pledging to invest $1.2 billion in a polypropylene manufacturing facility, a liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) warehouse and a LPG and petrochemical port.

Nguyen Van Trinh, chairman of the People’s Committee, said the province appreciates the role of investors and companies in boosting the province’s economic development. In return, the province is focused on helping companies resolve whatever difficulties they face, he said.

With companies speeding up work on their projects, their disbursement of funds jumped from 40.6 per cent of the pledged investment in 2015 to 45.3 per cent last year.

So far Ba Ria–Vung Tau has had 301 foreign direct investment (FDI) projects with total registered capital of $27 billion, and 450 domestic investment projects with total registered capital of more than $11 billion.

The investment target in 2017 is over VND42.6 trillion (US$1.87 billion), 5 per cent up from last year.

Ba Ria–Vung Tau seeks to achieve economic growth of 6.7 per cent this year, the People’s Committee of the southern province said, adding that its industrial production growth target is 7.7 per cent.

To achieve the investment target, the province plans to restructure its economy with a focus on services related to the seaport system, supporting industries and tourism.

The province is upgrading infrastructure at the Phu My 3 Industrial Zone and Da Bac Industrial Zone besides completing construction of more zones.

Last year economic growth was 5.6 per cent, manufacturing - excluding crude oil - expanded at 7.6 per cent, and exports rose 8.85 per cent to $3.5 billion. — VNS