The processing and manufacturing industry has been defined as a key sector that could drive the north-eastern province of Quang Ninh's modernisation.

The orientation was chosen in the first Resolution of the Provincial Party Committee for the 2020-25 period.

Special priority has been given to businesses that apply modern and clean technologies, reduce resource losses, create products with high-added value and participate in the global value chain.

Quang Ninh Province has identified a close combination between industry, service and agriculture, and the development of the processing and manufacturing industry associated with the sustainable development of industrial parks (IPs) and economic zones (EZs) has become a driving force for growth.

The province focuses on developing IPs according to the "3 in 1" model of industrial parks, urban areas and service zones, with a modern, technical and social infrastructure system, and convenient services. This aims to create a civilised and safe working and living environment.

Quang Ninh has the advantages of a seaport system, logistics services, IPs and highways running along the province directly connecting to the Ha Noi – Hai Phong Highway and bilateral border gates with China. This drives the province's processing and manufacturing industry to develop quickly, strongly and sustainably, making an important contribution to its sustainable growth in the 2020-25 period.

Quang Ninh Provincial People's Committee has developed Action Programme No 01/CTr-UBND and implemented Resolution 01-NQ/TU synchronously and methodically. In addition, a roadmap has been built to facilitate monitoring, inspection and supervision.

Land funds in the most favourable and prime locations have been prioritised for investment projects to build worker and social housing, with modern and synchronous socio-cultural institutions to attract and retain labourers working in processing and manufacturing IPs in the province. Local authorities have actively implemented land clearance to create a land fund for investors.

Chairman of the People's Committee of Quang Yen Town, Tran Duc Thang, said that the land clearance had been drastically implemented by local authorities to create conditions for investors of IP infrastructure projects. There are currently five IPs with hundreds of hectares deployed in the town and ready to welcome secondary investors.

Goods exported through Mong Cai Bordergate in Quang Ninh Province. VNA/VNS Photo

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Quang Ninh focused on implementing synchronous solutions to keep the area safe and maintain production for processing and manufacturing enterprises.

In addition, the province has also promoted administrative reform, improving the business investment environment, and enhancing competitiveness.

The license time for investment projects continued to set new records. The Jinko Solar Vietnam silicon wafer technology project, with a total investment of nearly US$500 million, was granted an investment registration certificate less than 24 hours after receiving the completed application. After only four months of construction, the project was put into operation seven months ahead of the set schedule.

Initial successes

After two years of implementing Resolution No 01-NQ/TU, the proportion of the processing and manufacturing industry in the Gross Regional Domestic Product (GRDP) structure of Quang Ninh Province has increased markedly. It is gradually approaching the goal of 2025, with the processing and manufacturing sector accounting for 15 per cent of GRDP, equivalent to an increase of 1.04 per cent a year.

The sector's average growth rate in the past two years was approximately 19 per cent, higher than the average rate of 17 per cent per year, which was set in the Resolution.

The province attracted 14 new projects and capital increase for five processing and manufacturing industry projects in the past two years. Among them, in 2021, ten new projects and four others were adjusted to increase capital. In the first nine months of 2022, the province had four new projects and another project increased its capital.

Total investment capital attracted in the processing and manufacturing industry reached over VND32.9 trillion; foreign direct investment (FDI) capital reached US$1.1 million, reaching 65.8 per cent of the set target of VND50 trillion by 2025, an average of VND10 trillion a year.

Projects in the processing and manufacturing industry have created jobs for nearly 10,000 new employees, bringing the total number of people working in the sector to over 63,000.

Quang Yen Town with Quang Yen Coastal Economic Zone is the nucleus and new growth engine of the western route and of Quang Ninh, developing under the 'smart city' model with urban areas, industrial zones, services and smart and modern seaports.

Chairman Thang said the town has five IPs being invested in, built and put into operation, making a very important contribution to the town's economic growth.

In addition, Quang Yen Town has attracted many international investors in the processing and manufacturing industry of Quang Ninh.

The structure of the industry-construction sector of Quang Yen is changing strongly as the contribution of the processing and manufacturing sector to the economic structure has increased rapidly.

The production value in processing and manufacturing IPs in the area reached VND9.5 trillion in the nine months, accounting for 88 per cent of the total industrial value in the town, up 73.5 per cent over the same period last year.

The initial results affirmed that the processing and manufacturing industry is an important economic sector. It has become the main pillar of the locality and a practical step to concretise the policy of industrialisation and modernisation.

It also said that Resolution No 01-NQ/TU is one of the strategic and thinking resolutions of Quang Ninh Province, creating an important premise to attract processing and manufacturing projects and creating breakthrough development in the coming time.

To achieve the above goal, the Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee cum Chairman of the People's Council of Quang Ninh Province Nguyen Xuan Ky asked units to continue to innovate in investment promotion and attraction in a proactive and highly professional manner. Furthermore, the province would study, develop and issue a set of criteria for selecting secondary investors in IPs to ensure green growth and sustainable development.

He also urged the infrastructure investors of IPs to speed up synchronous infrastructure investment progress, encouraging attraction to social infrastructure and essential services for employees.

At the same time, the province has given attention to policies to transform labour structure, training and retraining workers to improve competitiveness. It has identified the right driving force and key areas to prioritise resources for development and investment. — VNS