Ben Tre strives to create the best environment for investors
As a province that borders the sea and has an interlaced system of rivers and canals, Ben Tre has a diverse ecosystem favorable for developing agriculture, aquaculture and exploitation of marine economy and natural energy. The province strives to create a favorable business and investment environment and fulfill its commitment to accompanying investors.
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Special advantages
Ben Tre is located in the Mekong Delta, with a natural land of 2,394.8 km2. It is also on the route connecting Ho Chi Minh City and Can Tho.
The province has a fast-growing and stable economy with an average GRDP growth rate of 5.18% per year in 2016-2020. The economic structure shifts positively, bringing into full play the advantages of the garden economy and the marine economy.
Currently, the Government is implementing a project to build a coastal route from Ho Chi Minh City, passing through Ben Tre and connecting with Tra Vinh, Soc Trang, Bac Lieu and Ca Mau. In the future, Ben Tre will be located on the axis connecting the eastern coastal provinces of the Mekong Delta.
Compared to other provinces in the Mekong Delta, Ben Tre has an abundant and diverse source of agricultural and aquatic raw material, with many exceptional farming products that have a recognizable brand domestically and globally, such as coconut, green-skinned pomelo, rambutan, etc.
In particular, the province has a total land area of more than 70,000 hectares of coconuts, accounting for more than one-third of the country's coconut-growing area in the country. It is a diverse source of input materials for the processing industry and products made from coconut.
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| Mr. Tran Ngoc Tam, Chairman of the People's Committee of Ben Tre received the delegation from the Spanish Embassy in Viet Nam. |
The coconut tree plays a crucial role in the life of the people of Ben Tre. The province identifies coconut as “The tree of life”, the tree of industrial and agricultural strategy. Coconut export turnover in 2021 will reach nearly 400 million USD, accounting for 30% of the province's total export turnover, up 9.6% over the same period in 2020. Ben Tre coconut products are currently exported to more than 100 countries and territories.
In addition, the province has also established specialized production areas for speciality fruit trees with GLOBAL GAP and VIETGAP certifications like the long-recognized Cai Mon durian.
Regarding seafood, besides 65 km of coastline, Ben Tre has more than 47,000 hectares of farming and planting area, with an output of nearly 540 thousand tons per year, which is an abundant source of raw materials for the seafood processing industry for export. The province actively develops essential aquaculture products such as black tiger shrimp, white leg shrimp and pangasius.
With four large rivers flowing into the East Sea and an interlaced system of canals, the province has a significant advantage in water transportation. It only takes 5 hours to transport goods by water from Ben Tre to major ports in Vung Tau, Ho Chi Minh City. With these potentials, the province will also build a deep-sea port to become a new shipping-logistics center of the region in the coming time.
At the same time, when calling for investment in completing tourism infrastructures in Thanh Phu, Ba Tri and Binh Dai districts, Ben Tre also combines marine tourism development. The province is building products, images, tourism and culinary brands, etc. associated with coconut trees. This is considered as an outstanding and different value to build the brand “Eco-tourism in the Coconut land”.
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| Delegates at the workshop on improving compliance with regulations for Vietnamese mango exports, taking place in Dong Thap on April 12, 2021. |
The province also has many potentials to develop renewable energy projects, mainly wind and solar power. These projects have been attracting many enterprises. According to the provincial wind power development plans, Ben Tre’s wind power development potential is in the mainland coastal alluvial areas, with the farthest position being 12km from the shore. Meanwhile, Ben Tre's research and planning potential has an area of nearly 40,000 hectares, with a capacity of 1,520MW.
Currently, the province has 19/45 projects added to the planning. In the period 2021-2025, it is expected that at least 1,500 MW of wind power will be put into operation and the province will prepare to implement gas power projects.
With nearly 1.3 million people, more than 70% of the working-age, and the ratio of trained workers reaching over 60%, it currently has three colleges and intermediate schools and many small and medium-sized vocational training institutions. In particular, soon, the Ben Tre Branch of Viet Nam National University - Ho Chi Minh City (VNU HCM) will be upgraded to a member university of VNU HCM. These advantages will help Ben Tre to provide quality labor for domestic and foreign investors.
Over the years, the province has attracted many investors in the construction of shopping centers, meeting the needs of the majority of the population. Besides, many investment projects to develop new urban areas have been licensed and implemented. With the goal of Green Growth and Sustainable Development, in 2021-2025, the province plans to create at least 500 hectares of new urban projects in Ben Tre and other districts.
Commitment to accompanying investors
To become the economic center of the eastern coastal provinces of the Southwest region, Ben Tre always strives to create a favorable business and investment environment. It is shown through the strong commitment of the provincial leaders to support and remove difficulties for investors.
Ben Tre’s Provincial Competitiveness Index (PCI) and Provincial Public Administration and Governance Performance Index (PAPI) are always at the top of the country for many years, showing the provincial leaders' determination to create an open business investment environment to attract and retain investors. In addition, investors feel secure to live and do business in Ben Tre (in 2019, the province had the highest score in terms of time cost and security in the Mekong Delta provinces).
The province has also developed competitive incentive policies on tax, land rental, support for human resource training. Especially, investors only need to have a single contact for help at the Startups and Investment Promotion Centre.
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| Mr. Nguyen Truc Son, Vice Chairman of the People's Committee of Ben Tre received the delegation of UNISOL VINA. |
To create favorable conditions for investors, the provincial leaders are committed to accompanying and always making the most favorable conditions in promoting and implementing projects in the area. Ben Tre strives to become the top 30 provinces in the country, continue to improve the business environment, improve appropriate mechanisms and policies for investors and businesses, develop a high-quality science and technology workforce, invest in the development of infrastructure, logistics, and coastal routes to facilitate and save costs for investors.
The province wants to call for investment in the following sectors: Construction of industrial zones and clusters to create a clean land fund; Eco-tourism, cultural tourism, resort-based tourism and medical tourism; Development of renewable energy; Processing products with high added value from coconut, fruit, agricultural - aquatic products for export. Other fields include investment in the construction of markets, shopping centers, urban areas, residential areas, urban embellishment and upgrading, high-tech agriculture, schools and high-quality hospitals.
Notably, in 2022, the province will have about 230 hectares of pure land in Phu Thuan Industrial Park. The locality is currently working on on-site clearance to hand over to investors as soon as possible.
Facing new opportunities and challenges, the Provincial Party Committee and People's Committee of Ben Tre province determined to strive for digital transformation to change all aspects of socio-economic life comprehensively and promote creativity and breakthrough development of digital technology, thereby enabling the province's economic growth and social development. This is an entirely new field and the province would love to invite interested investors to do their research.
