Economic zones compete with each other due to not promoting comparative advantages

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Until December 12th, 2016, economic zones in the country attracted 354 foreign investment projects and 1,074 domestic investment projects Photo: The Internet

Accordingly, in terms of planning, since the first coastal economic zone which was Chu Lai Open Economic Zone was established in 2003, until the end of 2016, 16 economic zones were established, including two economic zones in the Red River Delta (Van Don in Quang Ninh and Dinh Vu in Hai Phong); 11 economic zones in the Central Coast (such as Nghi Son - Thanh Hoa, South East Nghe An - Nghe An, Vung Ang - Ha Tinh, Chu Lai - Quang Nam, Dung Quat - Quang Ngai) and 3 economic zones in the South. The total area of land and sea surface of 16 economic zones is nearly 815,000 hectares.

As a result, accumulated to the end of December 2016, the economic zones of the country attracted 354 foreign investment projects with total registered investment capital of US$ 42 billion and realized investment capital of US $ 20.2 million (equal to 48.1% of total registered investment capital) and 1,079 domestic investment projects with total investment capital of 805.2 trillion VND, realized investment capital of 347.9 trillion VND (equal to 43.2% of registered capital).

The Ministry of Planning and Investment also said that the coastal economic zones contributed to economic and export growth, increased State revenues and create a job. In 2016, total revenues of the coastal economic zones were US$ 8 billion, exports reached over US $ 5 billion, contributing to State budget about 30, 000 billion VND.

Besides economic interests, the coastal economic zones also create conditions for localities to create jobs and attract high-skilled workers. Currently, the coastal economic zones have created jobs for about 130 thousand workers.

However, the report from the Ministry of Planning and Investment also showed some problems of economic zones. For example, the economic zone planning shows that the establishment of some economic zones does not meet the requirements of the development and only focus on those localities’ interests rather than the harmony with national interests.

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The reason is that proposal on an addition to the planning, establishment of economic zones in some localities is not suitable for the conditions and potential development of the localities and only is for those localities’ short-term interests. The economic zone planning is not considered in a comprehensive way to harmonize the interests of the locality and the region with interests of the country.

Besides, the report emphasized, the economic zones have common investment orientation, specifically: the coastal economic zones invest in building deep seaports, airports and attract investment in the fields such as shipbuilding, seaport services, sea tourism, seafood processing or thermal power. And the border gate economic zones invest in the commercial business and some industry sectors. Thereby, private advantages are not promoted to attract investments among economic zones.