Investors want to pour capital into high-tech agriculture, green economy, and logistics projects in the Central Highlands, but think the region needs to increase processing capacity and infrastructure.
This proposal was raised by investors to representatives of localities in the Central Highlands region at a conference to promote investment in this area on the afternoon of April 4.
The Central Highlands region, including 5 provinces of Lam Dong, Dak Nong, Dak Lak, Gia Lai, Kon Tum, has great potential for developing agricultural raw materials, medicinal materials, eco-tourism and minerals.
Ms. Le Thi Giau, President of Binh Tay Food Company, said that a vermicelli factory is about to be put into operation, with export orders worth tens of millions of dollars this year. According to her, Dak Nong has an arrowroot growing area, which is a potential place for businesses to invest and develop this agricultural raw material area.
“We want to consume about 3,000 tons of arrowroot powder each year for production and export,” Ms. Giau proposed.
Mr. Dang Dinh Long, CEO of Mega A trade and investment, said that creating growing area codes and packing house codes for agricultural products and medicinal herbs is urgent, to meet increasingly strict foreign import standards.
This business proposes to build a cross-border logistics center in Kon Tum province to transship goods between Laos and Vietnam. Mr. Long wants to invest in a 100-hectare cargo loading yard and two bonded warehouses with a capacity of 50,000-100,000 tons of cassava chips in Kon Tum, Gia Lai.
CEO Mega A also wants to find a land fund of 200-250 hectares to build a centralized free trade and agricultural market to solve the region’s logistics and goods problems.
However, this area lacks an agricultural database system, logistics chain, or infrastructure connecting to large cities, such as Ho Chi Minh City. Ms. Ly Kim Chi, Chairwoman of the Ho Chi Minh City Food Association, said cooperation in the food sector in Ho Chi Minh City and the Central Highlands is not fundamental. The needs of the city’s businesses are large, but the Central Highlands lacks preservation and processing capacity.
Ms. Chi proposed that provinces provide information about the strengths of growing areas, and cooperate with Ho Chi Minh City to build a shared agricultural database to coordinate the supply chain. Provinces in the Central Highlands region also need to have preferential policies for investment in cold storage, preservation and processing projects.
In addition, investors are also interested in tourism and green economy in the Central Highlands. The Central Highlands region has rich forest resources, coverage reaching 51.34%. Vice Chairman of Ho Chi Minh City People’s Committee Vo Van Hoan assessed that this place has a huge advantage in the carbon credit market.
“The Central Highlands need to pay attention to reviewing the current state of forests and calculating the process of carbon credits for sale. Particularly, businesses in Ho Chi Minh City also have a need to buy carbon credits,” Mr. Hoan suggested.
Mr. Nguyen Ngoc Tung, Director of VinaCarbon (part of VinaCapital) said that the fund wants to invest in potential projects that create carbon credits, focusing on forestry and production from agricultural by-products.
“We can provide financial and human resources support for businesses that want to go green. If the project has the ability to generate carbon credits, the cost of the entire credit creation process will be invested by this fund. “, Mr. Tung said.
A corner of Mang Den, Kon Tum province in 2022. Photo: Duc Hoa
On the local side, they said they want to invite investment in eco-tourism, high-tech agriculture, urban infrastructure – trade – services with a capital of nearly 82,000 billion VND.
For example, Kon Tum invites 3 tourist areas associated with mud bathing experiences, waterfall visits, and Ngoc Linh ginseng garden with a scale of 30-50 hectares per project. Dak Lak is looking for investors for a solid waste treatment plant, a financial, commercial and service area and a golf course – Ea Kao lake villa complex.
Besides offering new urban area and eco-tourism projects, Mr. Le Van Chien, Permanent Vice Chairman of Dak Nong People’s Committee, said the province is looking for investors interested in bauxite mining and alumina production. This province has bauxite reserves of about 5 billion tons, accounting for two-thirds of the country, and is expected to become a non-ferrous metallurgy center.
“We really want to find investors to produce alumina, but establishing a factory in this industry requires high costs, about 700 million USD,” Mr. Chien said.
Currently, Ho Chi Minh City and the Central Highlands provinces are cooperating for development in many fields. At today’s conference, localities invite projects in fields including transportation infrastructure, high-tech agriculture, manufacturing and processing, eco-tourism, service trade, logistics, and healthcare. .
Among them, some key projects such as Tan Phu – Bao Loc and Bao Loc – Lien Khuong expressway (Lam Dong), New urban area group 1, Nghia Duc ward (Dak Nong), Agricultural technology park project Cao (Gia Lai)