High land prices hinder Khanh Hoa from attracting new projects
High land prices hinder Khanh Hoa from attracting new projects
The south-central province of Khanh Hoa attracted 12 investment projects with total registered capital of nearly VND4.4 trillion (US$189.4 million) in January-October this year, well below the amount seen in the same period last year, mainly due to high land prices.
According to a report on the investment promotion program in the province, Khanh Hoa attracted 33 projects with combined registered investment of some VND6.7 trillion in the 10-month period in 2018.
Besides an underdeveloped infrastructure, the lack of supporting industries centers and incentives and time-consuming and complicated procedures, the province did not call for investment in the Bac Van Phong economic zone while the National Assembly was considering the law on special economic zones.
However, the high land price has been blamed for the poor investment turnout. Khanh Hoa is one of the localities with the highest land prices in Vietnam, so the costs for site clearance are high.
In October, the province had 98 foreign-invested projects with total registered capital of more than US$3.5 billion, lower than that seen in other localities, such as HCMC, Binh Duong and Dong Nai.
In addition, investors tended to avoid large projects in the province. In 2016-2019, the province attracted 182 projects with registered capital of nearly VND107.4 trillion, but most projects were of small and medium size.
Several investors have expressed interest in large projects in the Van Phong Economic Zone such as the Ninh Tho industrial development center, Ninh Hai industrial complex, Ninh Tinh industrial development center and Bac Van Phong deep water seaport. However, these projects have shown no progress.
