HCM City plans to give investment priority to nine major service groups, four industrial groups and the agricultural sector during the 2011-15 period.

Speaking at a seminar held on Wednesday by the European Chamber of Commerce in Viet Nam (EuroCham), Lu Thanh Phong, deputy director of the City Department of Investment and Planning said many investment opportunities exist in the near future.

EuroCham members spoke with leaders of the HCM City People’s Committee and departments about promising areas of investment.

The nine service groups are finance, banking and insurance; commerce; information and communication; education and training; healthcare; consultancy; science - technology; and logistics and tourism.

The four industrial groups include energy; machinery, electronic and information technology; petrochemistry, rubber and plastic; and cooking processing.

For the agricultural sector, the city will focus on shifting to livestock breeding and cultivating plants that have high economic value, and transferring farming techniques to farmers, Phong said.

In addition, the city has many projects that need investment in the infrastructure sector, according to the city Department of Transport.

Because the city budget could provide only 15-20 per cent of capital needed for infrastructure projects to 2020, the city would focus on expanding roads and bridges, said a Transport Department representative.

The city plans to mobilise the remaining 80 per cent of capital from various sources, including from private investors, Official Development Assistance and public-private partnerships.

The city’s transport infrastructure projects alone require about US$40 billion by 2020.

Representatives of the departments of Health as well as Education and Training called on more investment in those sectors.

They said new hospitals needed to be built and that more training was needed for the healthcare sector. International co-operation in the education and training sector was also important.

Foreign investors at the meeting raised questions about regulations in investing in the education sector, including the use of foreign curricula.

The city has 1,600 schools, and of that number, 30 are foreign-invested and teach curricula created by the UK and Australia, according to a representative of the Department of Education and Training.

Alain Cany, chairman of EuroCham, said the period of granting investment licences in the city was 15 times longer than in other localities.

Nguyen Trung Tin, deputy chairman of the HCM City People’s Committee, said for some projects the city had to verify feasibility carefully or wait for decision of the central Government, thus delaying the granting of investment licences.

Only a small number of projects, however, had been delayed because of these reasons, he added.

Cany said the city should keep old investors and attract new ones over the long term. It should also ensure an adequate power supply, improve labour quality and reduce corruption and administrative bureaucracy.

Source: VNS