In attendance were Mr. Shin Choong Il - Consul General of the Republic of Korea (RoK) in Ho Chi Minh City; Mr. Lee Bong Hee - Senior Vice Chairman of the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KOCHAM) in Binh Duong and the leaders of departments, branches, and more than 100 Korean businesses operating in the province.
Korean businesses highly appreciate Binh Duong's investment environment
The dialogue provided an opportunity for provincial leaders to gain a comprehensive and detailed understanding of the production and business operations, and the challenges and difficulties faced by foreign investors, particularly Korean enterprises. This allowed the province to focus on addressing and resolving these issues. At the same time, Korean businesses were updated on the province's socio-economic situation and orientations of the province in the future, fostering greater understanding, cooperation, and shared responsibility for mutual development.
Overview of the meeting
At the meeting, the Department of Planning and Investment introduced socio-economic development and investment attraction in the first 9 months of 2024. With a transparent and attractive investment environment, Binh Duong has consistently been one of the leading provinces in Viet Nam in attracting foreign direct investment (FDI).
Since the beginning of the year, the province has attracted over 1.58 billion USD in FDI, including 163 new projects, 131 capital-increased projects, and 105 joint venture projects. To date, the province has a total of 4,356 investment projects from 65 countries and territories with a total registered capital of over 42 billion USD. Among the investing countries in Binh Duong, South Korea ranks fifth with 775 projects and a total investment of over 3.4 billion USD.
Mr. Mai Hung Dung - Standing Vice Chairman of PPC speaks at the meeting
Discussing with the Korean enterprises, Mr. Mai Hung Dung - Standing Vice President of PPC affirmed that Binh Duong would continue to focus on improving the investment environment, simplifying administrative procedures to the maximum extent, and ensuring transparency and timeliness. The province will prioritize resources to continue investing in infrastructure development, firstly in transportation, electricity, water supply, wastewater treatment, environmental treatment, etc. It will also expand and develop industrial zones and clusters, creating clean land funds land to attract investment. At the same time, Binh Duong will train human resources, build social housing and housing for workers, and ensure a sufficient and timely supply of labor for enterprises that come to invest in the province. Binh Duong will also prioritize resources to continue investing in infrastructure development and high-quality services to meet the production and business demands of enterprises.
Mr. Mai Hung Dung - Standing Vice President of PPC discusses with Korean enterprises
Mr. Shin Choong Il - Consul General of RoK in Ho Chi Minh City highly commended Binh Duong Province's dynamic development and investment environment. Korean investors are deeply impressed by the province's achievements and investment potential. The infrastructure of Binh Duong province, especially the transportation is invested systematically and modernly. Through this dialogue, Korean enterprises have been further reassured by the province's dedicated efforts and determination to build a transparent, fair, and attractive business environment for all investors.
Addressing and resolving problems of enterprises
At the conference, provincial departments and branches addressed businesses' feedback regarding difficulties encountered in value-added tax (VAT) refunds, work permit issuance for foreigners, issues related to fire prevention and fighting regulations, environmental protection within enterprises, the process of registering temporary residence cards for foreigners, and the extension of work permits for foreign workers.
Korean enterprises share their challenges and difficulties with relevant provincial departments.
In response to the question about regulations on fire prevention and fighting for businesses, a representative from the Police Department of Fire Prevention and Fighting and Rescue, Provincial Public Security explained that according to Article 14 of Decree 136/2020/ND-CP, the responsibility of investors is to organize construction, inspection, and supervision of construction which fire protection design is approved. In cases where the investor cannot carry out construction, inspection, and supervision of fire protection, they must hire a qualified entity (a qualified entity that has been granted a certificate of eligibility to provide fire protection services in accordance with regulations). Businesses providing design consultancy, supervision consultancy, and fire protection construction services that have been granted a certificate of eligibility to provide fire protection services by a competent police agency are permitted to operate in the licensed fields.
The representative from the Police Department of Fire Prevention and Fighting and Rescue, Provincial Public Security explained the legal regulations related to fire prevention and fighting for businesses
Regarding enterprises' environmental protection cost, Mr. Nguyen The Tung Lam, Deputy Director of the Environmental Protection Sub-department under the Department of Natural Resources and Environment said that according to the legal regulations about environment protection laws (2005, 2014, and 2020 Environmental Protection Laws), manufacturing and business establishments must obtain approval from competent authorities include these type of documents: an Environmental Impact Assessment Report/ Environmental Protection Plan/ Environmental Protection Commitment/ Environmental Permit and they are also required to construct waste treatment facilities and implement environmental protection measures prior to official operation.
Mr. Nguyen The Tung Lam, Deputy Director of the Environmental Protection Sub-department under the Department of Natural Resources and Environment answers the questions regarding the businesses' environmental protection cost
In case enterprises commence operations without fully complying with environmental protection regulations, the environmental regulatory authority will take administrative actions to address the violations. Concurrently, the enterprises must implement corrective measures to rectify environmental violations and shortcomings as prescribed, such as constructing waste treatment facilities, upgrading waste collection and treatment infrastructure, and conducting regular environmental monitoring. All related costs shall be borne by the enterprises.
The environmental regulatory authorities will only impose administrative penalties in the form of fines on enterprises that violate the law, and no other additional fees will be charged.
Mr. Pham Van Tuyen - Deputy General Director of Labour, War Invalids and Social Affairs Department addresses enterprises for the extension of work permits for foreign workers
Regarding the documents of extension of work permits for foreign workers, Mr. Pham Van Tuyen, Deputy General Director of Labour, War Invalids and Social Affairs Department, requested employers to comply with Article 17 of Decree 152/2020/ND-CP (as amended and supplemented by Decree 70/2023/ND-CP). This includes a request for an extension of the work permit from the employer; a valid work permit; a document approving the need to employ foreign workers (except in cases where such approval is not required); a certified copy of the passport or a copy of the passport certified by the employer that is still valid according to law; a health certificate or medical examination certificate as prescribed; and one of the documents specified in Clause 8, Article 9 of Decree 152/2020/ND-CP proving that the foreign worker continues to work for the employer according to the granted work permit.