For two years, Hai Phong Chamber of Commerce, Investment and Tourism has played a key part in making the northern port city one of the most attractive destinations in the country.

Work on the Lach Huyen deepwater port in Hai Phong. It will be the largest port in the north. — Photo baohaiphong.com.vn

The chamber, created to support and provide prospective investors with a simple and fast communication channel to access the city’s numerous bureaus, a task said to be complicated and time-consuming.

Deputy heads from Hai Phong’s major administrative bureaus, such as Planning and Investment, Finance, Construction and Natural Resources and Environment, have offices at the chamber. This allows administrative procedures to be processed at a much greater speed. By the city’s estimation, the average time for a procedure to be completed or inquiry to be answered has been cut by almost half.

Do Chi Cong, head of project development from the Sun Group Cat Ba, said the group’s biggest challenge at the beginning was lack of knowledge and information on the locality. The chamber, at the group’s request, dispatched officials to work with the group to solve numerous challenges and help to find a suitable location for property development.

Another common roadblock for property developers is land-clearance. Doan Hong Thang, deputy-director of project development at Vingroup, said the chamber played a key role in negotiations held between households affected and the group, significantly reducing the time needed to clear the land.

The chamber has also been supporting the local business community. For example, during the construction of deepwater port Lach Huyen, the chamber provided the company with legal counsel and instructions regarding the recently revised Investment Law as well as other administrative procedures to cut paperwork in half, said Pham Hong Minh, Deputy Director of the Port of Hai Phong JSC.

Efforts at administrative reform and enhanced management capacity by local government agencies are the driving forces behind the city’s robust economic development in recent years. Total investment in the city by more than 20,000 enterprises with more than 500 foreign business has reached US$14.5billion, according to the chairman of the city’s People Committee, Nguyen Van Tung.

Numerous leading world and Asian companies have major investments in Hai Phong, including LGGE, Bridgestone, AEON, SunGroup, and VinGroup. — VNS