Private economy in the Northern Midlands and Mountains region grows with the country - Part 2: "Bottlenecks" that need to be cleared

Difficulties in administrative procedures

One of the difficulties of enterprises in the development process is administrative procedures. For enterprises operating in the tourism and service sectors, a license delay of just one month can affect future advantages. However, in reality, there are problems between enterprises and the government related to investment procedures that last for many years, reducing business opportunities for enterprises, while the potential advantages of the locality have not been exploited. The story of the tourism project at Thac Ba Lake (Yen Bai) is a typical example.

Specifically, Thac Ba Lake tourist area covers an area of ​​over 23,400 hectares with over 1,300 large and small islands, interspersed with a system of mysterious caves deep in the limestone mountains along with relics and archaeological sites, giving the tourist area a rare majestic appearance. In 2024, the Prime Minister signed Decision No. 396/QD-TTg approving the Master Plan for the construction of Thac Ba Lake National Tourist Area, Yen Bai province until 2040.

Yen Bai province has actively called for and attracted non-state enterprises to invest in infrastructure, aiming to soon turn Thac Ba Lake into a National Tourist Area according to Decision 396/QD-TTg. According to statistics, in Yen Binh district (Yen Bai) alone, there are currently 9 establishments, companies, and enterprises operating in the tourism sector, 58 accommodation establishments, including 31 homestay establishments, and nearly 50 waterway vehicles serving tourism. On average, each year, Yen Binh district alone welcomes 250 - 300 thousand visitors, with tourism revenue estimated at nearly 130 billion VND.

However, the process of developing Thac Ba Lake into a National Tourist Area may slow down due to difficulties in investment procedures, capital access, and legal corridors for enterprises. It is worth mentioning the Thac Ba Lake Eco-tourism, Sports and Entertainment Area project in Tan Huong Commune (Yen Binh) which used to be a key project to attract investment and develop the socio-economy of Yen Bai province 20 years ago.

Accordingly, in 2005, the (old) investor of the project paid 1 billion VND out of a total of 2.4 billion VND for an area of ​​37 hectares. However, in the following adjustment periods (2007, 2009, 2015), the project planning had many fluctuations, the land value accordingly fluctuated, leading to the fact that in 2016, when the (new) investor took over, the project could only be implemented in more than 5 hectares and the total area of ​​the project was only 18 hectares.

The biggest legal “bottleneck” that the project encountered was the disagreement on the time to calculate the land use price, whether in 2004 or when the land was handed over later. Specifically, when the enterprise paid 1 billion VND in 2005, the documents showed that it was an “advance” payment, so Yen Bai province could only request to refund 1 billion VND to the enterprise and recalculate the land price at the time of handover. Meanwhile, the enterprise said that if handled according to this plan, the investor would suffer a lot of damage, because just calculating the land use price in 2004 and now, the two numbers are very different. Before finding a common denominator between the parties, a project expected to bring Thac Ba Lake to a breakthrough in tourism infrastructure is still “holding its breath waiting” for no known time to be resolved.

DK Viet Nhat Electric Vehicle Company Limited (Lang Son) has encountered its own difficulties in its operations. According to Ms. Bui Thi Bich Dao, Director of the Company, her company specializes in industrial production related to bicycles and electric motorbikes, requiring a lot of qualified workers, but recruiting workers with good professional expertise in a mountainous province like Lang Son is very difficult. "There are almost no technical engineers, and marketing and business personnel are also extremely limited," Ms. Dao shared.

Ms. Bui Thi Bich Dao, Director of DK BIKE Lang Son Electric Vehicle Company. (Photo: PV)

In addition, currently in Lang Son province, there is no industrial park or cluster put into use, only in planning or under construction. "Currently, the Company's land is in accordance with the land use planning, but the construction planning has not been adjusted, while the industrial park or cluster in the province has not been formed. Therefore, we have no place to relocate the factory," said Ms. Dao, adding that the problem of land infrastructure in Lang Son's industrial park has not been met, so industrial production enterprises like her Company have encountered many difficulties in proposing procedures for land and land funds to build factories.

Mr. Nguyen Huy Long, Chairman of Lao Cai Province Business Association, said that in addition to positive results in economic development, private enterprises are currently facing many difficulties due to inadequacies in mechanisms, policies and some other reasons such as difficulties in accessing bank loans. This situation limits the ability to expand production and business and improve the competitiveness of enterprises. "The government needs to continue reforming administrative procedures, creating favorable conditions for enterprises to access capital and expand the market," Mr. Long suggested.

Acknowledging this, Mr. Vu Lan, Deputy Director of the Department of Finance of Lao Cai province, said that one of the barriers to private economic development is due to the fact that the legal system and regulations still have some problems and shortcomings, and the reduction of some regulations and administrative procedures has not been thorough.

Mr. Vu Lan, Deputy Director of Lao Cai Provincial Department of Finance. (Photo: Nguyen Hai)

Businesses "give advice" to help the private economy "take off"

According to Chairman of Lao Cai Province Business Association Nguyen Huy Long, it is necessary to continue reviewing, reducing and simplifying administrative procedures, eliminating unnecessary regulations, to create favorable conditions for businesses. At the same time, publicize and make transparent processes and procedures so that businesses can easily access and implement. Promote the application of information technology in handling administrative procedures, deploy high-level online public services, helping businesses save time and costs.

Regarding the issue of access to capital, Mr. Long said that it is necessary to develop credit policies that are suitable for the characteristics of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), reduce collateral requirements and simplify loan procedures. At the same time, it is necessary to research and develop credit guarantee funds and SME support funds, helping enterprises have more channels to access capital outside the traditional banking system.

Mr. Nguyen Huy Long, Chairman of Lao Cai Province Business Association, said that in addition to positive results in economic development, private enterprises are currently facing many difficulties due to inadequacies in mechanisms, policies and some other reasons such as difficulties in accessing bank loans. This situation limits the ability to expand production and business and improve the competitiveness of enterprises. "The government needs to continue reforming administrative procedures, creating favorable conditions for enterprises to access capital and expand the market," Mr. Long suggested.

“The above solutions need to be implemented synchronously, with close coordination between functional agencies and enterprises, in order to create a favorable business environment and promote sustainable development of enterprises in Lao Cai province in particular and the whole region in general,” said Mr. Nguyen Ngoc Son, Permanent Vice Chairman of the Son La Provincial Business Association. In addition, he also said that enterprises hope that in the process of reform and reduction of intermediaries, the government will soon have good solutions so as not to disrupt the operations of organizations, individuals as well as enterprises, affecting the jobs of workers.

Lao Cai province still has many potentials, opportunities, and competitive advantages (tourism, border gates...) that need to be maximized.

According to Mr. Son, besides the advantages, enterprises in Son La face many difficulties. Most local enterprises are small and micro-sized, have low production and business capital, high production costs, and limited product quality. The proportion of enterprises in industry groups is still unbalanced, mainly operating in the construction and service sectors. Most enterprises have not yet built a strategy for long-term, stable and sustainable production and business development.

On the other hand, some enterprises operate inefficiently, suffer business losses, and owe taxes and social insurance. Some entrepreneurs are still limited in digital transformation, legal knowledge, and management capacity. There are not many enterprises and entrepreneurs with national and international brands. In addition, enterprises operating in the fields of agriculture, forestry, and processing industry also face difficulties in infrastructure, logistics, and markets.

In order for the private sector to truly become an important driving force of the local economy, according to Mr. Son, in the coming time, Son La province must continue to improve and enhance the quality of the investment and business environment, creating the most favorable conditions for businesses to invest with confidence. At the same time, propose solutions for private enterprises to develop such as: Issuing mechanisms and policies, creating conditions and legal corridors on land, investment procedures, creating opportunities for businesses and entrepreneurs to develop. Supporting businesses to build business strategies that closely follow the Party's guidelines, the State's policies and the province's development orientations, forming and developing a green economy, a circular economy, digital transformation, a sharing economy, ensuring workers' income, paying the budget in accordance with regulations, and effectively implementing social security work.

Minh Huu - Nguyen Hai - Xuan Hong - Quoc Dinh (to be continued)

Source: https://baophapluat.vn/kinh-te-tu-nhan-vung-trung-du-va-mien-nui-phia-bac-vuon-minh-cung-dat-nuoc-ky-2-nhung-diem-nghen-can-khai-thong-post544151.html