Workers load cement at the Yen Bai Cement Factory. — VNA/VNS Photo Anh Tuan

YEN BAI — The northern province of Yen Bai has set itself an annual manufacturing target of VND3 trillion (US$187.5 million) to become a major industrial centre in the northwest region.

Despite Yen Bai’s lack of coastline, the province has great potential in terms of hydroelectric power, according to Deputy Chairman Nguyen Van Ngoc. It also has abundant natural resources such as minerals and wood. The province has around 100,000ha of forest suitable for processing as pulp and 13,000ha of tea plantations. There is also the potential to quarry white limestone.

The industrial zone (IZ) in Van Tien Commune has an area of 137ha, and is hooked up to the national grid. It currently has seven investors, the biggest of which is Cuu Long Vinashin Iron processing factory, which has an initial first-phase investment of VND600 billion ($37.5 million) and is expected to have an annual turnover of VND1.2 trillion ($75 million) once it is up and running.

Mong Son Quarry Cooperative, which mines and processes calcium carbonate, started operating from the IZ in 2004. Last year, its turnover was VND23 billion ($1.4 million). It has 80 local employees, who earn VNd1.1 million (US$69) per month.

The Van Yen Cassava processing factory exported 7,600 tonnes of cassava, and bought fruit worth VND20 billion ($1.25 million) from thousands of farmers last year. And the company is planning to open a factory to process cinnamon.

However, the province must attract long-term investment if it is to prosper, said Ngoc, adding that the province had adopted an administrative one-stop policy to encourage investment.

To make the 80ha IZ more attractive to investors, Yen Bai spent more than VND7 billion ($437,500) relocating 300 households in 2004. It has also spent a further VND39.5 billion ($2.46 million) on site clearance and infrastructure.

Phan Ngoc Chinh, director of the State Bank in Yen Bai, said the bank had granted loans to meet the needs of individuals and organisations investing in the province.

He said the bank granted loans worth VND183 billion ($11.4 million) for two cement projects in the first quarter of this year and planned to grant loans of VND2.9 trillion ($181.2 million) by the end of the year for key industrial projects, mostly in hydroelectricity and mineral exploitation, agriculture and wood processing.

Authorities are also planning to establish further IZs, such as Au Lau, Y Can, Hop Minh to supplement the Van Yen IZ and the Dam Hong Industrial Complex. But Ngoc said Yen Bai needed further investment if it is to meet its full industrial potential. — VNS