Vietnam's central provinces, home to many world cultural heritage and favorable business environment, are striving to develop tourism industry and lure foreign investment, so as to speed up development of local economies, a senior official said.

"We have considered tourism a spearhead economic industry, and poured great investment into upgrading tourism infrastructure, especially recreational areas and places of interest," chairman of the People's Committee of central Quang Nam province, Nguyen Xuan Phuc, told Xinhua in a recent interview.

The province has also paid due attention to tourism promotion, partly by organizing festivals, which introduce natural beauties and cultural values of its landscapes and monuments, he said.

Besides, Quang Nam has attached great importance to preserving its cultural values, especially two world cultural heritage, namely the Hoi An ancient town and the My Son Sanctuary, he said, noting that the UN Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization has recognized Hoi An as one of the world's best preserved heritage.

To attract more foreign tourists, Quang Nam is focusing on developing cultural and ecological tourism, and strengthening cooperation with other central localities in holding tours, upgrading transport, and training manpower, Phuc said.

"We hope to receive more visitors from China, our big neighbor country. Now, Chinese guests account for only five percent of the total foreign arrivals to our province, mainly due to poor transport conditions," he said, adding that there are now no direct flight routes from China's Yunnan or Guangdong provinces to Quang Nam, while ships on the sea routes linking the localities do not frequently operate.

The number of foreign visitors to Quang Nam has annually risen by more than 30 percent on average in recent years. The province, which received 1.2 million visitors, mainly from China, Japan, the United States, France and Germany, and reaped tourism revenues of 500 billion Vietnamese dong (VND) (over 31.6 million U.S. dollars) in 2005, is expected to welcome 2 million international tourists this year, he said.

Regarding foreign investment, Quang Nam, home to the first open economic zone in Vietnam, has given special treatment on tax and land to investors in the province, especially in the Chu Lai Open Economic Zone, Phuc said.

"We have offered lowest land rentals and biggest tax reduction to investors, compared with other localities. We have also given strong support to enterprises in training laborers," he said.

With the preferential treatment, Quang Nam hopes that more foreign businesses, especially Chinese ones will invest in the province, Phuc stressed. "Quang Nam always considers China as a special friend. We will create most favorable conditions for Chinese enterprises to do businesses here."

The first foreign investor in Chu Lai, an animal feed producer, is from China, he said, noting that it has done good business in Chu Lai, contributing to opening new cooperation prospect between Vietnam and China.

Tourism development and active investment in Quang Nam have helped increase local people's living standards, and improve the province's economy, Phuc said, adding that the annual per capita income in the province rose to roughly 6 million VND (nearly 380 dollars) in 2005, 2.5 times higher than that in 1997.

With four big ethnic groups and population of 1.5 million, Quang Nam has seen rapid economic development, with hundreds of factories and dozens of resorts developed in recent years. Its annual gross domestic products (GDP) growth has stood at more than 10 percent since 2003, he said. "In 2005, we posted economic growth of 12.5 percent, compared with 7.8 percent of the whole country."

To serve the socioeconomic development, the province has attached importance to developing its transport network. "We have learnt from China in developing the rural transport system. We've constructed over 4,000 km of roads," Phuc said

Like Quang Nam, other central localities have focused on developing tourism and luring foreign investment, regarding them as an active measure to improve their economy.

More beach resorts in five coastal provinces of Binh Dinh, Phu Yen, Khanh Hoa, Ninh Thuan and Binh Thuan are expected to be built in the coming years. The Nha Trang city in Khanh Hoa and the Phan Thiet city in Binh Thuan will act as tourism centers of the five provinces.

The region is also intensifying investment in preserving its five world culture heritage, namely Hoi An, My Son, court music, ancient Hue citadel, and the national park of Phong Nha Ke Bang.

Travel agencies will design tours which allow visitors to enjoy both diversified sea ecosystems of the five provinces and the unique culture of ethnic groups in the central region.

Under an overall plan on developing tourism in 19 cities and provinces in the central region and Central Highlands (Tay Nguyen) region recently approved by the government, the two regions are expected to receive 12.5 million local and foreign tourists in 2010.

Regarding foreign investment, central localities have intensified investment promotion and offered preferential treatment on tax and land to foreign investors, especially those operating in the fields of tourism, infrastructure, industry and transport.

Source: Xinhua