Everything is the prickle without spike
At the Second Central Region Economic Forum, Ph.D. Huynh The Du, a lecturer at Fulbright University Vietnam and a member of the Consultative Group on Development Cooperation in Central Coast, said that the model of the coastal economic zones of Vietnam has not achieved the expected results since the early 2000s.
It does not seem to have much difference between the policies of inside and outside the fence of the economic zones, especially in the context of high globalization; therefore, the attractiveness of the economic zones in Vietnam is negligible.
He also stated that with the current organizational structure, almost the management and administration of all economic zones in Vietnam have been assimilated to current problems, compared to other enterprises investing in projects located outside the economic zones. This situation has become more popular, and it is possible for the construction of large economic zones to be suspended.
“The half-hearted effort of the State and the solicitation of localities has led to the “jackfruit-like” investment in which everything is prickle but spike, which has become the biggest problem in Vietnam,” said Huynh The Du.
At the local level, the expert said that what Quang Nam or Quang Ngai have are very attractive. Each province and each economic zone with just a huge project or enterprise can change a lot, especially in terms of budget.
Therefore, many localities will find different ways to get such projects or enterprises. Coastal provinces having advantages actively implement their plans, and the localities having selected project try to implement it effectively. Disadvantaged localities also wish to be favored by the central government to have big projects.
"Nowadays, the direct incentives related to land or tax are universally used. The race to the bottom amongst localities mentioned so far has reached its final destination. What is the next step?" asked Huynh The Du.
The Second Central Region Economic Forum (Photo: VnEconomy)
Speaking at the forum, Assoc.Prof. Dr Tran Dinh Thien, Director of Vietnam Economics Institute, said that the bottom line of the central region is the same potential advantages of provinces which are deployed horizontally, creating the high potential of interest conflict.
Every province has its beautiful seaports and many economic zones. The regional advantage which is not based on the strength of each region will lead to great conflict. The economic expectations for the central region are huge; however, the expected result is too far to reach.
Loosening mechanisms to create motivation for development
Ph.D. Huynh The Du said that China has the most typical model of special economic zones creating a breakthrough in the institution and soft infrastructure development. Binh Duong is the most successful special economic zone model in Vietnam; however, positive factors of Binh Duong have not been investigated and promoted.
Normally, enterprises and the localities support each other to develop the economy; however, when it comes to the economic benefit, the two sides usually create obstacles for each other. Vietnam is not an exception.
According to Huynh The Du, the economic zone administration has considered adding one key instead of another door for the one-door administrative mechanism and proposed consulting departments; however, the process faces many obstacles. Therefore, in the current context, Vietnam should reevaluate its economic zone model in order to create the development.
Vietnam must have policies to develop the economic zones, create a co-operative and competitive mechanism with the central government being the arbitrator as well as focus on the provinces instead of establishing economic zones like nowadays.
