General introduction

OVERVIEW OF BINH DINH PROVINCE

Natural Features and Infrastructure

I. location

Binh Dinh is a coastal province in the South Central Vietnam, with a total natural area of 6,025 km²; being bordered by Quang Ngai Province to the North, by Phu Yen Province to the South, by Gia Lai Province to the East, and by South China Sea (East Sea) to the East; 1,065km south of  Ha Noi, 686km north of Ho Chi Minh City, 300km south of Da Nang City, and 300km east of Bo Y International Border Gate (in Kon Tum Province) to Laos; being one of the five provinces in the Key Economic Region of Central Vietnam (the others are Thua Thien - Hue, Da Nang, Quang Nam and Quang Ngai).

Binh Dinh lies in the middle of the North - South route (National road 1A and trans-Viet railway) and is the most convenient gateway to the sea for the Central Highlands, southern Laos, northeastern Cambodia and Thailand (through National road 19 and Quy Nhon international port). With Phu Cat airport, it takes only 1 hour to fly between Binh Dinh and Ho Chi Minh City and 2 hours to fly between Binh Dinh and Ha Noi. In the near future, the construction of Nhon Hoi seaport of Nhon Hoi Economic Zone will improve the provincial transport infrastructure, giving Binh Dinh a prominent advantage of regional and international communication.

The province has the capital city named Quy Nhon and 10 districts, including 3 mountainous districts. Quy Nhon City is the second-grade city with an area of 284.28km² and a population of more than 260,000 inhabitants; being planned to become the first-grade city in 2020 with 334.73km2 in area and 500,000 people and determined by the Government as the central city of the south of the Key Economic Region of Central Vietnam, and one of the centres of international trade and service and transaction of the whole Central Vietnam and Central Highlands.

II. CLIMATE

Binh Dinh lies in the area of tropical monsoon climate.

Average temperature: 27.4⁰ C (max: 39.1⁰C, min: 15.5⁰C). Average humidity: 80%; total average sunny hours per annum: 2,222 hours (max: 2,333 hours, min: 2,133 hours); average rain fall per annum: 1,935 mm (max: 2,467.40 mm, min: 1,339.70 mm).

Tide: 154 cm (max: 260 cm, min: 44 cm).

III. Human Resource AND EDUCATION AND TRAINING FACILITIES

The provincial population is nearly 1.6 million, more than half of which is in working age.

Quy Nhon University, a multi-disciplinary college with 40 different faculties and fields of study (having averagely over 10,000 students), newly-established Quang Trung Private University, Quy Nhon Vocational Training College, Quy Nhon Junior Teachers Training College, Central Region Agricultural Vocational Training College and other vocational and career training schools annually produce thousands of well-trained people working in the province and nearby areas.

The province now has nearly 20,000 staff who have college or university degrees or above (doctorates: nearly 100, masters: 300).

IV. HEALTHCARE FACILITIES

The healthcare facilities of the Province include 1 provincial general hospital (1^st grade, 670 beds), 1 city general hospital, 1 private general hospital, 2 inter-district hospitals, several specialized hospitals, and district healthcare centers, being able to meet the demand in healthcare and treatment in the province and the neighbouring provinces.

V. Transport network

1. Roads

National Road 1A goes 118km all the way through the province. National Road 1D with 19km in Binh Dinh Province out of 33km in total links Quy Nhon City to Song Cau District of Phu Yen Province on National Road 1A.

National Road 19 goes 70km in Binh Dinh and links the province to the Highlands, Northeastern Cambodia, Southern Laos and Thailand.

Coastal road Nhon Hoi - Tam Quan, 107km long, serves tourism development.

Western road An Nhon - Hoai Nhon, 112km long, is now under construction.

Provincial roads and almost all interdistrict and intercommune roads are covered with cement or asphalt concrete.

2. Railway

Like National Road 1A, National Railway goes 150km all the way through the province.

Dieu Tri Station, one of the 10 biggest stations in Vietnam, 12 km from Quy Nhon downtown and Quy Nhon Port, and terminals at all districts are of the railway network in the province. A couple of 5-star passenger trains between Ho Chi Minh City and Quy Nhon is expected to run everyday by May 2008.

3. Sea Ports

Quy Nhon Port is one of the 10 major ports of Vietnam, which is approved by the central government to get priority investment. The port has well-sheltered anchorages, deep passage, large berths and modern facilities capable of safely handling 30,000 DWT vessels. There are direct routes between Quy Nhon port and major ports of Asia. Average capacity: more than 3 million tonnes per year. Below is the brief information of Quy Nhon Port:

Depth: 8.50m (average tide: 1.56m);

Passage breadth: 80m, silted up with sand and mud at 0.4m/year;

(The passage will be dredged and expanded to be 11m in depth and 120m in breadth).

Distance: 10km southwest of National Road 1A (Buoy Zero will be moved 6 nautical miles from the port), 455 nautical miles from Hai Phong Port, 175 nautical miles from Da Nang Port, 90 nautical miles from Nha Trang Port, 280 nautical miles from Vung Tau.

Thi Nai Port, next to Quy Nhon Port, but smaller with a total berth length of 268m and water depth of 4-6m, is able to handle vessels of 3,000 to 5,000 DWT. Present capacity: more than 0.5 million tonnes per year.

Nhon Hoi seaport of Nhon Hoi Economic Zone with capacity of 12 million tonnes a year is under construction.

4. Airway (Phu Cat Airport)

30km north of Quy Nhon City; 3km runway makes it easy for big aircrafts to land and take off.

There are 12 flights to and from Ho Chi Minh City and 3 flights to and from Ha Noi (transit in Da Nang) every week. Night flights will be arranged in 2008.

Vi. Electricity

The provincial electricity network includes lines of 35KV, 22KV and distributing transformer stations.

All the communes and wards of the province are provided with electricity: 152 communes and wards enjoy electric power from the national power-line grid. The rest 3 isolated communes use diesel electric generators.

VIi. Water supply

The present capacity of water supply in Quy Nhon City is 45,000 m³ per day.

The water supply capacity of Phu Tai Industrial Zone is 8,500 m³ per day.

VIIi. Post and TelecommunicationS

The provincial post and telecom network provides all kinds of services which can promptly meet the demand of information exchange and communication.

ix. Finance - banking SYSTEM

Various bank branches are now available in Binh Dinh: State Bank, state-owned and private commercial banks. These banks can meet loan demands in Vietnamese and foreign currencies and provide all banking services.

Insurance firms: Baoviet, Bao Minh, Pjico, PTI, etc.; and Dai-ichi, AIA, Prudential, AAA (life insurance).

X. Mineral resources

Granite and a wide range of stones (in which red and yellow granite available nowhere else but Binh Dinh) for high quality construction materials are concentrated along main roads with a reserve of 700 million cubic metres.

Ilmenite (titanium) is mainly in Phu My, Phu Cat and Hoai Nhon with a total reserve of approximately 2.5 million tons.

Sand and quartz sand are distributed along the coast line, in the valleys and warps of shallow rivers with a reserve of around 14 million cubic metres.

There are 5 hot springs in Phu Cat, Vinh Thanh and Tuy Phuoc Districts. The Long My hot spring, which is nearest to Quy Nhon, produces good quality mineral water (international standard) with an output of 50 million litres per year.

Kaolin is in Phu Cat and Tuy Phuoc Districts with a reserve of approximately 25 million tons.

Clay for brick and tile industry is in Tay Son, An Nhon, Tuy Phuoc and Hoai Nhon Districts with a reserve of approximately 13.5 million cubic metres.

Gold: The main gold fields are in districts of Hoai An, Vinh Thanh and Tay Son  with a reserve of approximately 22 tons.

Xi. Tourist potential

Binh Dinh used to be the ancient Capital of Champa Kingdom, and its relics include Do Ban (Vijaya) Citadel and 14 Cham Towers with unique architectural art. Binh Dinh is the land of martial arts and it is also the cradle of the 18th century farmer movement with the well-known name of National Hero Nguyen Hue or King Quang Trung and also the homeland that cultivated the talent of such celebrities as Dao Tan, Han Mac Tu, Xuan Dieu, Che Lan Vien, Yen Lan, etc.; home to many kinds of traditional arts.

The coastline is long with many beautiful bays, beaches, harmonious and attractive seascapes such as: Tam Quan, Tan Thanh, Vinh Hoi, Trung Luong, Hai Giang, Salangane Island, Queen's Beach, Quy Hoa, Long Beach, etc. The province is now focusing its investment in tourism development, especially tourist infrastructure facilities.

Quy Nhon has now 57 hotels (four 4-star, two 3-star) with more than 1,300 rooms in total (nearly 1,000 international rooms). Some 4 - 5 star hotels and resorts are being planned for construction.

Binh Dinh has 77 relics, including:

Historical - cultural relics certified by the Ministry of Culture and Information: 34 (historical relic: 19; architectural relic: 13 relics; landscape: 1).

Historical - cultural relics classified by the People's Committee of Binh Dinh Province: 43 (historical relic: 38; architectural relic: 4; landscape: 1).

Traditional Festivals:

Dong Da Victory Festival, Taloc - Talec Victory Festival; Nhong Pass - Duong Lieu Victory Festival; Hill 10 Victory Festival; Seaside Cultural Festival (Fish Praying Festival); Buffalo Lancing Festival.

Traditional Craft Villages:

Bau Da Vodka, fine art wooden product, pottery, Go Gang cone hat, Phuong Danh forged product, Song Thang noodle, coconut milk rice paper, sesame girdle cake.

Traditional Dishes:

Bánh hỏi (fine rice vermicelli) with pork, pinnate-leaf glutinous rice cake (filled with coconut meat or green bean paste, Bau Da Vodka, Song Thang noodle, Cho Huyen (District Market) meat roll, rice paper (especially rice paper with coconut milk).

 Economy

I. Agriculture and forestry

1. Forestry Land covered with trees

Natural forest: 167,067 ha

Forest plantation: 62,130 ha

2. Agricultural Land Area

Land for annual crops: 84,095 ha

Mixed gardens: 15,177 ha

Land for perennial crops: 15,387 ha

Land with water surface for aquaculture: 2,723 ha

3. Irrigation

The province has now 145 reservoirs, 108 dams and 171 water pump stations. 52% of cultivated area is irrigated by solid irrigation works.

II. FisherIES

With a 134km coastline and and large territorial sea area of 2,500km² together with an exclusive economic area of 40,000km², Binh Dinh has abundant sea product resources with high economic value such as: mackerel, yellow fin tuna, shrimp, squid, salangane's nests, lobster and emperor crab, etc. preferable throughout the country and abroad.

The fishing fleet consists of more than 6,000 motorised boats with a total capacity of over 250,000HP, 55% of which is mainly for off-shore fishing. Fishermen are all skilled and experienced. More than 100,000 tons of sea products can be exploited annually.

The total area of natural brackish water surface is 7,600 ha including 5,060 ha of the Thi Nai Lagoon, 1,600 ha of the De Gi Lagoon and the estuary in Tam Quan. In addition, there are thousands of hectares of salt water land and coastal sandy strips, unsuitable for agricultural crops with excellent potential for aquaculture development with high value such as tiger prawn, white prawn, grouper, red snapper, ca chua, cockle, ngao, oyster, crab, and gracilaria.

The total natural fresh water surface is 5,176 ha including natural lakes and lagoons, low paddy fields, and dams and reservoirs of which the largest, Chau Truc Lagoon, is 1,200 ha. These are suitable for the development of fresh water farming such as tortoise, turtle, black eel, green clawed crayfish, and a variety of fish.

The provincial aquatic product processing industry includes 6 refrigerating processing factories which are operating at the aggregate rate of 35 tons per day, producing more than USD20 million export turnover per year.

Four fishing ports have been built at Nhon Chau, Tam Quan, De Gi and Quy Nhon. Seventeen fishing ship-building factories in the province have a capacity of 800 fishing boats of 45HP or above. Some have the facilities and skills to build 500 - 700HP boats. Composite as an alternative construction medium has been used in the boat building industry.

III. Industry

The existing industries of the province include agricultural, forestry and fishery product processing, consumer goods, construction materials, mineral exploiting and processing, export garment and footwear, etc. These industries have been consolidated and combined to facilitate export increase.

There are many high quality products such as wooden furniture, granite tile, titanium, seafood, salangane's nests, sugar, beer, garment, footwear, pharmaceutical products, etc.

Prominent industries

Small-Scale Industrial Zones

Up to now, 44 small-scale industrial zones in Quy Nhon City and all districts of the province have been established. Main fields of activities are: processing of food and foodstuff, wooden furniture, small-scale mechanical products, construction materials and consumer goods.

Industrial Zones

Phu Tai Industrial Zone, planned area 348 hectares:

Located at the place where National Roads 1A and 19 meet within Tran Quang Dieu and Bui Thi Xuan Wards, Quy Nhon City, 12 km west of Quy Nhon, only 2km from Dieu Tri Railway Station, and 20km from Phu Cat Airport.

Existing industries: Producing and processing furniture and agro-forestry products, granite products, construction materials, etc.

Long My Industrial Zone, planned area 210 hectares:

Located at Bui Thi Xuan Ward and Phuoc My Commune, Quy Nhon City, 18km southwest of Quy Nhon City, next to Phu Tai Industrial Zone to the west.

Sectors of investment to attract: Producing and processing furniture and agro-forestry products, leather, plastic, rubber products, construction materials and others.

The industrial zone enterprises make up about 30% of industrial share and 45% of export turnover of the province annually and employ more than 22,000 workers.

Nhon Hoa Industrial Zone (in An Nhon District, along National road 19): 272 hectares

Hoa Hoi Industrial Zone (in Phu Cat District): 265 hectares

Cat Khanh Industrial Zone (in Phu Cat District): 170 hectares

Binh Nghi Industrial Zone (in Tay Son District): 210 hectares

Bong Son Industrial Zone (in Hoai Nhon District): 120 hectares

Nhon Hoi Industrial Zone in Nhon Hoi Economic Zone (about 1,395 hectares, including wind power area and shipyard area).

NHON HOI ECONOMIC ZONE

Binh Dinh is focusing on developing Nhon Hoi Economic Zone with large-scaled projects in a 12,000-hectare area and willingly inviting cooperation and investment from domestic and foreign investors in order to turn the potential into practical resources for the provincial socio-economic development.

Established in June 2005, Nhon Hoi Economic Zone will be developed into a general multi-fielded economic zone with its own operation regulation, comprising non-tariff zone, industrial zone, seaport service zone, tourist areas and new urban areas, operating under a specially incentive mechanism, being the hub and motivation for the development of Binh Dinh and the Key Economic Region of Central Vietnam. Nhon Hoi Economic Zone opens tremendous business and investment opportunities. Coming to this economic zone, the investors can make large investments in the key or hi-tech industries such as deep seaport construction, ship building and repairing, petrochemistry and oil refinery, electric or electronic product producing and assembling, electricity production, tourism development, services related to trade and marine shipping, finance, banking, post and telecom, etc. Investors will make their option to locate their investment projects in the tariff zone, non-tariff zone or export processing zone.

Iv. Description of the Provincial enterprises

Up to now, there have been nearly 2,500 enterprises operating in Binh Dinh:

- State-owned enterprise: 14 (local: 14)

- Joint stock company: 147

- Limited liability company: 1,148

- Private enterprise: 1,041

- Foreign-invested enterprise: 24

Besides, there are more than 300 co-operatives, 50,000 business households, over 250 representative offices and branches in the province.

Vision for socio-economic development Until 2010

Major economic Indicators in 2007 AND Targets for 2010

DEVELOPMENT ORIENTATIONS UNtil 2010 AND BREAKTHROUGH SOLUTIONS

1. Speeding up the construction of Nhon Hoi Economic Zone to make it a driving force for the development of Binh Dinh Province and the Key Economic Region of Central Vietnam .

2. Developing Quy Nhon City into an industrial commercial and international transaction center, gradually playing the role of a hub of industry, seaport, trade services, tourism and human resource training for Binh Dinh Province, Central Vietnam and the Central Highlands.

3. Completing the construction of big infrastructure works to connect to the neighbouring areas, contributing to the implementation of the East - West Corridor programme of the Greater Mekong Subregion at the southernmost point of the Key Economic Region of Central Vietnam, associating with the task of development of the Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia border triangle.

4. Developing key economic sectors within the provincial advantages:

-  Concentrating on attraction and development of agro-forestry and fishery processing industries, handicraft and fine arts production, building material production, footwear, garment, mechanical production, deep seaport, ship repair and building for vessels 50,000DWT upwards, oil refinery and petrochemistry, electric and electronic product manufacturing and power source generation in Binh Dinh Province, especially in Nhon Hoi Economic Zone.

- Developing tourism, transhipment service, especially marine shipping and trade services, export, banking, post and telecommunications and financial services.

5. Concentrating on building warehouses for waterway and road transhipment (to Greater Mekong Subregion countries). Building new urban areas including high-class highrise apartments and villas for sale and for lease.

6. Developing strongly high-quality human resources and building the provincial scientific and technological potential.