Ca Mau (VNA) -Authorities in the southernmost province of Ca Mau should accelerate theadministrative reform process and offer the most beneficial policies forinvestors, business leaders have said.

The provincial People’s Committeehas held a dialogue with nearly 100 representatives from businesses andcooperatives in the province to detail the province’s socio-economic situationand investment attraction policies as well as to fix difficulties forenterprises.

Many enterprises in the provinceexpressed concerns, proposing that provincial authorities take measures tosupport firms and remove difficulties in investment, production and business.

Nguyen Tien Dung, arepresentative from Thuan Nhat Ca Mau Specialties Company Limited, suggestedthat Ca Mau authorities continue implementing supportive policies, especiallythose relating to financial support for startups.

Huynh The Gioi, a representativeof Ca Mau Housing Investment and Development JSC, lauded the province’s effortsto improve the investment environment and administrative reform, creatingfavourable conditions for investment projects in the province.

However, he said, there remainedinappropriate policies and regulations related to planning and theimplementation procedure of projects, wasting firms’ time and risking a loss ofinvestment opportunities for the province.

Prolonged procedures to grantland use rights for projects and degraded infrastructure also affectedinvestment activities in the province, Gioi said.

Nguyen Duc Nam, a representativeof Hoa Hiep Passenger Company, complained about unhealthy competition inpassenger transportation in the province, adding that drivers often fightamongst themselves for passengers, causing traffic disorder in the locality.

Nam requested that provincialauthorities handle the situation in a timely manner to create a good image of CaMau province in the eyes of visitors and guests.

At the conference, leaders of theState Bank branch in Ca Mau, the provincial Department of Industry and Trade,Department of Science and Technology, Department of Planning and Investment andDepartment of Natural Resources and Environment listened to businesses’feedback and proposals on the development of brands and the protection oftrademarks.

Firms were also encouraged tostep up the fight against fake goods and poor-quality products and to proposepreferential mechanisms and policies on land tax, credit loans and investmentin the construction of transport infrastructure, as well as handlingenvironmental pollution and better managing construction material prices.

[Ca Mau restructures key economic sectors]

One of the most concerning issuesduring the meeting was the inventory of shrimp shells in seafood processingfactories in Ca Mau, which has the country’s largest shrimp cultivation area.Previously, enterprises could sell shrimp shells for 20,000 VND per kilogrammeto businesses who buy shells to process shrimp powder, but no one buys themanymore.

Firms attributed the problem tofactories’ poor waste treatment and outdated technologies, resulting in abuildup of shrimp shells at many seafood processing factories in the province.

Nguyen Tien Hai, Chairman of theprovincial People’s Committee, requested that the provincial Department ofNatural Resources and Environment work with agencies and enterprises to proposemeasures to tackle the problems.

Hai said the Ca Mau People’sCommittee pledged to continue to create favourable conditions and beneficialpolicies to support investors and businesses.

Up to now, provincial authoritieshave granted registration certificates to more than 4,600 enterprises, withtotal registered capital exceeding 29 trillion VND (1.3 billion USD).

In the first seven months of thisyear, there were 317 newly established enterprises with registered capital ofnearly 1.4 trillion VND. In addition, the province has 164 cooperatives andsome 25,000 individual business households.-VNA