HCM City (VNA) - TheSouthern Key Economic Zone needs more robust policies and mechanisms forattracting resources and foreign direct investment (FDI) and enhancing linkagesbetween localities to enable the region to develop faster and sustainably,according to experts.

The zone, whichconsists of Ho Chi Minh City and the seven provinces of Binh Duong, Tay Ninh, BinhPhuoc, Ba Ria – Vung Tau, Long An, Tien Giang, and Dong Nai, accounts for only8 percent of the country’s area but plays a leading role in its economicdevelopment as it making up 60 percent of the Government’s revenues.

The region also tops inFDI attraction, accounting for 50 percent of the capital and 60 percent ofprojects, Nguyen Thi Minh Chau of the Banking University in HCM City tolda recent workshop in Binh Duong. But FDI flows to the region lost steam in2015-2017, she said.

For instance, theyincreased by 11.8 percent in 2016 and 8.4 percent last year, she explained,blaming it on the lack of linkages between localities in the region.

There is a lack of coordinationbetween management agencies as well as between enterprises, she said.

Creating regionalconnections and supply chains from the input to output stages would help betterexploit the competitive advantages of each locality in the region, she said.

Prof. Dr. Bui Van Trinhof Can Tho University said that to attract more FDI, the Government needs tocomplete zoning plans for the region and, based on that, for each locality inthere.

The Government shouldvest authority in the management of key economic regions in general and thesouthern key economic zone in particular, he said.

Localities need toclosely cooperate to spell out objectives and policies for attracting FDI onthe basis of the overall regional benefits, he said.

Dr Pham Phu Quoc, GeneralDirector of the HCM City Financial Investment Company, said the region needs atotal 4,650 quadrillion VND for economic development in 2015-2020.

This means there is anurgent need to frame policies and create mechanisms to attract sufficientresources to develop the entire region, he said.

He also suggestedmeasures to enhance links and attract capital for developing the region.

They included makingzoning plans for the region based on its socio-economic needs and developingvalue chains for the region’s products.

In addition, theGovernment should concentrate its own resources and mobilise them from allsectors to invest in local socio-economic development, and at the same timehave policies and mechanisms to attract all economic sectors to participate indeveloping the region’s economy, Quoc said.

The workshop’srecommendations will be forwarded to ministries and localities to develop appropriatemechanisms and policies.-VNA