HÀ NỘI — Quảng Ninh saw its economy expand at 11.66 per cent in the first nine months of this year, the highest rate in the past decade as well as the highest rate across 34 provinces and cities.

This is driven by increasing private investment and foreign capital inflows, according to a report of the provincial People’s Committee.

The northern province has attracted non-budget investment worth VNĐ194.183 trillion (US$7.36 billion) in the nine-month period, 20 times higher than the same period last year while foreign direct investment (FDI) reached $379 million.

Nearly 3,000 new enterprises were found in the period, up 41.6 per cent from last year, bringing the number of active firms to more than 13,000 together with 1,200 cooperatives and over 40,700 business households.

Speaking at the conference with local enterprises on Saturday, Bùi Văn Khánh, Chairman of the provincial People’s Committee, pledged to remove difficulties to enterprises to promote production and business.

He asked for efforts to simplify procedures, step up digital transformation and reduce costs for enterprises, adding that focus would be on addressing bottlenecks in planning, land clearance, infrastructure and workforce development and improve access to capital, technology and markets.

The province is promoting digital economy, green economy and circular economy to enhance competitiveness, he added.

At the conference, the Quảng Ninh Business Association urged the local authority to address issues related to site clearance and shortage of construction materials.

Lê Dộ, director of Thành Công Việt Hưng auto plant in Quảng Ninh, proposed policies to encourage local companies to use each other’s raw materials to develop a production chain and reduce costs.

Other enterprises, cooperative and business households, urged efforts to tackle issues related to taxes, fees and input material. — VNS