Vung Tau, a dynamic coastal city and international-class tourism center, like Nha Trang and Phu Quoc, has in recent years become a place many cities around the world want to cooperate with or invest in.

This year, Ba Ria-Vung Tau’s revenue targets of tourist accommodations and travel services have all been exceeded. The total number of visitors increased 13% over 2023, with the number of international visitors up 11.46%, thanks to promotional activities and expanded tourism cooperation with countries like Singapore, India, South Korea, and Australia.

Last year, Ba Ria-Vung Tau received delegations from Western Australia and South Korea’s Sacheon City seeking opportunities for tourism cooperation. Hoang Ngoc Linh, Vice President of the provincial Tourism Association, said every locality has a lot of untapped potential for cooperation.

“In addition to trade connections, we also hope to receive support from Western Australia in training high-quality human resources. Vietnamese travel agents can design high-end tours to connect the two localities,” said Linh, adding, “I know Western Australia has a relatively cold winter, while Ba Ria-Vung Tau’s weather is warm all year round. So we should set up sea tourism between the two localities.”

Major corporations and brands have chosen Ba Ria-Vung Tau as an investment destination because of the economic, cultural, and tourism dynamism of the province in general and of the coastal city of Vung Tau in particular.

They want to expand cooperation to automotive part manufacturing, agricultural specialties, and smart agricultural zones.

A number of large, world-famous corporations have invested in Ba Ria-Vung Tau, including Hyosung Group, CJ Group, and Samsung Group of South Korea, Australia’s Austal Group, Japan’s Marubeni Group, and Norway’s Vard Group.

The province has built infrastructure for industrial parks and clusters to attract investors. Nguyen Cong Vinh, Vice Chairman of Ba Ria-Vung Tau People's Committee, said the province has focused on completing a multimodal transport infrastructure that connects with national, regional and intra-provincial transportation systems by road, rail, and waterway.

There has been a focus on completing the Bien Hoa-Vung Tau Expressway, Ring Road 4, the Phuoc An Bridge, the coastal route around Vung Tau-Binh Chau, and the routes connecting urban and developed areas in Ba Ria-Vung Tau.

Mr. Vinh said, “Ba Ria-Vung Tau has focused on high-tech industrial parks and new forms of industrial-service-urban complexes, and the government has allowed us to develop these projects. It means that when investors come here, infrastructure and plans for serving investors are ready.”

According to Vice Chairman Vinh, Ba Ria-Vung Tau has simplified its administrative procedures to make it easier for foreign enterprises to invest locally.

“Our special thing is a one-stop mechanism for procedures to shorten the investment registration time for businesses. Another thing is speeding up land allocation, land leasing, and granting of land use certificates to businesses. In that way, we hope to win investors’ trust and attract more investors,” Vinh noted.

The Chairman of the provincial People's Committee holds weekly meetings and working sessions with businesses to understand and address their problems.

The Committee has been consistent in attracting investment selectively, giving priority to modern, high-added-value, non-labor-intensive technology, environmental protection, and low energy use.

Ba Ria-Vung Tau has specified strong investment in processing and manufacturing, support for new industries related to petrochemicals and wind power, and development of high-tech industries, green industries, clean energy, renewable energy, and environmental protection.

The provincial administration has capitalized on its advantages to become a logistics hub, develop regional connectivity, and connect to national transportation axes in order to attract investment.

Taking the initiative in investment attraction, improving the investment and business environment, and mobilizing investment capital for development have helped Ba Ria-Vung Tau become one of Vietnam’s leading localities in attracting foreign investment.