Business associations put forward initiatives, Gia Lai Provincial Chairman makes an impressive statement.

Although the investor meeting in Ho Chi Minh City was scheduled to start at 3 PM on March 20th, Mr. Pham Anh Tuan, Chairman of the Gia Lai Provincial People's Committee, arrived about 30 minutes early. Before the opening ceremony, he proactively engaged in informal discussions with businesses, sharing investment opportunities and listening to feedback from the business community.

Expected to attract approximately $35 billion USD

Entering the event, Mr. Pham Anh Tuan shared that he had been transferred to lead the former Binh Dinh province (now Gia Lai province) for four years. He had personally met with businesses from Ho Chi Minh City at least three times. However, each time was a different experience.

The first time, businesses from Ho Chi Minh City came to the meeting with skepticism, believing that Gia Lai was not yet attractive enough for investment.

By the second time, interest in investing had begun to increase. Local products from the province are gradually reaching international markets thanks to the connections made by the Ho Chi Minh City Business Association.

At the third meeting (in 2025), the message from the provincial leaders changed significantly when interacting with the Ho Chi Minh City business community. It was: "investment opportunities in Gia Lai are becoming increasingly limited" due to the significant attention the province is receiving from businesses.

"After the merger, Gia Lai province has a prime location, and this presents a great opportunity for businesses to invest and operate," Mr. Tuan said, adding that the province will organize a large-scale investment promotion conference on March 28th.

At this conference, Gia Lai province will award investment certificates worth nearly $10 billion and sign MOUs (memorandums of understanding) with partners worth approximately $25 billion.

"The MOUs here are not just about signing, but about actual signing and implementation. Proof is that all the MOUs signed by the former Binh Dinh province and the current Gia Lai province have been actually implemented," he emphasized.

For example, the breakwater and port project in Phu My, worth nearly 10,000 billion VND, was a difficult project, but the province still found a suitable investor.

Mr. Pham Anh Tuan, Chairman of the Gia Lai Provincial People's Committee (on the right), discusses investment opportunities in the province with businesses and experts. Photo: T.C.

Connecting Businesses

According to Mr. Tuan, on March 29th, Gia Lai province will work with four provincial governors in Southern Laos and three provincial governors in Northeastern Cambodia to discuss connecting Vietnamese businesses to invest in agriculture.

According to the plan, businesses from the province will cultivate crops in neighboring countries. After harvesting, the agricultural products will be brought back to Gia Lai for further processing and then exported from Phu My port.

To facilitate the flow of goods, the Quy Nhon - Pleiku expressway connecting road has been started, and the province is determined to complete the route by early 2028.

In addition, the second runway at Phu Cat Airport has also started construction in August 2025. The project is expected to be completed in June 2026 and will be able to accommodate large aircraft.

Based on the above data, economist Dr. Tran Du Lich assessed that in the next 1-2 years, Gia Lai province will have a relatively complete infrastructure including a road network, seaports, and airports, creating very good investment opportunities.

Regarding administrative procedure reform, the leaders of Gia Lai province committed to resolving issues quickly and not allowing submitted applications to be returned due to incomplete documentation.

Small projects will receive guidance on implementation procedures. For large projects, the provincial level will work closely with businesses. As an example, when several large and well-known corporations invested in Vietnam and Laos, Gia Lai province established a working group, directly headed by the provincial chairman, to implement the projects alongside the businesses.

Mr. Tuan cited the example of local departments and agencies working with Hoang Anh Gia Lai Group to expedite the implementation of investment projects. After the implementation plan was approved, the company submitted the required documents, and the process was complete.

The openness and willingness of the local authorities were confirmed by Ms. Dong Thi Anh, Chairwoman of the Board of Directors of Pisico Binh Dinh Corporation. She stated: "It seems that no incentive that could be offered to businesses would be overlooked by the province."

Therefore, Ms. Anh hopes that businesses from Ho Chi Minh City will invest in Gia Lai province and become partners with the local authorities.

Also at the conference, after hearing a very promising cooperation proposal from Ms. Dang Thi Minh Phuong, Chairwoman of the Ho Chi Minh City Logistics and Port Association, the Chairman of Gia Lai province immediately invited her to the province for further discussion.

"I still have your phone number. If you are busy and cannot come to the province, I will fly back to Ho Chi Minh City to discuss the matter," Mr. Tuan said, promising that Gia Lai would create all favorable conditions for the business community to invest.