Bac Kan province promotes investment in processing agroforestry products

Elevating the export of Vietnamese products

Bac Kan province has focused on promoting key projects in the field of wood processing to export to various markets around the world including Japan, Europe, the United States, etc. Bac Kan province has approximately 100,000 hectares of planted forests, which is a favorable condition to develop the local wood processing industry.

Lechenwood Vietnam Co., Ltd is a business located in Thanh Binh Industrial Park which specializes in manufacturing plywood products. Their products have been primarily exported to the US market. The business's annual revenue reached nearly 500 billion VND in 2021 and 2022, resulting in an abundant source of employment opportunities.

There are currently five active wood processing plants in Thanh Binh Industrial Park (Cho Moi district). Their main products include plywood boards, flooring and disposable household products made from wood. The majority of these products are exported to various markets around the world including the US, Korea, Malaysia, Japan, etc.

According to Mr. Hoang Van Khoi, Deputy Head of the Management Board of Industrial Parks in Bac Kan Province, agricultural and forestry product processing projects account for a significant portion of businesses operating in the industrial park. Despite challenges in the export of wood products during the first six months of 2023, the wood processing industry contributed considerably to the local budget revenue.

In addition to projects in the industrial park, Bac Kan province houses multiple large-scale forest product processing plants and other production workshops. Several notable active projects in the province include: The health food factory belonging to Bac Ha Curcumin Joint Stock Company, the agricultural and forestry product processing plant belonging to Tan Thanh Agricultural Cooperative, the apricot, plum, ginger root, celery, and vegetable processing plant for export to the Japanese market belonging to Vietnam Misaki Co., Ltd.

Borderless ASIA Co., Ltd in Bac Kan city officially launched an agricultural product processing plant in April 2023 with an annual capacity of 5,000 tons. The plant aims to produce 1,500 tons of salted apricots, 2,000 tons of salted bamboo shoots, and 1,500 tons of salted ginger products annually. All of the plant's products are exported directly to the Japanese market.

According to its director, this processing plant will expand its scale to process additional products such as sweet corn, bamboo leaves, and papaya roots for export. These products are favored by Japanese consumers, and the local raw material area is abundant.

Additionally, five agricultural product processing projects are currently being deployed in Bac Kan province, including: high-tech agricultural project of growing and processing organic yellow flower tea owned by Bac Kan TNN Investment Joint Stock Company; ecosystem project that link high-tech tea production and processing chains owned by Gap Vietnam Joint Stock Company; project of producing cosmetics from herbs owned by PEANA International Pharmaceutical Joint Stock Company; chestnut production project owned by Hop Phap Cooperative; agricultural and forestry product processing plant project owned by Bac Kan Concrete Production Company Limited.

Improving infrastructure to attract investment

Bac Kan province is currently focused on improving its infrastructure with an emphasis on the traffic system in order to attract investment in agriculture and forestry.

National highway 3 connecting Thai Nguyen, Bac Kan and Cao Bang is overloaded due to its narrow width. A new 45-kilometer national highway 3 was constructed in 2017 to connect Thai Nguyen province and Thanh Binh Industrial Park, Cho Moi district. The remaining 40 kilometers from Cho Moi district to Bac Kan city remains a challenging obstacle.

This bottleneck is expected to be removed when the Cho Moi - Bac Kan expressway project is approved, which is expected to begin construction in 2024. This expressway project is expected to shorten the travel time between Hanoi and Bac Kan to only 2 hours.

In addition to the traffic system, Bac Kan province is actively deploying additional industrial clusters and parks. The province has planned for various industrial clusters including Nam Bang Lung industrial cluster in Cho Don district, Huyen Tung industrial cluster in Bac Kan city, Chu Huong industrial cluster in Ba Be district, Vang Muoi industrial cluster in Na Ri district, Quang Chu industrial cluster in Cho Moi district, and Cam Giang industrial cluster in Bach Thong district. Accordingly, Huyen Tung industrial cluster is currently seeking investors after completing construction.

According to Bac Kan City People's Committee, Huyen Tung industrial cluster has a total area of ​​​​nearly 11 hectares with a convenient traffic system. The industrial cluster is an advocate for environmentally friendly projects with a focus on agricultural and forest product processing. Numerous investors have visited to study and carry out construction procedures. In addition, the project of Thanh Binh industrial park phase II is in the ground clearance process with an estimated completion within the next two years. When these industrial zones and clusters finish construction, the majority of the space will be used to invite agricultural and forestry product processing projects.

According to the Bac Kan province's Department of Planning and Investment, Bac Kan has grown in the PCI rankings for six consecutive years in 2022. Most notably, the province's ranking increased to 35 out of 63 provinces and cities across the country. Bac Kan is currently in the top ten provinces with the highest scores regarding transparency, time cost, dynamism and pioneering indicators. Namely, Bac Kan's provincial green index (PGI) was included in the PCI report for the first time in 2022. Moreover,  Bac Kan is one of the ten provinces with the highest PGI index in Vietnam. These factors create a solid foundation for Bac Kan province to attract investment, especially in agricultural and forestry projects.

According to Mr. Lam Tien Giap, Director of the Center for Investment Promotion and Business Support under Bac Kan Province's Department of Planning and Investment, the province prioritizes implementing projects to expand high-quality tea production; vegetables, tubers, fruits, and vermicelli processing, medicinal plant and large timber production to develop raw material areas for factories. Additionally,  investors will be encouraged to participate in the chain of science and technology applications, including modern technology lines for deep processing of agro-forestry products, trade promotion, and agricultural logistics services to add value and establish a unique brand for Bac Kan agricultural products.

According to the Center for Investment Promotion and Business Support, the province is encouraging investment in eight agricultural production and processing projects, including: a processing plant to preserve citrus products with an annual capacity of 20,000 tons in Bac Kan city; a concentrated cattle and poultry slaughtering zone with an area of ​​​​2 hectares in Bac Kan City; a leaven yeast industrial wine factory in combination with community tourism with an annual capacity of 1 million liters in Cho Don district; Project to produce environmentally friendly consumer products with an annual capacity of 1 million products in Cho Moi district; a supply chain for the production and consumption of safe vegetables with an area of ​​​​40 hectares in Bach Thong district; 100 hectares of high-tech agricultural production project in Bach Thong district; a factory to process bamboo products with an annual capacity of 100.000 cubic meters; A project to produce sawdust pellets from forest product waste with an annual capacity of 120,000 tons in Cho Moi district.