LONG AN PROVINCE. 1 Basic information 1

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1 LONG AN PROVINCE 1 Basic information Geography 2 Long An Province is a connecting point for Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC), the largest economic and cultural centre of Vietnam, in the north with some Mekong Delta provinces (Tien Giang and Dong Thap) to the south by a network of National Road (NR) no. 1A, NR no. 50. The province has the estuary of Soai Rap River running into the East Sea (South China Sea). - Area (km 2 ) 4,491 - Population (2011) 1,449,600 * Male/Female (2011) 719,900 (49.66)/729,700 (50.34) * Population of labor age nearly 1,000,000 - Administrative units Tan An City, Kien Tuong Town, 13 districts 9 wards, 15 townlets, and 165 communes - GDP growth in 2012 (%) estimated GDP in 2012 (at constant price 1994, mil. US$) Average GDP per capita (at current price, US$) 1,508 - Total accumulated FDI projects until * Total registered capital (mil. US$) 3,341 KAMPUCHEA Border Gate My Quy Tay, to Svay Rieng Province: 70 km HCMC: 60 km Tay Ninh Province Ho Chi Minh City Dong Thap Province National Road (NR) no. 1A to HCMC: 40 km I Tan An City Districts 1 Thu Thua 8 Duc Hoa 2 Thanh Hoa 9 Ben Luc 3 Tan Thanh 10 Can Giuoc 4 Tan Hung 11 Can Duoc 5 Vinh Hung 12 Chau Thanh 6 Moc Hoa 13 Tan Tru 7 Duc Hue Tien Giang Province I NR no. 50 linking HCMC with Tien Giang Province 10 1

2 - Export turnover (mil. US$, 2012, est.) 393 (rice, cashew nut, garment, footwear, processed sea products, mechanic products, battery, etc) - Import turnover (mil. US$, 2012) 1,694 (machinery and equipment, cement, garment accessories, footwear materials, raw materials for production, fiber textile, fertilizer, insecticide, consumer goods.) Long An is known as an expansive industrial and urban zone of HCMC. Long An is considered both a rice basket with an average production of 2 million tons/year and the largest center of agricultural product consumption in the Mekong Delta. The province lies in the eastern edge of the Mekong Delta, at the important connecting area between the east and west of southern provinces. Long An shares a km border with Kampuchea and Tay Ninh Province in the north, HCMC in the east and northeast, Tien Giang Province in the south, and Dong Thap Province in the southwest. Geographically, Long An belongs to the southwest region; economically, it is located in the Southern Key Economic Zone (in the southeast region, a dynamic zone having an important role in the economic development strategy of Vietnam). In recent years, the province has always been ranked in the top-10 provinces in terms of the Provincial Competitive Index and attraction of foreign direct investment (FDI) capital. 3 Long An has the advantage of seaports, inland waterways, land borders, and vast land. The province is a gateway linking the southeast region with the Mekong Delta, through the road network comprising National Road (NR) no. 1A, NR no. 50, provincial roads (PR) no. 823, 824, 825, etc. The existing transnational waterway has been upgraded and newly built. The Soai Rap estuary overlooking the East Sea is building ports to accomodate vessels of over 50,000 tons; the 133-km border adjoining two provinces of Prey Veng and Svay Rieng of Kampuchea with one international border gate, i.e. Binh Hiep (Moc Hoa District) Pray Vo (Kampuchea), 1 national border gate at My Quy Tay (Duc Hue District), and 2 auxilliary border gates at Hung Dien A (Vinh Hung District), Tan Hung (Tan Hung District) is favorable for Long An to develop its economy and trade both inland and abroad. In addition, there are commodity exchange sites such as Voi Dinh, Soc Rinh (Duc Hue District), Ta Lot (Moc Hoa District), Rach Chanh, Tau Nu, and Cay Tram (Vinh Hung District). 4 Long An has a strategic geographic position thanks to the following reasons: (i) as a gateway linking the Mekong Delta and the Southern Key Economic Zone, Long An can benefit from development and growth of both regions; (ii) as a buffer zone between the rapid development area in HCMC and the environmentally sensitive delta, the province supports the former in controlling the urban development and protection of the important delta environment, and (iii) interests from the provincial development will extend to provinces in Kampuchea. 5 The industry sector accounts over 40% of the provincial GDP in Main industrial products are garment and textile, food processing, construction, mainly from districts of Duc Hoa, Ben Luc, Tan An, Can Duoc, and Can Giuoc, accounting for nearly 50% of the provincial industrial output The Summary Record Conference of Investment Promotion For Mekong Delta in Socio-economic Development Master Plan for Long An Province up to 2020 and Vision Toward 2030 (LAPIDES) Final Report, 11/2010 and 2

3 1.2 Population Please see Annex 1: Population of Long An Province, 1995, , page 19 Despite being an agricultural province, Long An has witnessed a process of urbanization and industrialization. The population has decreased from 1.2%-1.4% in the period of to 0.74% in the period of and from 1.37% in 2007 to 0.71% in The urban population growth is not high despite of being higher than that of the rural area. It means that the urbanization in Long An is not really active, from 16.2% in 2000 to 17.4% in The population of Long An in 2011 is 1,449,600 with a population density of 323 people/km 2. Majority of the population distribute in the rual area. The urban population is 258,000 and the rural population is 1,191,600. The percentage of urban population is low and increases slowly, from 14.31% in 1995 to 16.75% in The urban population concentrate in Tan An City and 15 townlets of districts. Meanwhile, the population density in districts of Dong Thap Muoi area is people/km 2, only 1/10 that of in Tan An City, which causes much difficulties in providing essential infrastructures such as road, hospitals, and schools. The natural population growth rate is 8.3 o / oo. Total laborer is 876,000 (52%, 22.5%, and 25.5% are in farming, industrial and service sector respectively), of which more than 5% have been trained. Population structure - Long An has a young population. According to the Population Census in 2009, the age group under 15 years old accounts for 23.78% of the provincial population (361,479); from years old: 67.4% (967,987). - There are more female than male. However, the difference has been narrowed recently. In 2009, the male-female correlation was 49.52%-50.48% (711, ,993) - Soc Trang is inhabited by the nationalities of Kinh, Khmer, Chinese, and other ethnics of Nung, Thai, and Cham. The people preserve their respectively special and specific identity which can be named sand ridge culture, manifesting in the daily living from language, social relations to place-names, religions, beliefs, cuisine, and festivals. The population growth has reduced from 1.34%/year in 2005 to 0.93% in the end of According to the Population Census on 01/4/2019, there are 28 nationalities living in Long An, including the majority of Kinh people (1,431,644, 99.69%), Chinese (2,609, 0.18%), Khmer (1,195, 0.08%), Co Lao, Churu, and Raglay with one person of each group. There are 206,999 believers of 11 religions in Long An until 1/4/2009, comprising mainly Buddhism (125,118), Caodaism (98,000), Catholic (31,160), Protestant (3,480), Hoa Hao (2,221), Tinh Do Cu Si (242), Islam (230), Buu Son Ky Huong (43), Minh Su Religion (38), Minh Ly Religion (38), Tu An Hieu Nghia Religon (11). Population growth of Long An Province, Source: Long An Statistic Office, 2008 Socio-economic Development Master Plan for Long An Province up to 2020 and Vision Toward 2030 (LAPIDES) Final Report, 11/2010 Year Total Urban Rural Urbanization Population Growth rate (%) Population Growth rate (%) Population Growth rate (%) rate (%) ,327, , ,112, ,347, , ,125, ,364, , ,397, ,381, , ,153, ,400, , ,170, ,412, , ,178,

4 Year Total Urban Rural Urbanization Population Growth rate (%) Population Growth rate (%) Population Growth rate (%) rate (%) ,423, , ,188, ,434, , ,185, ,444, , ,193, Administration Long An is administratively divided into 1 city, 13 districts, six of which are in the list of geographical areas entitled to investment incentives, and 189 communal units, comprising 165 communes, 9 wards, and 15 townlets. Long An is preparing to establish Kien Tuong Town. Provincial People s Committee (since 2011) Chairman Mr. Do Huu Lam - DOB 9/10/ Native village Phu Ngai Tri Commune, Chau Thanh District, Long An Province - Education University graduated - Position Vice Secretary of Long An Provincial Party Committee Head of National Assembly Member Delegation, Member of the Finance -Budget Committee, the XII National Assembly - Date of Party admission 29/5/1984; Official admission date 29/5/ Member of the XII and XIII National Assembly + Service record - 12/ /1989 Staff, Vice Head of Office, Head of Office, Long An Provincial Planning Committee - 12/1989-5/1991 Staff of the Foreign Economic and Investment Cooperation Board, Long An Province. - 6/ /1993 Head of External Relations Office, Long An Province. - 3/ /1999 Vice Head of Long An provincial Planning Committee, Director of the Provincial Department of Planning and Investment - 01/ /2003 Vice Chairman of Long An Provincial People s Committee - 9/ /2005 Secretary of Can Giuoc District Party Committee, Long An Province - 11/ /2007 Member of the Provincial Party Standing Committee - 3/2007-5/2011 Chairman of the Provincial People s Council, Head of the National Assembly Member Delegation, Member of the Finance Budget Committee, The XII National Assembly Vice Chairmen + Mr. Nguyen Thanh Nguyen - Member of the Provincial Party Committee, Former Vice Chairman of the Provincial People s Committee, DOB 10/4/ Native village My An Phu Commune, Thu Thua District, Long An 4

5 - Date of Party admission 02/6/1984; Official admission date 02/12/ Education Master in Economics + Mr. Pham Van Ranh - Member of the Provincial Party Committee, Former Vice Chairman of the Provincial People s Committee, tenure DOB 20/12/ Native place Hoa Khanh Tay Commune, Duc Hoa District, Long An Province - Date of Party admission 17/8/1984; Official admission date 17/4/ Education Master in Economics + Mr. Tran Minh Hung - Member of Provincial Party Committee, Former Vice Chairman of the Provincial People s Committee, tenure DOB 11/1/ Native village Bo De Commune, Binh Luc District, Ha Nam Province - Date of Part admission 07/9/1985; Official admission date 8/12/ Education Bachelor of Foreign Language + Mr. Tran Huu Phuoc - Member of the Provincial Party Executive Committee, Former Vice Chairman of the Provincial People s Committee, tenure DOB 13/9/ Native place Long Hung Commune, Chau Thanh District, Tien Giang Province - Date of Party admission 02/02/1979; Official admission date 02/8/ Education Master in Economics Provincial Party Committee - Secretary Mr. Mai Van Chinh 2 Topography and climate 6 The provincial terrain is partitioned by two rivers of Vam Co Dong, Vam Co Tay and a network of complex waterways with a total length up to 8,912 km. It is relatively flat with 66% of the area is low land, having an average elevation of 0.75 m, reaching the highest of 6.5 m in Duc Hoa District. The terrain tends to lower from the west to northern, eastern, and southern directions, comprising 3 main areas: - the ancient silt along Kampuchean border having elevation of 4-6 m, there are some low hills and mounds in the northeast, - the waterlogged plain in Dong Thap Muoi having the lowest elevation of about 0.45 m, accounting for nearly 66,4% of the total provincial area, containing a waterlogged cajeput (Melaleuca quinquenervia) forest of 46,300 ha in the southwest of Long An Province, and - the plain in the middle with the estuary area from the north of NR no. 1A to the south

6 Climate Long An is in the humid tropical monsoon area. Being adjacent to the southeast and southwest regions, the provincial weather shares several specific characteristics of the Mekong Delta and the southeast region. The monthly average temperature is o C, increasing to the highest of 28.9 o C in April and decreasing to the lowest of 25.2 o C in January. The temperature amplitude among months varies from 2 4 o C. The average humidity is 79-82% and the total suny hour is 2,718 a year. These are idealistic conditions for year-round cultivation. The annual rainfall varies from 1,447 1,886 mm, dividing into 2 distinct seasons: the dry season lasts from November to April, which is accompanied by the northeast wind with frequency of 60-70%, and the rainy season from May to October with the southwest wind, with a frequency of 70%. The rain during rainy season accounts for total 70-82% of the yearly rainfall. Rains distribute irregularly, decreasing from the area bordering HCMC to the west and southwest. Coastal districts in the southeast have lesser rainfall. High intensity of rains causes erosion in hilly areas and flooding when they combine with high tides, affecting the people s production and living. Wind regime: the northeast wind blows during the dry season from November to April with a frequency of 60-70%, the southwest wind blowing from the during the rainy season from May to October with a frequency of 70%, bring much vapour and causing much rain. 3 Resources 3.1 Land resources 7 Please see Annex 2: Land use in Long An, 2005 and 2007, page 20 The soil is comprised of 6 main types, mainly sediment deposition mixed with many organic impurities, having a friable texture and poor physico-mechanical properties. Many areas are affected by acidic alum and accumulated toxin. Soil type Elevation and Distribution Suitable for Elevation: 2-4 m. Along the Kampuchean border, comprising districts of Duc Hoa, Duc Hue, Moc Hoa, Vinh Hung 1 Gray soil, ancient siltation accounts for 21.5% of total area 2 Sweet siltation soil Accounting for 17% of total area 3 Saline siltation soil. 1.26%, 4 Acid sulfate soil: 55.47%, Districts of Tan Thanh, Tan Tru, Tan An, Can Duoc, Ben Luc, Chau Thanh, Moc Hoa Districts of Can Duoc, Can Giuoc Chau Thanh, Tan Tru Majority is in the Dong Thap Muoi, between two rivers of Vam Co Dong and Vam Co Tay In southern districts, near the 5 Saline acid sulfate soil. 3.9% estuary of Soai Rap River 6 Peat soil: 0.05%. In the south of Duc Hue District, bordering Than Hoa District This soil has been exploited relatively early and suitable for planting paddy, sugar-cane, peanut. The soil has relatively good nutritous content, suitable for agriculture development. The soil has relatively good nutritous content but it is frequently contaminated by salinity during the dry season. For planting nipple palm, aegicera, mangrove. The soil has high toxic contents (Cl -, Al 3+, Fe 2+, SO4 2- ) and should be reclaimed before planting paddy The soil is frequently saline during the dry season. 7 Socio-economic Development Master Plan for Long An Province up to 2020 and Vision Toward 2030 (LAPIDES) Final Report, 11/2010 and 6

7 Majority of land in Long An has been developed from silt mixed with organic impurities, creating soft and porous soil. In low area, there is an accumulation of toxic harmful substances such as Cu, Pb, Cd, etc. in acceptable limitation, creating acidic and alum soil. This is a typical feature of the Mekong Delta where land is infected by acidity and alum, which is not suitable for agriculture development. Total alum area is 208,449 ha, accounting for 69,8 % of the area of Dong Thap Muoi and 46,41 % of the provincial area. At present, there remain 2 low regions - center of alum in Bac Dong and Bo Bo - Mo Vet. There are three main land types: agricultural land, non-agricultural land, and unused land. The former still accounts for 81% of the provincial land until The non-agricultural land accounts for 19%, of which 5% is for residential area. The agricultural land is mainly for paddy cultivation. However, it has been transferred to urban area for many utilization purposes recently. The aquaculture land concentrates mainly along big rivers and their estuaries. The total area is 43,999 ha, decreasing 6,893 ha as of Only Tan An City and two districts of Tan Tru and Chau Thanh where there are no forestry land. Forest land concentrates in the Dong Thop Muoi area, accounting for 85.53% of the provincial area. Land use status until January 1, 2009 (x 1,000 ha) Total area Agricultural land Forestry land Land for special uses Residential land Vietnam 33, , , , ,9 The Mekong Delta 4, , ,4 241,2 111,6 Long An Province 449,4 301,8 60,4 43,6 12,7 3.2 Water resources 8 There are 4 main rivers in Long An, comprising Vam Co Dong, Vam Co Tay, Vam Co, and Rach Cat. River Features Function/Quality Rising in Kampuchea, crossing Tay Ninh Province, flowing into to Long An through districts of Duc Hoa, Duc Hue, Ben Luc, Tan Tru, Can Duoc Basin area 6,000 km 2 1 Vam Co Dong 2 Vam Co Tay Length 200 km Depth m Section in Long An 150 km Rising in Kampuchea, crossing Tay Ninh Province, flowing to Long An through districts of Vinh Hung, Moc Hoa, Tan Thanh, Thanh Hoa, Thu Thua, Tan An City, Tan Tru, Chau Thanh, Can Duoc Length 250 km Depth m Section in Long An 186 km 3 Vam Co The above-mentioned rivers join together in 3 districts of Tan Tru, Chau Thanh, and Can Duoc to form the Vam Co, flowing into Soai Rap Estuary in the East Sea. 4 Rach Cat (Can Giuoc Length 35 km Width 400 m A small river flowing through HCMC and Tan Kim Commune, Can Gioc District to Phuoc Dong Comune, Can Duoc District. - Providing irrigation and drainage for districts of Duc Hoa, Duc Hue, and Ben Luc - Reducing salinity intrusion in the Vam Co Dong River - Providing irrigation, drainage, and water for daily use of the locals - Receiving sewage from urban areas, such as 8 7

8 River Features Function/Quality River) At about 12 km from the Van Co River, the Can Giuoc River separates into 2 smaller rivers, one to the Soai Rap River and the other to the Vam Co River. Length 32 km HCMC. Water at Tan An township has the acceptable contents of nitrate, organic substances, concentration of excess drugs, microorganism as per stipulation in the Vietnamese standard TCVN Over the past years, Can Giuoc has received waste water from HCMC with high pollution, impacting production and daily life of people. Organism: Long An possesses a wetland eco-system, i.e. brackish water, salt water, fresh water, and alum. Consequently, the organism resource is varied and diversified. During recent years, the environmental protection has not been protected, resulting in the break of the ecological balance and reduction of valuable wild animal such as chicken, python, snake, turtle, and vegetations such as flooded cajeput forest, arenga forest, aegiceras forest, and mangrove forest. + Salt water intrusion Salinity intrusion is mainly from the East Sea through Soai Rap estuary due to the regime of semi-diurnal tide. The intrusion process becomes deeper and longer because of high tide, northeast wind, less water from upstream and especially many exploitations of surface water in dry season. The salinization has changed the ecological system, creating serious impacts on production and daily life of people. + Flood Every year flood converges firstly to the northern districts in Dong Thap Muoi, starting from the beginning or mid August until November. In this time, raining reaches its peak intensity, causing difficulties for production and living. Flood level in Long An Province is not as deep as that of upstream but it lasts for longer time. The frequency of high flood tended to reduce from one time for 8-10 years in the past, to one time for 3-4 years (1961, 1966, 1978, 1984, 1991) and high flood had occurred for 3 consecutive years (1994, 1995, 1996), especially, flood was very high in Flooding duration: - Less than 3 months, covering 305, 757 ha, accounting for 69,91% of the natural area. - From 3-5 months, covering 64,724 ha, accounting for 30,09 % of the natural area. 3.3 Mineral resources 9 The survey in 8 districts of Long An Province reveals a considerable potential of clay, construction sand, sand for leveling, peat, etc. Currently, clay for brick and tile production is exploited in 2 districts of Duc Hoa, Duc Hue for construction material production. Other districts such as Moc Hoa, Vinh Hung, Tan Hung, and Thanh Hoa have licensed the exploitation permit in 10 sites with a total area of ha and a reserve of 27,807,000 m and ction&provinceid=1363 and 8

9 Levelling sand concentrates in Duc Hoa District and communes of Phuoc Tan Hung, Thuan My, Tan Lap, Long Huu Dong, etc., serving the industrial park construction. However, the exploitation process has caused erosion of river banks. Construction sand reserve in rivers can be exploited at a volume of 29,924,000 m 3. Long An has a peat reserve of 2.5 million tons, distributing in districts of Tan Lap Moc Hoa, Tan Lap Thanh Hoa, Tan Thanh, Duc Hue of Dong Thap Muoi. The peat layer is from 1.5 m to 6m. With low ash and high mineral content, the peat is a good material to produce fuel material and fertilizer. 3.4 Forest resources 10 The forest area in 1976 was 93,902 ha, comprising mainly cajeput trees which creates an ecological sysem for the entire area of Dong Thap Muoi. Until 1999, it has decreased to 37,829 ha, accounting only 8.2% of the provincial area, comprising 1,553 ha of natural forest and 36,276 ha of planted forest in districts of Tan Hung (13,731 ha), Tan Thanh (5,540 ha), Moc Hoa (4,581 ha), Vinh Hung (3,035 ha), Thanh Hoa (2,850 ha), Duc Hoa (1,243 ha), Duc Hue (1,072 ha), and others. The forest area in 2000 was 44,481, comprising mainly planted cajeput and eucalyptus trees. In June 2003, the area increased to 64,642 ha of planted forest. The total wood reserve is bout 71,715 m 3 of eucalyptus and million cajeput trunks. The fauna and flora resources of cajeput forest ecological system in the alum sunken area of Long An Province has been over-exploited and damaged seriously. Consequently, enormous ecological changes have caused environmental pollution and great impacts of the sustainable development process. The underlying reasons for forest area decrease are the organization and exploitation have been far from adequate planning and majority of forest have been transferred to paddy fields. 3.5 Tourist resources 11 Long An has an abundant resources for tourism. Currently, there are 186 places of historic interest, 7 of which have been classified as historic monuments, ie. Nguyen Huynh Duc Tomb and Temple in Tan An City, Ton Thach Pagoda in Can Giuoc District, 100-pillar ancient house in Can Duoc District, etc. Moreover, there are festivals of Ky Yen, Rain Praying with many folk games. Traditional handicrafts include wood carving (Can Duoc, Ben Luc District), jewellery (Phuoc Van), boat building (Can Duoc), etc. 3.6 Human resources The rate of trained laborer is still low in both urban and rural areas. The development of vocational and skill training for laborers is far from sufficiency to meet labor market demand. Content Data (2010) 1 Laborers 876,000 2 Rate of trained laborers 52% 3 Laborer being vocationally trained % 4 Unemployment rate 4.1% ction&provinceid=1363 9

10 4 Education and health care 4.1 Education 12 Until 31/5/2013, there are over 700 schools of general education, comprising 46 upper secondary schools, 132 lower secondary schools, 1 school for gifted pupils, 5 non-public schools. In primary education there are 249 schools, 4,401 classes, and 125,089 pupils. The preschool comprises 131 kindergartens and crèches. In addition, Long An has 1 continuation education center of provincial level, 15 continuation education center of district level, 5 foreign language and informatic centers, 3 professional secondary schools, 1 school for handicapped children. The number of teacher and education staff is 20,221, with 52 masters and 3 doctors. Other educational estalishments: - Long An Politics School - Two universities: Long An Economics and Industry University and Tan Tao University - Two colleges: Long An Vocational College and Long An Teacher Training College - Three high schools: Long An Economics and Engineering School, Long An Medicine High School, Long An Buddhism Study High School. - Vocational school and centers: Health care 13 Please see Annex 3: Health data , page 21 Until August 2012, the health care system comprises - 3 provincial level hospital: Long An Polyclinic (900 beds), Traditional Medicine Hospital (110 beds), Tuberculosis and Lung Diseases Hospital (70 beds), - 3 regional polyclinis: Hau Nghia (250 beds), Dong Thap Muoi (140 beds), Can Giuoc (250 beds) health stations at 192 communes, wards, and townlets - 15/15 districts, towns, cities have Population and Family Planning Centers and polyclinics. - Total hospital bed: 1,535 - Total health worker: 5,011 - Ratio of doctor/10,000 population: 5 - Ratio of high degree pharmacists /10,000 population: Infrastructure 5.1 Transportation + Roads 14 Until May 2013, there were 5,825 km of road, including 217 km of Sai Gon Trung Luong Highway and NR nos. 1, 50, 62, and N2. A 36-km section of NR no. 1, the important north south communication, crosses Long An. It has been enlarged to 4 lanes with beltway and newlybuilt Tan An bridge. NR no. 50 linking HCMC with Tien Giang Province crosses two districts of Can Giuoc and Can Duoc by a length of 24 km. This road section has been badly damaged. NR no. 62 from Tan An City to Binh Hiep Border Gate (Moc Hoa District) has a length of 76 kms, fully asphalted except 2 km-section from Binh Hiep crossroad to the border gate

11 The provincial 23-km asphalted road no. 830 linking two districts of Ben Luc and Duc Hoa is the most important in terms of density of traffic communication. The other provincial roads are named by numbers of 821, 822, 8, 9, and 10. The rate of road surface in relation to natural area and population is respectively 0.34km/m 2 and 0.99km/1,000 people, which is lower than the average of the Mekong Delta (respectively 0.71km/km 2 and 1.62km/1,000 people). In the future, other roads such as Tan Son Nhat Airport Tan An Highway, NR no. 1, Beltway no. 3 and roads linking seaports and border gates of the province will be built up to meet the need of interregional economic development. There are 942 bridges/32,601 m in Long An, comprising reinforced concrete bridges (627/ m) steel bridges (193/6,419 m), suspension bridges (8/848 m), and wooden bridges (69/2,178 m). Asphalted road Bituminous road Concrete road Aggregate road Earth road Total Provincial road (km) Road under district and ,278 city management (km) Urban road (km) Road under communal management (km) 43 > 306 1,871 1,203 > 3,423 Main indicators of transport in 2000 and 2003 Source: General Statistics Office Volume of goods Volume of passengers Freight (thousand tons) Freight traffic (million tons/km) Passenger (million admissions) Passenger traffic (million admissions/km) Waterway Road Waterway Road Road Road ,798 4, , Railways There is no railway in Long An Province. + Waterways 15 In general, the waterway network is distributed relatively even, facilitating the people s transport and travels. There is a waterway system of 8,912 km in length, linking Long An with the East Sea and rivers of Saigon, Dong Nai, Nha Be, and Cuu Long with a confluence of two main tributary of the Vam Co Dong River and the Vam Co Tay River through the Soai Rap estuary where a cluster of Port No. 5 is being built to serve export and import activities in the South. Main waterway routes are the rivers of Vam Co, Vam Co Dong, Vam Co Tay, Rach Cat. Important waterways such as HCMC Ca Mau Province, HCMC Tay Ninh Province, HCMC Kien Luong cross Long An Province along Nuoc Man Canal, the Rach Cat River, and the Vam Co Dong River. Water transport means over 100 tons can navigate from the west to HCMC through canals of Phuoc Xuyen, Duong Van Duong, Tra Cu, Xang, Thu Thua and the rivers of Ben Luc and Rach Cat River

12 Total waterway length of 2,651 km has been demarcated for the following management levels: Central: 11 shipping routes; Provincial: 24 routes; District: 284 routes. Waterway communication density is 0,59 km/km 2 and 1,90 km/1.000 people. + Airways There is no airport in Long An Province. 5.2 Electricity and Water + Electricity There are two power transmission networks: (i) 220kV Phu Lam Cai Lay and (ii) Cai Lay Phu My. However, the province does not have a 220kV transformer station, thus, power supply depends mainly on three stations of Cai Lay, Nha Ba, and Phu Lam, with a total capacity of 2,000MW. The province has developed a power project of 600MW capacity in the period of The power networks comprises the following transformers and generators: - Station Tan An 1: 110/22/15KV(40 MVA); Station Tan An 2: 110/22/15 KV(40MVA) - Station Ben Luc: (65MVA) - Station Moc Hoa: 110/22/15 KV(25 MVA). - Station Can Đuoc ( 16MVA) - Station Duc Hoa: 110/22/15(40MVA) - Station Phu Lam: voltage: 110/15 KV, capacity: 40 MVA to supply power to the city and a part of Can Giuoc District - Station Cai Lay: voltage 66/15 KV, capacity: 10 MVA to supply power to Tien Giang Province and parts of districts Moc Hoa, Vinh Hung, Tan Thanh, and Thanh Hoa. - Station Trang Bang: voltage: 66/15 KV, capacity: 12,5 MVA to supply power to Tay Ninh Province and parts of district Duc Hoa and Duc Hue. - Diesel station: at Tan An Town, capacity: 565 Kw. In addition, there are large units investing their own stations such as Ching Luh Shoe Co., Ltd.: 25 MVA station, Formosa Taffeta Vietnam Co., Ltd.: 10MVA station, Vina-Chung Shing Co.: 25 MVA station. + Water supply Total water supply capacity is about 50,000m 3 /day-night. The province is implementing three projects of water supply with a total capacity of 500,000m 3 /day-night. Water sources: two rivers of Vam Co Dong and Vam Co Tay are connected a by a complex network of waterways. This is the main water source of provincial people. However, the water quality is affected by salinity and alum. The people accessing clean water is 1,085,634, accounting for 77% of the provincial population. The water supply network comprises: - Tan An water supply station: m 3 /day-night for Tan An Town and neighbouring areas, - Go Den power plant: 3,000m 3 /day-night - Binh Anh water plant: 15,000m 3 /day-night The underground water is not abundant and its quality is poor. Average depth of water availability is 200 meters. This source is exploited by some UNICEF drilling wells for about 50% of rural population. 12

13 5.3 Communications There are 424 post service sites of various levels, comprising 1 central post-office at Tan An City. Each site serves about 3,380 people living within an average radius of 1.8 kms. Daily mails and newspaper are delivered to all communes every day. There are 51 circuit-switch stations, 13 optical access equipments of V5.2 types and 9 subscriber sets. Total address capacity is 116,362 numbers, serving 105,600 subscribers with efficiency of 90.5 % and average service radius of one circuit-switch station is 5.3 km. The number of telephone set per 100 people is The optical transmission network is of SHD technology with a total length of km of optical cable. The peripherical network has 161,587 pairs of cables with a total length of 5,495 km. 6 Economy (Please see Annex 4, Briefings of Socio-economic information by economic regions, Long An Province, page 22) The province concentrates on trade, service and tourism for its development. Its effort is to reach the GDP growth rate of 17% until Agriculture, forestry and fisheries will also be addressed in order to be fully developed in terms of high quality commodities and average annual growth rate (5.7 % for the period of ). Long An Province sets up its target of 12.5% for economic growth rate annually over the period (13% for ), 50, 80, and 172 million VND for GDP per capita in respective years of 2015, 2020, and In terms of GDP composition, agricultural sector, industrial sector and service sector are to account for 28%, 41% and 31% respectively in 2015, 15%, 45% and 40% in 2020 and 7%, 48% and 45% in Economic results implemented in 2011 and Indicators Implemented in Economic indicators - Gross Domestic Product (billion VND) (at current price) - Gross Domestic Product (billion VND) (at constant price 1994) 14,337 15,851 - Gross Domestic Product growth (%) Increased output value of agriculture forestry fishery (%) Increased output value of industry and construction (%) Increased output value of service (%) Average per-capita GDP (US$, 1 US$ = 21,100VND) 1,400 1,734 - GDP structure (at current price) + Sector I : Agriculture Forestry Aquaculture (%) Sector II: Construction and industry (%) Sector III: Service (%) Total export value (mil. USD) 1,950 2, Total import value (mil. USD) 1,590 1,694 - Total revenue in area (billion VND) 4, Total budget expenditure in area (billion VND) 4,792 6, Tourism activities Tourism turnover (estimated, billion VND) Total visitor (thousand visitor arrival), of which International visitor (thousand visitor arrival) Domestic visitor (thousand visitor arrival) 16 Socio-economic Reports of Long An Province, 2011 and

14 Indicators Implemented in Investment activities Newly registered enterprises Newly regsitered capital (billion VND) 23,857 3,825 Accumulative number of operating enterprises 5,758 4,826 Accumulative registered capital (billion VND) 108,572 82,163 - Skilled labor rate (%) Agriculture Aquaculture Forestry 17 Please see Annex 5: Data of Agriculture, Forestry, Fishery, 1995, , page 23 + Agriculure Long An agriculture has enjoyed a reputation of various range of rice products, i.e. Tai Nguyen, Nang Thom, Go Den and Long Tri watermelon, Ben Luc, Duc Hoa peanut, Thu Thua sugarcane. Paddy is planted mainly in the Dong Thap Muoi region with an increasing output from 1.6 million tons in 2000 to 2.2 million tons in Rice is the main agricultural product for export although its competitiveness compared to Thailand is still low and does not meet the demand for input of processing industry. Consequently, the export rice price is still low. There are some areas producing specialty rice. However, the output is insignificant. Cashew nut is the main export product but its raw material is imported elsewhere. The processing is unstable because any market change may affect production enterprises. Long An is famous for some special products of vegetables and field cabbage. However, the output accounts a low rate in the vegetable production and their planting areas are decreasing because more land is allocated for industrial development. Despite the planting has gained a constant growth of 4.2% in the period and 8% in 2011, the forestry sector has decreased 0.1 annually and the fishery has increased 2.1%. Output value of agriculture Average growth rate (%/year) Total output value by constant price 1994 (bil. VND) Agriculture 4,324 4,283 4,509 4,979 5, Forestry Aquaculture Total 5,249 5,314 5,557 5,928 6, Structure (%) Agriculture Forestry Aquaculture Total Aquaculture The aquaculture acquired a relatively high growth rate in the period , at an average of 20,2%/year. In addition to the extensive farming models, many intensive and semiindustrial farmings were introduced, offering high economic efficiency. The province succeeded in raising tiger shrimp and fresh water fish in the Dong Thap Muoi region, creating a new heading for aquaculture. According to the website of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, the total area of shrimp raising was 2,381.5 ha on

15 District Can Duoc Can Giouc Chau Thanh Tan Tru Total Tiger shrimp (ha) 1, ,049.5 White leg shrimp (ha) Giant fresh water shrimp (ha) 4 Total 2, Forestry According to the website of Long An, the production value of forestry has increased about 5,9% per year. The yearly afforestation covered about 6,340 ha. The total forest area in 2005 was 68,748, increasing 24,270 ha as of The forest coverage rate has increased from 14.5% in 2000 to 20.53% in The province was aided by the Japanese International Cooperation Agency (JICA) to implement an afforestation project. Until 11/01/2010, there were 60,000 ha of cajeput forest in Long An, majority of trees were at harvesting stage for wood processing. This is an enormous advantage in supplying raw materials for the particle board processing plant of Sumitomo (Japan). The project with a yearly capacity of 250,000 m 2 of particle board is the largest in the Mekong Delta. It was completely built in 2011 by an investment capital of 250 million US$, using 20 ha in the Industrial Park Phu An Thanh, Ben Luc District. 6.3 Export and Import 18 The volume of export has increased significantly from 244 million US$ in 2003 to 1,015 US$ in 2009, by an annual growth of 30%/year. The main commodities are light industry and handicraft products, accounting for 70%, agricultural products. 22%, and sea products, 8% of total export value. Light industry products comprise garment, bags, footwear, annd textile. Main export markets are Asia, America, Europe, and Australia. The import value has increased from 138 to 910 million US$ from 2003 to Fuel, raw materials comprising fibre, chemicals, plastic pellets account for 90% of the provincial import. Export Import Value and Volume Percentage Growth (est.) (%) Export Light industry and handicraft products value Agricultural products (mil. Sea products US$) Others Total Export Rice (ton) volume Cashew nut (ton Leather products (ton) 613 Frozen shrimp (ton) 41 Garment (thousand pieces) Shoes (thousand pairs) Fabric (thousand meters) Mineral water (bottle Import Machinery, equipment, tools Socio-economic Development Master Plan for Long An Province up to 2020 and Vision Toward 2030 (LAPIDES) Final Report, 11/

16 Export Import Value and Volume Percentage Growth (est.) (%) value Raw materials, fuel Total Import Fibre volume Chemicals (ton) Plastic pellets (tons) Tourism The number of tourists arriving in Long An is insignificant but increasing rapidly. Majority of them are domestic visitors arriving in the province for business purpose within short stay of average 1.3 days. The tourism turnover is estimated at 53 billion VND in 2008, mainly from the private sector. Number of tourists Visitors arriving in Long An Province Arriving tourist Staying tourist Percentage Growth (%) (est.) (est.) Vietnamese 40,048 84, , Foreigner 4,566 1,120 3, Total 44,650 85, , Vietnamese 37,782 74, , Foreigner 4,566 1,120 3, Total 42,348 76, , Staying Day Vietnamese 57,849 98, , Foreigner 1,089 1,814 5, Total 58,938 99, , Average staying day (day) Vietnamese Foreigner Total Industry The industrial sector constitutes 40% of the economy and is recognized by its apparel products, processing food products and constructions, etc. Long An Province ranked the third among 63 provinces nationwide in Provincial Competitiveness Index chart. In December 2012, Long An Consumer Price Index increased by 0.09% compared to the previous month with producing sector decreasing by 0.02% and service sector rising 0.43%. Generally speaking, the price of consumer goods in December is stable comparing to previous month. While some products such as food, vegetable, fuel decreased in price others rose slightly as a result of higher demand in the end of the year. Comparing with the same period in 2011 (December 2011), CPI rose 5.36% with goods price rising 2.47% (- 2.78% for food category and +8.37% for non food category) and service rising 15.09%. The provincial industrial sector continued to grow fairly in December 2012 in terms of value, reaching 6,902.8 billion VND with 2.78% increase compared to the previous month and 13.9% to December Total retail sales of goods and services is 27,895.6 billion (97.9% of the target and 24.2% compared to 2011). The gross import is estimated at 160 million US$ ( 21.9% and 1.3% increase compared to previous month and the same period in 2011 respectively). In aggregate, the 2012 gross import is 1,694 million (88.7% of the target and a 2.8% decrease compared to 2011) including domestic sector at million USD (18.9% increase of the 16

17 target) and foreign investment sector at millions USD (75.9% of the target, 4.1% decrease compared to 2011). 6.6 Investment + Domestic investment: 650 firms (increase 83.7% compared to 2011) received business registration certificate in 2012, making up the total of 3,200 billion VND in registered capital (40.5% increase compared to 2011). 76 firms dissolved with the total of 256 billion VND in capital. In the end of 2012, the total of 4,810 firms operated with 81,750 billion VND in registered capital. + Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) In foreign investment, the number of new FDI project receiving business registered certificate is 70 in 2012 (103% as of the last year) with 250 million USD in capital (126.3% as of 2011). The accumulative number of FDI until December 2012 is 456 with a total capital of 3,341 billion USD in 2012 and the number of running projects is 270 with 1,700 million US$ in implemented capital. Thirty countries have invested in the province, mainly from Taiwan, South Korea, Japan, China, Singapore, England, France, America, and Thailand. Taiwan is the top-one with 139 projects, South Korea ranks the second with 62 projects, China: 36 projects, Japan: 30 projects. + Thai investment in Long An N/A 6.7 Border economy The border economy area of Long An comprises 7 communes of Binh Hiep, Binh Tan, Thanh Tri (Hamlet 1), Binh Hoa Tay (Hamlets Binh Tay 1, Binh Tay 2). Tuyen Binh, Thai Binh Trung, and Vinh Binh (Hamlet 1, Hamlet 2), and one townlet of Moc Hoa. The natural area is 13,080 ha, bordering Svey Rieng Province of Kampuchea to the north, the Vam Co Tay River to the south, Moc Hoa District to the east, and Vinh Hung District to the west. The project objective is to concretize the development strategy of Vietnam Kampuchea border area until 2030, which was approved by Prime Minister, and the project of establishing Long An Border Gate economic zone. The border economy area is the center of Long An western economy, acting as a transaction point for provinces in the lower courses of Mekong River and being oriented towards development of border management, non-tariff and residential areas. + Binh Hiep International Border Gate (BHIBG) 19 Along the border of Long An Province there are 5 border gates, comprising Tho Mo (Duc Hue District), Binh Hiep (Moc Hoa District), Vam Don and Canal 28 (Vinh Hung District), and 5 commodity exchanging sites: Voi Dinh, Doc Dinh (Duc Hue District), Ta Lot (Moc Hoa District), Rach Chan, Tau Nu, Cay Tram Do (Vinh Hung District) and 17

18 The international border crossing that links Long An Province and Kampuchea's Svay Rieng Province, Kampuchea officially opened its gates on 11/01/2011 in Binh Hiep Commune, Moc Hoa District. The crossing has been upgraded following decisions by the Vietnamese and Kampuchean governments to allow trade as well as civilian traffic to pass through, and becomes the 20 th official overland international border gate in Viet Nam. The Binh Hiep IBG is about 30 km from the transnational highway and about 120 km from Phnom Penh of Kampuchea. For Vietnam, Binh Hiep IBG is about 74 km from Tan An City along NR no. 61 and 120 km from HCMC. The Binh Hiep IBG was opened mainly for cross-national border exits and entries of people and means between Viet Nam and Kampuchea. Now as the international border gate, it is open for people, means and goods of Viet Nam, Kampuchea and third countries to pass through. Its counterpart across the border, Prey Voa, was also upgraded to an international border gate this time. The crossing links Viet Nam's NR no. 62 with Kampuchean Route no. 314 and the Asian transnational highway, connecting countries in the Mekong Subregion with the whole of ASEAN and Asia. Previously, products manufactured in Long An such as home appliances and fertilizer were exported to Kampuceha via roundabout routes through other provinces such as An Giang and Tay Ninh. The new crossing would shorten about km of transportation routes for provincial enterprises. Passengers can take a bus to cover 75 km of NR no. 60 from Tan An City to Binh Hiep and 25 km on Route no. 314 to Svay Rieng Town of Kampuchea. Long An Province would continue upgrading 25 km of road from Moc Hoa District to Svay Rieng Town and rapidly enforce transaction regulations at Binh Hiep IBG to enlarge the cooperation relations and import export goods exchange, thus, strengthening activities of trade, tourism, and sevices. 7 Industrial Parks (IP) 20 Please see Annex 6: Industrial Parks and Industrial Clusters in Long An, page 25 Until 2012 there are 30 IPs in Long An with a total area of ha, of which 23 IPs have received investment certificates with an area of 6,806.5 ha., 19 IPs have received establishment decisions with an area of 5,733.3 ha, 16 IPs have been put into operation with an occupancy rate of 42.55%. Until December 2012, the IPs have attracted 710 investment projects with 1, ha of land and of workshops being hired, including 230 FDI projects with a total capital of 1, million USD and 480 domestic invesment projects with a capital of 25,609.1 billion VND. 8 Date: May 2013 Updated: 22 May 2014 Prepared by: Mai Viet Hung The report is prepared mainly on the basis of publicly available information, analysis, and comments retrieved from the internet and available provincial documents. All sources are cited and data stated in this report are for information purposes only. Users of this report should note that in the event of any inconsistency of data and facts between the English translations and the original Vietnamese text the latter shall prevail. 20 Socio-economic Reports of Long An Province, 2011 and

19 Annex 1: Population of Long An Province, 1995, Source: General Statistics Office (*) Population 1,250,800 1,327,100 1,393,400 1,405,200 1,417,900 1,428,200 1,436,300 1,442,800 1,449,600 Male 609, , , , , , , , ,900 Female 641, , , , , , , , ,700 Urban 179, , , , , , , , ,000 Rural 1,071,700 1,110,000 1,156,800 1,164,800 1,173,500 1,180,200 1,185,000 1,188,200 1,191,600 Total Fertility Rate (TFR): no. of children per woman Crude birth rate ( o / oo ) Crude death rate ( o / oo ) Natural increase rate ( o / oo ) Death rate of newborn under 1 ( o / oo ) Population increase rate (%) In immigration rate ( o / oo ) Out immigration rate ( o / oo ) Net immigration rate ( o / oo ) Labor over ,7 884,7 832,9 845,7 854,4 841,7 years old (1,000) Labor over ,3 404,2 398,4 410,6 428,9 years old working in the State sector (1,000) Labor over years / total population (%) Labor over 15 years old being trained (%) Note (*): Preliminary data 19