On the afternoon of August 14, the Phu Quoc Economic Zone Management Board (An Giang) held a meeting to work directly with relevant departments and branches and representatives of major investors in the area.
At the working session, representatives of corporations and investors frankly presented existing barriers such as: site clearance progress, landscape embellishment of DT975 road, procedures for adjusting the 1/500 detailed plan, and obstacles related to investment deposit obligations. The shortage of human resources, machinery, construction materials and price fluctuations are force majeure events; Allowing the application of investment phasing, prioritizing the construction of effective exploitation items first.
Identify projects with objective problems that are not in the case of slow land use to avoid being handled according to the Land Law; Postpone the project implementation time to after 2027 to protect the landscape, environment and serve APEC 2027 High-Level Week and allow investors to review and re-establish project implementation progress.
Speaking at the working session, Mr. Nguyen Thanh Tung - Head of Phu Quoc Economic Zone Management Board affirmed the spirit of the province and the Management Board is to always accompany, listen to and remove difficulties for businesses on the principle of openness and reasonableness. However, it is not possible to apply a general handling plan that is simultaneous for all projects with different legal conditions and capacity.
Directly answering each group of recommendations, the Phu Quoc Economic Zone Management Board and representatives of departments and branches clarified the handling plan for each proposed group.
Regarding the renovation of the front of DT975 road: For items that do not depend on the sidewalk, businesses must proactively accelerate progress and ensure safety and hygiene. For sidewalk-adjacent items, as soon as the sidewalk infrastructure is completed and the clean ground is relocated, investors must focus resources on immediately completing the landscape to promptly serve APEC 2027.
Regarding planning and waiting for adjustment 1/2. 000, 1/500 planning: Disagree with the policy of stopping or delaying the progress of all projects to wait for planning. The adjustment of the 1/500 detailed plan only applies to items directly affected by higher-level planning. Proposals to adjust planning according to the business's own needs are not necessarily considered as a basis for extending project progress.
Regarding the proposal that the lack of materials and labor is "force majeure": The Management Board does not recognize these market difficulties as force majeure events according to the provisions of the Civil Code. In fact, key projects (Airport, APEC Conference Center) have been completed by over 50% of the volume and the supply of materials is gradually stabilizing. Therefore, businesses need to proactively implement construction plans.
Regarding investment phasing: It is agreed in principle to allow investment phasing to increase efficiency, but investors must develop detailed plans and must not exceed the approved total progress.
Regarding the proposal to postpone the construction time to after 2027: disagreement on the proposal to postpone it simultaneously. Phu Quoc needs the contribution of all accommodation and service projects to complete infrastructure to serve APEC 2027 Summit Week.
Mr. Nguyen Thanh Tung requested the Management Board to coordinate with departments and branches to urgently summarize and report to the center to submit to the People's Committee of An Giang province. Problems related to specific legal documents will be reviewed for each case to be thoroughly resolved, ensuring harmony of interests between the State and the Enterprise, and at the same time maintaining state management discipline on investment and land.
