The Vietnamese government has just decided to manage the Bo Y international border economic zone in the Central Highlands region to boost its socio-economic development, and ties with Laos and Cambodia, local newspaper Pioneer reported in Hanoi Monday.

The zone in Kon Tum province, under the government's managementand direction, offers preferential treatment to both local and foreign investors. They are exempted from land rental for the first 11 years, and enjoy 70-percent reduction from the 12th year.

Besides, the investors enjoy free infrastructure works and public utilities, and can mortgage or transfer the land-use rights.Citizens of Laos and Cambodia living near the Bo Y international border economic zone can stay in Vietnam for up to 15 days with laissez-passers.

In recent years, the government has intensified investment in the Central Highlands region, whose economy and infrastructure develop slowly despite its rich natural resources. The investment in 2005 is estimated at 10.5 trillion Vietnamese dong (VND) (664.5million US dollars), up from over 5.1 trillion VND (nearly 322.8 million dollars) in 2001.

The region, comprising the five provinces of Kon Tum, Dac Lac, Dac Nong, Gia Lai and Lam Dong, is predicted to post gross domestic product (GDP) growth of 12 percent in 2005, up from 11 percent in 2004 and 11.2 percent in 2003. Although the region's GDP growth rates were higher than the country's figures, its GDP per capita stood at only 357 dollars, compared with the country's average of 550.6 dollars last year Now, 82 percent of households in the region use electricity, and all the communes have clinics, radio and telecommunications services.

Source: Xinhua