The province was planning to shift its economic structure to increased industrial density in order to be classified as a "province with developed industrial and service sectors" by 2020, Hue added.
Quang Ngai has issued a call for investment in 70 proposed projects, 40 of which would be situated with in the Dung Quat Economic Zone.
The Dung Quat oil refinery, the nation’s first, has already drawn a number of major industrial projects to follow it into the zone, including the USD 300 million Doosan heavy industries complex which opened in May and the Vinashin Group’s USD 600 million shipyard, according to an official from the provincial Department of Planning and Investment.
The province was fostering the further development of the economic zone in co-ordination with others in the central region and was continuing to perfect its infrastructure, particularly in transportation and seaports, Hue said.
Top priority would be given to projects in the petrochemical, steel and processing industries, he added.
To meet the demand for a more skilled workforce, the province has approved a vocational training programme for 2008-10 with a budget of over VND212 billion (USD 12 million). The programme is targeting to train 29,000 workers.
Quang Ngai province granted licences to two foreign-invested projects worth USD 28.5 million in the first seven months of this year, double the total of foreign investment in the same period of last year. These projects brought the total number of licensed foreign-invested projects in the province to 16, worth a total of USD 3.4 billion.
The largest foreign-invested project in the province is a USD 3.3 billion rolled-steel mill being built by Taiwan’s Guang Lian Steel Co.