The Party Executive Committee of Nghe An province gives opinions on adjusting land prices for the period 2020 - 2024

On the morning of December 9, the Executive Committee of the Nghe An Provincial Party Committee, 18th term, 2015 - 2020, held the 17th Conference to assess the socio-economic situation in 2019 and give opinions on the socio-economic development plan for 2020.

Comrade Nguyen Dac Vinh - Member of the Party Central Committee, Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee, Head of the Provincial National Assembly Delegation chaired the conference.Attending the conference were comrades: Nguyen Xuan Son - Standing Deputy Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee, Chairman of the Provincial People's Council; Thai Thanh Quy - Alternate member of the Party Central Committee, Deputy Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee, Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee; Nguyen Van Thong - Deputy Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee; comrades of the Standing Committee of the Provincial Party Committee, members of the Provincial Party Executive Committee. Photo: Mai Hoa

Limitations in budget collection

At the conference, on behalf of the Provincial People's Committee, Comrade Le Hong Vinh - Member of the Provincial Party Standing Committee, Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee reported to the Provincial Party Executive Committee on the socio-economic situation and state budget estimate in 2019, the socio-economic development plan and budget collection in 2020.

Entering the discussion, Provincial Party Secretary Nguyen Dac Vinh asked the comrades of the Provincial Party Executive Committee to frankly and objectively acknowledge the limitations in budget collection. Accordingly, although the province has achieved a good growth rate and exceeded the estimate every year, the targets of the Resolution of the 18th Provincial Party Congress, term 2015 - 2020 have not been achieved.

Director of the Department of Finance Nguyen Xuan Hai added that currently, land use fee collection accounts for 25% of domestic revenue and more than 22% of total budget revenue. Photo: Mai Hoa

Analyzing this issue, Director of the Department of Finance Nguyen Xuan Hai pointed out a number of factors affecting the budget revenue not meeting the congress target due to the economic growth rate not really being achieved and many key projects not being implemented, plus a number of newly issued mechanisms and policies also affecting revenue sources.

The Director of the Department of Finance also informed that currently, the proportion of land use fee collection accounts for 25% of domestic revenue and more than 22% of total budget revenue; this is an unstable revenue. Therefore, to have a stable and increasing budget revenue, it is necessary to promote revenue collection in the industry, trade and service sector. However, the reality shows that in 2017 and 2018, this revenue has been in deficit.

Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee Thai Thanh Quy also affirmed that the Provincial People's Committee will build a budget revenue estimate in real numbers to focus on leadership and direction for implementation at the highest level in 2020. Photo: Mai Hoa

Not satisfied with the analysis of the Director of the Department of Finance on the reasons for the difficulty in achieving the budget revenue target, especially the fact that the province does not have many dynamic projects, comrade Nguyen Huu Cau - Member of the Provincial Party Standing Committee, Director of the Provincial Police Department said that there are still many tax losses, if we are determined and resolute in inspecting, checking, post-checking and handling transparently, we will certainly ensure the requirements.

Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee Thai Thanh Quy also affirmed that the Provincial People's Committee will build a budget revenue estimate in real numbers to focus on leadership and direction at the highest level in 2020, creating a premise for building targets and budget revenue plans for the next term.

A corner of VSIP Industrial Park. Photo courtesy

Reasonable adjustment of land price list

Another issue that the Provincial Party Secretary was also concerned about at the conference was the adjustment of the land price list for the period 2020 - 2024 according to the plan of the Provincial People's Committee to submit to the Provincial People's Council at the upcoming 12th session (December 10-12), which is causing a strong reaction in the business community.

Therefore, I suggest that comrades in the Provincial Party Executive Committee carefully discuss on the basis of research the influence and impact of adjusting land price list on subjects, especially enterprises, to ensure competitiveness in attracting investment in the province.

Based on the suggestions of the Provincial Party Secretary, at the meeting, many opinions were discussed to clarify many issues. Standing Deputy Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee, Chairman of the Provincial People's Council Nguyen Xuan Son affirmed that the land price list was built by the Provincial People's Committee, through grasping public opinion, the common floor price of land created consensus and was within the framework allowed by the Government.

Standing Deputy Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee, Chairman of the Provincial People's Council Nguyen Xuan Son said that the adjustment of land price list needs to be recalculated to ensure harmony and promote the overall development of the province. Photo: Mai Hoa

However, the issue that many businesses are concerned about is that they have to bear two sudden increases at the same time, because they have to bear both the increase in the floor price of the general land price and the increase in the percentage for commercial and service land prices, from 50% to 60% compared to the price of residential land and land for production and business for mineral exploitation purposes; from 100% to 150% compared to the price of adjacent residential land or equivalent location (according to the draft).

The increase in land prices is necessary, this is an adjustment when the land price list for the period 2015 - 2019 is about to expire; on the other hand, the increase in land prices also raises the issue of effective use, avoiding "hugging" land, keeping land and speculation. However, it is also necessary to recalculate to ensure harmony, creating promotion for the overall development of the province.

Regarding this issue, Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee Thai Thanh Quy said that after receiving the direction of the Provincial Party Committee Standing Committee and opinions of the business community, the Provincial People's Committee had 4 meetings to recalculate and general land price list, expected to increase from the current price list from 1.1 to 1.34 times; at the same time, adjust the percentage increase in land prices for non-agricultural production and business, commercial and service land prices, and production and business land for mineral exploitation purposes.

Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee Thai Thanh Quy also informed that the current general land price list in the two neighboring provinces of Thanh Hoa and Ha Tinh is higher or equivalent to that of Nghe An. And the percentage increase in land prices for non-agricultural production and business, commercial and service land, and production and business land for mineral exploitation purposes are all higher than Nghe An.

Comrade Nguyen Dac Vinh requested Party committees and authorities at all levels to proactively deploy specific and practical projects and tasks to celebrate the 130th birthday of President Ho Chi Minh in 2020. Photo: Mai Hoa

Concluding this content, Provincial Party Secretary Nguyen Dac Vinh requested the Provincial People's Committee to continue researching to adjust land prices appropriately, especially land prices in industrial projects, along with proactively informing and propagating about the roadmap for increasing land prices so that businesses know and calculate investment costs. The Provincial Party Secretary emphasized: "If land prices are not suitable, it will be a disadvantage in attracting investment in the province."

Concluding the overall plan for socio-economic development and budget collection in 2020, the Provincial Party Secretary emphasized: 2020 is the last year to implement the Resolution of the 18th Provincial Party Congress, creating a premise for building a resolution for the new term. Therefore, the targets, tasks and solutions for 2020 are proposed to be calculated, adjusted reasonably and implemented centrally by the Provincial People's Committee.

Regarding administrative reform, the Provincial Party Secretary requested the Provincial People's Committee to have a method to grasp the administrative reform situation and have truly effective solutions; strengthen the work of ensuring security and order, especially drug crimes, because Nghe An is considered a key area for this type of crime.

Emphasizing that 2020 is the year to celebrate the 130th anniversary of President Ho Chi Minh's birthday, the Provincial Party Secretary requested Party committees and authorities at all levels to proactively deploy specific projects and tasks. In particular, Nam Dan district strives to complete a number of projects and works towards achieving the standards of a model new rural district.