Provincial Party Secretary points out barriers that need to be overcome for higher industrial growth

On the morning of September 14, Comrade Nguyen Dac Vinh - Member of the Party Central Committee, Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee, Head of the Provincial National Assembly Delegation worked with the Party Committee of the Provincial People's Committee to listen to the report on the socio-economic development situation in the third quarter of 2018, some tasks and solutions for socio-economic development in the fourth quarter of 2018; the implementation results of Notice No. 1172 - TB/TU dated June 29, 2018 of the Provincial Party Committee on the conclusion of the Provincial Party Committee Secretary working with the Party Committee of the Provincial People's Committee on the economic development situation in the first 6 months of 2018.

Comrade Nguyen Xuan Duong - Deputy Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee, Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee chaired the meeting. Also attending were Vice Chairmen of the Provincial People's Committee: Le Minh Thong - Member of the Provincial Party Committee Standing Committee, Huynh Thanh Dien, Le Ngoc Hoa and leaders of provincial departments and branches.

Comrade Nguyen Dac Vinh - Member of the Party Central Committee, Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee, Head of the Provincial National Assembly Delegation spoke at the meeting with the Party Committee of the Provincial People's Committee. Photo: Thanh Duy

Calculations by the General Statistics Office show that in the first 9 months of 2018, the province's gross regional domestic product (GRDP) is estimated to reach VND58,422 billion, up 8.02% over the same period; budget revenue is estimated to reach nearly VND9,717.6 billion, reaching 76.6% of the estimate.

Nghe An's tourism activities have also witnessed many positive changes. In the first 8 months of the year, the total number of visitors was 3.42 million, up 11% over the same period, of which international visitors reached 102.7 thousand, up 16% over the same period; total tourism revenue reached nearly 6,227 billion VND.

The cultural and social fields continued to have many positive changes. Nghe An maintained its top position in the country in terms of excellent students at national, regional and international levels; job creation, poverty reduction and social security issues continued to be taken care of, especially creating jobs for about 30,375 workers, of which 9,638 were exported.

Director of the Department of Planning and Investment Nguyen Van Do speaks at the meeting. Photo: Thanh Duy

At the meeting, leaders of relevant sectors focused on clarifying the reasons why the GRDP growth rate, although higher than the same period last year, was still lower than the set plan. In addition, the local budget revenue increased compared to the same period last year, but some revenue items were lower than the estimated progress, such as: revenue from centrally managed enterprises reached 50.6%; revenue from foreign-invested enterprises reached 48.5%... Tax debt increased compared to the same period last year.

Some industrial products are slow to produce and consume due to market difficulties or unstable input materials, so their growth rate has decreased and has not ensured the planned progress, such as: beer of all kinds decreased by 4.17%, tin ore decreased by 41.18%, construction stone decreased by 32.6%...

Director of the Department of Planning and Investment Nguyen Van Do suggested that in the remaining quarter of 2018, it is necessary to focus on directing and removing difficulties in three areas: tax collection, construction, and investment attraction to accelerate the province's growth rate; in addition, the industrial, service, and agricultural sectors need to continue to maintain growth momentum.

Speaking at the meeting, listing a number of difficulties of enterprises that have invested and are investing in the province, Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee Le Ngoc Hoa suggested continuing to accompany and remove difficulties for enterprises.

Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee Le Ngoc Hoa spoke at the meeting. Photo: Thanh Duy

Agreeing with the above viewpoint, Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee Huynh Thanh Dien suggested that it is necessary to carefully analyze the reasons for the decrease in investment attraction this year compared to the same period in order to find solutions. At the same time, the province needs to carry out better site clearance work, as well as make recommendations to the Central Government to amend some problems.

Concluding the meeting, Provincial Party Secretary Nguyen Dac Vinh emphasized that the province has conducted a preliminary review of 5 years of implementing Resolution No. 26 of the Politburo on the direction and tasks for the development of Nghe An province until 2020, and a mid-term review of the 18th Provincial Party Congress. On that basis, departments and branches will summarize to have development directions for their sectors and fields.

Regarding the economic issue, for the agricultural sector, after analyzing the growth potential of a series of fields such as cultivation, livestock, fishing, and forestry, the Provincial Party Secretary said that overall, the growth rate of the sector in the next few years will still be stable, but in the long term, calculations are needed to have sustainable growth.

Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee Huynh Thanh Dien spoke at the meeting. Photo: Thanh Duy

As for the industrial sector, Secretary Nguyen Dac Vinh said that there is still room for growth but the pace is slow. The Provincial Party Secretary pointed out that the current bottlenecks are overlapping procedures; although infrastructure has been improved, it is not good yet, in which transportation infrastructure, especially seaports, is very important but is currently not good, reducing the province's competitive advantage. Nghe An has an abundant labor force, but the technical workforce still has certain limitations.

Based on the above-mentioned barriers, Provincial Party Secretary Nguyen Dac Vinh requested to find ways to remove them. In the immediate future, in the context of the province's limited resources, functional sectors need to review, thereby balancing and allocating resources for more reasonable development investment, in addition to ensuring resources for social security.

The Provincial Party Secretary also gave his opinion on solutions for the construction and service sectors, especially the service sector which has only grown around 7% in recent years, while the target set by the Provincial Party Congress Resolution is higher, so it is necessary to find the cause to find a solution.

Production at the export garment company in Yen Thanh town industrial park. Photo courtesy

Regarding investment attraction projects, the Provincial Party Secretary requested more thorough analysis, especially the Department of Planning and Investment needs to develop specific tables on the number of projects that have been decided to invest, projects that have been implemented, and prospects. Based on that overall picture analysis, closer management can be carried out.

The Provincial Party Secretary requested relevant sectors to grasp the situation, study carefully to take specific actions to accompany and support businesses and focus carefully on supporting the completion of infrastructure construction as well as attracting investment in VSIP, Hemaraj, Hoang Mai industrial parks...

Regarding the issue of tax collection difficulties, the Provincial Party Secretary also requested relevant sectors to identify projects that contribute large revenue sources to focus on removing them in order to create favorable conditions for businesses to start operating soon.

The Provincial Party Secretary also suggested that the operating model of the Provincial Investment Promotion and Support Center should be re-examined to ensure greater efficiency. Regarding the province's recommendations to the Central Government, the Provincial People's Committee should create a list of problems by field group in order of priority so that the Provincial National Assembly Delegation can report to the National Assembly Standing Committee and the Government.

Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee Nguyen Xuan Duong speaks at the meeting. Photo: Thanh Duy

Previously, leaders of the Education and Training, Labor - Invalids and Social Affairs, Health, Culture - Sports sectors also reported on the situation of the sector as well as orientations in the coming time at the meeting. The Provincial Party Secretary noted that the Labor - Invalids and Social Affairs sector quickly disbursed support for people with meritorious services in difficult housing conditions according to Decision 22/2013 of the Prime Minister; the Health sector coordinated with related sectors to effectively implement management work, ensuring food hygiene and safety...

On behalf of the Party Committee of the Provincial People's Committee, Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee Nguyen Xuan Duong accepted the direction of the Provincial Party Secretary; at the same time, assigned the Provincial People's Committee Office to issue an official dispatch to collect a number of overlapping mechanisms and recommendations to the Provincial Party Secretary and the Provincial National Assembly Delegation to submit to the National Assembly and the Government...