Scientists offer advice on new rural construction in Nghe An in the coming period

Attending the workshop were leaders of the Central Office for New Rural Development Coordination; scientists, managers in the fields of agriculture and rural areas... On the side of Nghe An province, there were comrades: Nguyen Van Thong - Deputy Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee; Dinh Viet Hong - Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee.

Full photo of the workshop. Photo: Xuan Hoang

Difficulties to be resolved

Speaking at the workshop, comrade Nguyen Van Thong - Deputy Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee said: In the construction of new rural areas in Nghe An, although in the past time, it has achieved high achievements, ranking 5th in the country in building new rural areas, but there are still some difficulties that need to be resolved; that is: the transportation system in many localities has not developed sustainably, there is no solution for handling rural household waste.

Comrade Nguyen Van Thong also said: Local resources for investment in building new rural areas are not much; agriculture and rural development are not sustainable, strengths have not been fully exploited...; these are big questions that need answers.

Comrade Nguyen Van Thong - Deputy Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee spoke at the workshop. Photo: Xuan Hoang

Therefore, with the experience of scientists and managers in the field of agriculture and rural areas, it is hoped that the workshop will be a condition for sectors and localities to absorb and refer to their localities appropriately in the coming period.

Mr. Nguyen Minh Tien - Director, Chief of the Central Office for New Rural Area Coordination said: In the process of building new rural areas in recent times, there are still a number of issues that are arising, requiring research and assessment to propose specific solutions, which are: What must be done so that when a commune reaches new rural standards, in addition to ensuring a good material and spiritual life for the people, it must also preserve the identity of traditional rural areas. Aiming for a model new rural area, what is the core issue?

Mr. Nguyen Minh Tien - Director, Chief of the Central Office for New Rural Development Coordination gave his opinion. Photo: Xuan Hoang

To effectively build the new rural area in phase 2, localities need to focus on “depth, quality, and sustainability”. That is, improving the material and spiritual life of the people; having appropriate economic and social infrastructure; reasonable economic structure and forms of production organization, linking agricultural development with industry and services; linking rural development with urban areas…

Regarding investment resources, Mr. Nguyen Minh Tien suggested that localities focus on mobilizing resources from credit institutions and enterprises.

Mr. Ho Xuan Hung - Chairman of Vietnam General Association of Agriculture and Rural Development spoke at the workshop. Photo: Xuan Hoang

Attention to agricultural product consumption

At the workshop, delegates listened to many presentations from scientists, managers in the fields of agriculture, rural areas, and industries and localities with experience in building new rural areas.

Mr. Ho Xuan Hung - Chairman of the Vietnam General Association of Agriculture and Rural Development said: Nghe An has many advantages in building new rural areas: large land, large population, abundant young labor force, and a team of officials at all levels who are very dedicated to the new rural construction program.

However, Nghe An also faces many challenges: The rural area is too large, the terrain is complex, and the transportation infrastructure is still very difficult. The problem of agricultural product consumption requires reorganizing the market for farmers. The cultural environment and security environment in rural areas need to be improved. There are still many young workers leaving their hometowns to find jobs; environmental issues have not been improved...

Building new rural roads in Yen Thanh district. Photo: Xuan Hoang

Therefore, Mr. Hung hopes that Nghe An needs to change the phrase "Building a comprehensive agricultural sector" to "Building a multifunctional, modern agricultural sector, increasing added value, sustainability, promoting the application of scientific and technological advances, advanced technology to increase productivity, quality associated with preservation, processing and consumption of products, improving the efficiency and competitiveness of agricultural products".

Nghe An province needs to implement some different solutions based on local characteristics. It is advisable to stratify rural areas according to the conditions of each area: rural areas in cities and towns; rural areas in mountainous and midland areas. For rural areas in coastal plains far from urban areas, they are divided into 2 areas: East of National Highway 1 and West of National Highway 1.

Nghe An countryside is renewed thanks to the New Rural Development Program. Photo: Archive

Regarding financial resources, Mr. Ho Xuan Hung said: It is necessary to have specific and practical policies and pay special attention to administrative procedures and the awareness of civil servants serving businesses to attract businesses to invest and start-up businesses in the province. Existing businesses expanding their investment scale will have money for building new rural areas.

Create a movement to honor children living all over the country and abroad who actively participate in the new rural construction program. In addition, local authorities need to be democratic, open, and transparent in using resources so that people can confidently support them.

At the workshop, a number of topics were also presented to highlight issues in new rural construction, experiences in new rural construction in Japan, Korea, China...

Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee Dinh Viet Hong thanked scientists and managers for their enthusiastic and practical proposals that are in line with Nghe An's reality. He hoped that local authorities and sectors would absorb and apply them appropriately so that Nghe An's New Rural Development Program would go deeper and be more practical in the coming period./.