Need to allocate revenue from hydropower to develop Western Nghe An

On the afternoon of October 16, the Provincial People's Committee held a meeting to review 5 years of implementing Decision 2355 of the Prime Minister on the Project on socio-economic development of Western Nghe An.

Comrade Le Minh Thong - Member of the Provincial Party Committee, Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee chaired the conference. Attending the conference were leaders of departments, branches, members of the Steering Committee for Western Development, and representatives of leaders of districts in Western Nghe An.

Comrade Le Minh Thong - Member of the Provincial Party Committee, Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee chaired the conference. Photo: Quang An

The number of farms and cooperatives is increasing rapidly.

Nghe An is implementing Decision No. 2355/QD-TTg of the Prime Minister on socio-economic development of the Western region until 2020 in the context of many advantages, difficulties, opportunities and challenges intertwined. Party committees and authorities at all levels have closely followed the viewpoints, goals and tasks set out by the Prime Minister to focus on leadership and implementation.

With the attention, help and timely direction of the Central Government and the efforts of the business community and people of all walks of life, the socio-economic situation of Western Nghe An has achieved many remarkable results in the past 5 years.

Mr. Nguyen Tien Lam - Deputy Director of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development said that there is a lack of resources to implement programs and projects in the West. Photo: Quang An

The average growth rate in the 2013 - 2018 period in the Western Nghe An region is estimated at 8.4%, higher than the average of the whole province (the whole province in the 2013 - 2018 period is estimated to increase by 8%). Mobilizing resources to implement the New Rural Program reached 2,480 billion VND, 51/203 communes in the Western region have met the New Rural standards. Many new models have brought about income efficiency for farmers.

In particular, from 2013 to now, 163 projects with 64,100 billion VND of registered investment capital have been attracted to the Western Nghe An region. A number of important production projects have been completed and put into operation, creating new capacity, such as: TH Food Joint Stock Company's milk processing factory, Nghia Dan wood processing factory, Anh Son tapioca starch processing factory; white stone, sawn stone, and paving stone processing factories in Tan Ky, Quy Hop, Nghia Dan; 7 hydropower plants with a total capacity of 638.5 MW have generated electricity...

Some projects are being invested in such as: Project on Conservation and Development of Medicinal Herbs associated with Sustainable Forest Development, project on pig farm in Nghe An in Quy Hop district, MDF production in Anh Son district; fruit processing in Nghia Dan...

By the end of 2017, in the Western Nghe An region, there were 3 concentrated industrial parks with approved detailed planning: Nghia Dan Industrial Park (245.68 ha), Song Dinh Industrial Park (301.65 ha), Tan Ky Industrial Park (600 ha)...

At the same time, many new attractive tourist destinations have been formed such as: Pu Mat National Park, Pha Lai - Khe Khang eco-tourism, Khe Kem Waterfall tourism, Sao Va Waterfall, Bua - Tham Om Cave...

The number of farms and cooperatives in the Western region has increased rapidly. To date, the Western districts have 227 cooperatives, an increase of 48 cooperatives compared to 2012 and equal to 33.3% of the total number of cooperatives in the whole province.

Over the past 5 years, 137 new farms have been established, bringing the number of farms in the Western region to 186, an increase of 279.6% compared to 2012. The system of special-use forests, protective forests, Pu Mat National Park, Pu Huong and Pu Hoat Nature Reserves have been well protected and developed. The fields of education and culture have flourished, and national security and defense have been maintained.

Perspective of Nghe An MDF Factory under construction in Anh Son district. Photo courtesy

Many projects are behind schedule

However, over the past 5 years, many projects in the West have been behind schedule, many settlement projects have not been really effective; settlement after hydropower development has not been really stable, industrial clusters have not been effective...

At the meeting, members of the Western Economic Development Steering Committee and departments, branches and sectors gave their opinions on the project implementation.

Mr. Nguyen Tien Lam - Deputy Director of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development commented: After 5 years of implementing Decision 2355, the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development found that many projects and programs were not effective. For example, the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development has 9 projects and 10 programs, all of which were approved and have no resources to implement. In addition, the participation of enterprises is still limited. Enterprises investing in agriculture and rural areas lack policies and cannot implement them.

Passion fruit growing in Tri Le commune, Que Phong district. Photo: Quang An

Mr. Luong Thanh Hai - Head of the Provincial Ethnic Minorities Committee is concerned: The issue of stabilizing the livelihoods of ethnic minority people is not stable, natural disasters and climate change are increasingly unpredictable, mountainous infrastructure is still weak, and products and goods in the West are still limited.

Some opinions at the conference said that it is necessary to re-evaluate the impact of hydropower on the West.

Speaking at the meeting, comrade Le Minh Thong affirmed: Western Nghe An is currently developing quite strongly, with many products that are consumed well such as passion fruit, tea, sugarcane, and dairy cows. The problem is that we need to consider developing more products to effectively exploit the potential.

Comrade Le Minh Thong also said that it is necessary to study to leave a part of the tax revenue from hydroelectric projects for the development of the Western districts. He also agreed with the 7 solutions to continue to implement to develop the Western economy and society, and the recommendations and proposals to continue to effectively implement the project.