Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee: Developing commodity agriculture associated with attracting business investment

On the morning of September 18, the Provincial People's Committee organized a working session to inspect, review and evaluate the implementation of projects to implement the Resolution of the 18th Provincial Party Congress (Resolution) at the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development.

Chairing the meeting were comrades: Thai Thanh Quy - Alternate member of the Party Central Committee, Deputy Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee, Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee; Cao Thi Hien - Member of the Provincial Party Standing Committee, Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Council; Dinh Viet Hong - Member of the Provincial Party Executive Committee, Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee. Also attending the meeting were representatives of leaders of a number of provincial departments and branches.

4 synthetic indicators are forecast to be achieved and exceeded

In general, the orientation, goals, targets and solutions set out in Resolution XVIII in the field of agriculture and rural development in general and the four projects in particular that have been coordinated by the industry so far have achieved quite comprehensive results.

It is forecasted that the four aggregate targets of the industry will reach and exceed the targets of the Resolution of the 18th Provincial Party Congress. In particular, the growth rate of agricultural, forestry and fishery production value for the entire period of 2016 - 2020 is expected to reach about 4.6 - 4.7%, achieving the resolution target.

Regarding the implementation of the National Target Program on New Rural Development, by August 2019, the whole province had 226/431 communes meeting 19/19 criteria, accounting for 52.44%, higher than the national average (50.26%), with 3 district-level units completing the task of building new rural areas. By the end of 2020, it is forecasted to exceed the Resolution's target and exceed the Government's target assigned 1 year in advance.

By the end of 2020, the Forest Coverage Index is forecast to reach 59%, exceeding the Resolution target (57%). The rate of rural people with access to clean water will also reach the target of 85%.

Comrade Hoang Nghia Hieu - Member of the Provincial Party Committee, Director of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development presented the results of implementing the Resolution's objectives. Photo: Thanh Duy

4 projects of the Agriculture and Rural Development sector were assigned to be implemented according to the Action Program to implement Resolution XVIII, including:

- Project to build key infrastructure in Nghe An in the fields of irrigation and climate change response.

- Project on restructuring the agricultural sector of Nghe An province towards increasing added value and sustainable development in the period of 2016-2020; implementation of Directive No. 07-CT/TU, dated December 6, 2016 of the Provincial Party Standing Committee on promoting the restructuring of the agricultural sector of Nghe An province towards increasing added value and sustainable development, in the period of 2016-2020.

- Plan for developing key seedlings in Nghe An province and support mechanisms and policies of the province.

- Project on new rural construction associated with the development of economic sectors, craft villages, craft villages, high-quality economic models to transform the growth model in rural agriculture in Nghe An province in the period of 2016 - 2020. Conclusion No. 11-KL/TU, dated October 27, 2016 of the Provincial Party Executive Committee on summarizing 5 years of implementing Resolution 03-NQ/TU of the Provincial Party Committee on new rural construction; tasks and solutions for the period of 2016 - 2020 associated with the development of economic sectors, craft villages, craft villages, high-quality economic models in rural agriculture.

However, due to the implementation of projects in unfavorable conditions, some implementation targets have not been achieved, mainly due to lack of resources, unfavorable weather and epidemics; there are not many large programs and projects with breakthrough characteristics.

The application of scientific and technological advances in production in some localities is still limited, so productivity and efficiency are not high; the lives of a part of the people, especially in remote and isolated areas, still face many difficulties.

Comrade Cao Thi Hien - Vice Chairwoman of the Provincial People's Council spoke at the meeting. Photo: Thanh Duy

At the meeting, comrades Cao Thi Hien - Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Council and Dinh Viet Hong - Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee, along with representatives of departments and branches participating in the Inspection Team, assessed the implementation results of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, and at the same time requested to study and implement a number of related contents.

Review and evaluate the content to prepare for the new term

Concluding the meeting, Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee Thai Thanh Quy emphasized that agriculture is currently the most important front for Nghe An because it is directly related to the lives of the majority of people in the province, and at the same time acknowledged the efforts of the sector in performing well the tasks, especially the overall targets.

For the 4 projects under the sector's responsibility, the Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee also gave specific instructions, in which the sector needs to systematically evaluate and review the contents, especially paying attention to changes in management and leadership after the Provincial Party Committee Standing Committee gave its opinion; deeply assessing the limitations, difficulties, and problems, especially carefully analyzing the causes. Because after this review, the province will prepare a step for the new term.

At the same time, advise the Provincial People's Committee to evaluate the coordination process of the industry with related industries, this is very important for the overall implementation of the policy.

Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee Thai Thanh Quy delivered a concluding speech at the meeting. Photo: Thanh Duy

Going into each specific project, including the Project on building key infrastructure in Nghe An in the field of irrigation and climate change response, in the context of limited resources, the industry needs to review, re-evaluate and prioritize investment projects and solutions.

However, during the implementation process, comrade Thai Thanh Quy also noted the need to pay attention to improving management and operational capacity, capital efficiency; trying to maximize resources from the Central Government, non-governmental organizations, and foreign partners.

Regarding the project on restructuring the agricultural sector, although the sector has had good changes, increasing the value of unit area, it is necessary to pay attention to re-evaluating the effectiveness, restructuring must be systematic as planning needs to ensure long-term strategy and sustainability.

In addition, the industry needs to re-evaluate and have solutions to attract businesses to invest in agriculture because it is currently very limited; at the same time, focus on building brands, geographical indications, standards for typical products and advantages of Nghe An; evaluate the coordination between the agriculture and rural development sector and other sectors.

Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee Thai Thanh Quy visited the May 1 Fruit Tree Agricultural Cooperative in Nghia Binh Commune, Nghia Dan District. Photo: Thanh Duy

Regarding the plan to develop key seedlings, the Agriculture and Rural Development sector needs to immediately review key species in this period; review resources to focus on some strong plants including: medicinal plants and production forests.

Regarding the issue of developing craft villages and craft villages associated with new rural construction, the Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee noted to continue implementing the plan to build communes to reach the new rural finish line with the viewpoint of no debt, no over-mobilization of people, no achievement disease; at the same time, improving the operational efficiency of cooperatives and craft villages.

Comrade Thai Thanh Quy responded to the recommendations of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, including on capital mobilization, requesting the Department to review investment projects for agriculture and submit them to the Provincial People's Committee for assignment to relevant units for consideration.