Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee: Tighten management of resources and minerals in Western Nghe An

On the morning of July 22, Inspection Team No. 7 according to Plan No. 179 dated February 14, 2019 of the Provincial Party Standing Committee, led by Comrade Thai Thanh Quy - Alternate Member of the Party Central Committee, Deputy Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee, Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee, had a working session with the Department of Planning and Investment to assess the implementation of the Western Region Socio-Economic Development Project to 2020 according to Decision 2355/QD dated December 4, 2013 of the Prime Minister.

Attending the meeting were Major General Nguyen Huu Cau - Member of the Provincial Party Standing Committee, Director of the Provincial Police Department; representatives of leaders of provincial departments, branches and sectors; representatives of leaders of western districts of the province. Photo: Thanh Le

7 important targets that are difficult to achieve

After 5 years of implementing the Western Socio-Economic Development Project, the socio-economic situation of this region has improved a lot, contributing to improving the material and spiritual life of the people, especially in ethnic minority areas, remote areas, and border areas; national defense and security are ensured, social order and safety are maintained.

Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee Thai Thanh Quy speaks at the meeting. Photo: Thanh Le

Agricultural development is restructured towards increasing added value and sustainable development; especially applying high technology in the production and processing of agricultural and forestry products. Forestry is strongly developed in planting raw material forests and large timber trees to serve the processing industry.

There are 5 planned industrial parks (IPs) in the Western region. Of these, 3 IPs have had their detailed plans approved; the IPs in the area have attracted 2 investment projects with a total registered investment capital of 3,650.77 billion VND.

Up to now, industrial clusters in the West have attracted 106 projects with a total registered investment capital of 1,227 billion VND; annual production value reached 1,335 billion VND, creating jobs for nearly 3,000 workers, and contributing 56 billion VND to the annual budget. Trade and tourism activities have developed quite rapidly.

The total growth value of Western Nghe An in 2018 reached 22,640 billion VND, an increase of 1.62 times compared to 2012; the growth value contribution in Western Nghe An to the general level of the whole province was stable at about 22-23%. The average growth rate in the period 2013 - 2018 in the Western region reached 8.4%; the average growth value per capita in 2012 reached 16.4 million VND, reaching 20.09 million VND in 2018.

Total annual budget revenue in the Western districts accounts for about 10-12% of the total budget revenue in the whole province; in 2018 it reached 1,772 billion VND; the target for 2020 is 7,294 billion VND.

Director of the Department of Planning and Investment Nguyen Van Do reported on the implementation results of Project 2355 on socio-economic development in the western region of the province. Photo: Thanh Le

In addition to the achieved results, the report clearly assessed: Economic growth is not sustainable; some important economic development indicators have low results; exploitation of potential advantages of land, forest resources, and minerals is not very effective; investment attraction is still limited; infrastructure has not met requirements; many villages and thousands of households do not have electricity grid, etc.

At the meeting, leaders of Western districts discussed the existing problems and difficulties in socio-economic development in localities.

The Western Nghe An region has a large area, but very low development; backward knowledge and customs have hindered investment and development; natural disasters occur frequently; the consequences of hydroelectric projects have a great impact on the socio-economic development and social security of localities. Attracting businesses to link production, exploit and promote the potential advantages of the Western region is still limited,...

Local opinions and recommendations to the province, for the sustainable development of the West, need to assess difficulties and advantages as well as choose breakthroughs to promote socio-economic development,...

Speaking at the meeting, Major General Nguyen Huu Cau emphasized that the consequences of hydropower projects have greatly affected the social life in the western region of Nghe An. Photo: Thanh Le

Of the 27 main economic, social and environmental targets by 2020 stated in Decision 2355, 20 are forecast to be achieved and exceeded, and 7 are difficult to achieve. These are economic growth rate; GRDP per capita/year; economic structure; budget revenue; the rate of communes with roads to the commune center that can be used by car in all four seasons; the number of university pharmacists/10,000 people; and forest coverage rate.

Tightening management of mineral resources

Concluding the meeting, Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee Thai Thanh Quy highly appreciated the results achieved by the Party Committee, government and people of the Western districts in the past time, the Western face of the province has had new developments, maintaining political stability in the border areas of the province.

Reviewing the implementation results of Project 2355, the Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee expressed concern that as planned, 7/27 basic targets are difficult to achieve, including 4 important economic targets.

Forestry development in Tuong Duong. Photo: Thanh Le

The Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee pointed out a number of reasons for the existence and limitations. These are that the direction in many aspects is not resolute, even lax and lacking in strict management of resource and mineral exploitation; investment in resources is still limited, including public investment; policy mechanisms are not strong enough for the Western region to attract businesses and mobilize resources.

The cause of all causes is limited resources while the exploitation of potential is unscientific, most clearly hydropower and resources and minerals.

“In the coming time, localities need to tighten the management of planning and resources and minerals in the area; raise the responsibility of local leaders. For projects that have come into operation, it is necessary to strictly manage exploitation activities; overcome the consequences of resource and mineral exploitation such as degraded infrastructure, flood discharge affecting people's lives" - said comrade Thai Thanh Quy.

Besides, it should be noted that the Western part of the province has a large forest area. To effectively develop forest land, localities need to convert poor forests into production forests to have production land for people.

Rice production on terraced fields in Keng Du commune (Ky Son). Photo: Dao Tho

Regarding attracting businesses to invest in this field, when appraising afforestation projects, the viewpoint is: only planning raw material areas, not directly allocating land to businesses. Businesses also need to have policies to encourage and motivate people to plant forests to provide raw materials.

At the same time, it is necessary to study policies to invest in infrastructure and support the development of medicinal plants under the forest canopy - this is the direction for people in the West.

Chairman of Que Phong District People's Committee Le Van Giap suggested: Developing the Western region requires attracting businesses to create jobs and exploit the potential and strengths of this land. Photo: Thanh Le

All levels and sectors need to pay attention to controlling border security, limiting illegal migration, human trafficking and drug abuse; promptly overcoming the consequences of natural disasters; and focusing on removing obstacles to public investment in the West.

At the same time, select investment in a number of key transport infrastructure projects to promote development in the Western region; Build mechanisms and policies to attract businesses to invest in the processing sector and develop eco-tourism; pay attention to building a strong political system from the grassroots, especially arranging and deploying a team of qualified staff...