To make the suburbs truly satellites of Vinh City urban area

Turning point in economic restructuring

EM-Tech electronic components assembly factory in VSIP Nghe An 1 Industrial Park, located in Hung Nguyen, employs over 8,000 workers, mainly from Hung Nguyen and Nam Dan. Photo: Nguyen Hai

After nearly 10 years of implementationResolution 26, Hung Nguyen and Nghi Loc are two of the district-level units with the most positive economic growth and economic restructuring indicators towards industrialization. Along with striving to build synchronous infrastructure, localities are making efforts and determination to shift the economic structure in the right direction, finding ways to conquer the challenges posed in practice.

According to the report of Hung Nguyen district, in the period of 2013-2021, the average growth rate reached 8.08%; average income per capita increased from 20.4 million VND (in 2013) to 48 million VND (in 2021); economic structure shifted in the right direction, increasing the proportion of industry - construction from 38.68% (in 2013) to 46.1% (in 2021), the proportion of agriculture and forestry decreased from 27.31% (in 2013) to 18.5% (in 2021). Average budget revenue in the period of 2013-2021 increased by 12.5%. Of which, in 2013 it reached 91.57 billion VND, in 2021 it reached 546 billion VND.

Mr. Pham Quoc Viet - Standing Deputy Secretary of the District Party Committee assessed: The greatest success in the past term as well as nearly 10 years of implementing Resolution 26 of Hung Nguyen is attracting the largest industrial infrastructure investor to the area. Although only phase 1 has been completed, with 22 projects in operation,VSIP Industrial Parkhas attracted nearly 5,000 local workers to work. Along with 200 newly established enterprises and 175 production facilities, each year the district creates new jobs for 3,000 to 3,500 workers.

Workers looking for job opportunities at VSIP Nghe An 1 Industrial Park in Hung Tay Commune, Hung Nguyen. Photo: Nguyen Hai

In fact, within each industry, there is also a positive shift, that is, agriculture is shifting towards commodity production and applying high technology to production. Thanks to the factories in the industrial park being established and taking advantage of the district on the outskirts of Vinh city, the construction, trade and service industries in Hung Nguyen are more developed, and although the children of workers leave the farm, they have to leave their hometown less.

Similarly, after nearly 10 years of implementing Resolution 26, Nghi Loc district has developed quite comprehensively in all fields, with a high growth rate, the economic structure has shifted in the right direction, and the district has gradually become a key and dynamic industrial economic development area of ​​the province.

Ships arrive to pick up clinker of The Vissai Cement at Nghi Thiet specialized port, Nghi Loc district. Photo: Nguyen Hai

On average, in the period of 2013 - 2021, the economic scale of Nghi Loc district (GRDP) is 2 times higher than in 2013. In 2021, the economic scale of the district reached its highest level with 26,086 billion VND. If the economic growth rate in the period of 2010 - 2015 was only about 9%, then in the period of 2015 - 2020 it reached 12.53%; in 2021, due to the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, the growth was lower but still reached 7.51%, the total production value reached 18,590,532 billion VND; the economic structure shifted towards rapidly increasing the proportion of industry - construction, reducing the proportion of agriculture - forestry - fishery. Specifically, the proportion of agriculture, forestry, fishery, industry, construction and trade and services were 30.76% - 39.19% - 30.05% in 2013, and by 2021, these proportions will be 16.2% - 58.5% - 25.3%, respectively.

Mr. Nguyen Ba Diep - Vice Chairman of Nghi Loc District People's Committee shared: Implementing Resolution 26, especially in the past 5 years, the entire district and commune political system has really made efforts. As a key area for industrial development of the province, at one time, the district simultaneously implemented the recovery of thousands of hectares of land for WHA Industrial Park infrastructure projects and other key projects, so it was quite stressful and pressured. However, with the support of the province and the sharing of the people, most of the projects were handed over on time. Currently, in addition to creating industrial value, projects inside and outside the Economic Zone have created jobs for about 10,000 local workers.

Checking and installing equipment lines at the High-grade Construction Materials Production Complex of Trung Do Nghi Van Company. Photo: Nguyen Hai

Pressure when entering a new phase

Despite achieving the above results, compared to the requirements, local representatives also frankly admitted that it was only the first step. In order to continue implementing Resolution 26 in the new period, in the action program to implement the Congress Resolution for the 2020-2025 term, localities proposed projects and plans to concretize. For example, with the advantage of being an agricultural district on the outskirts of Vinh City, along with encouraging people to invest capital to develop industries as satellites for the city, Hung Nguyen district implemented the Projectapplication of high technology in agricultural productionAccordingly, along with encouraging and supporting land accumulation to invest in building greenhouse and membrane house models and building large-scale fields, the district aims to call on businesses to exploit about 200 hectares of alluvial land to produce high-quality agricultural products such as melons, medicinal plants, etc.

The grape model on the two-rice land in Nghi Trung commune, Nghi Loc not only serves experiential tourism but also brings economic efficiency when each sao brings an income of over 20 million VND/crop. Photo: Nguyen Hai

Meanwhile, Nghi Loc district has the advantage of having a semi-mountainous area and rich hilly land resources, so in parallel with land acquisition and site clearance to hand over land to implement WHA Industrial Park Phase 2 in Nghi Dong and Nghi Hung communes, the district boldly attracts investment, expands industries of high-end construction materials production, textiles, electronics... in Nghi Lam, Nghi Van, Nghi Kieu, Nghi Trung, Nghi Dien communes... to create more jobs for rural workers.

According to the orientation, by 2025,Vinh city's boundaries will be adjusted and expanded., merging 5 more communes and towns east of Vinh bypass of Hung Nguyen and 15 communes and towns in Nghi Loc district including communes from Nam Cam and further (according to the latest proposal, the entire Cua Lo town and 9 communes in Nghi Loc will be merged into Vinh city). Therefore, the regional planning in each district for investment and development has difficulties. In the recent process of building district-level planning, Hung Nguyen and Nghi Loc districts, although identified as satellite cities of Vinh city, still have many concerns about choosing options.

In addition, according to Mr. Pham Quoc Viet - Standing Deputy Secretary of Hung Nguyen District Party Committee, to become a satellite of Vinh city as directed by Resolution 26, the district has aimed to exploit its advantages, but due to its modest internal capacity, the implementation process has faced many difficulties and challenges. A simple example is that the district has initially shaped a fewOCOP productstypical for investment priority but due to the small scale, it is difficult to create a breakthrough. Therefore, in the development process, to strengthen the connection and cooperation according to the goal of being a satellite of Vinh city, the province as well as the Central Government need to have a specific and larger support mechanism for the suburban areas./.