The journey is not simple

Along with the comments with “critical” content, there are also many “suggestive” statements. Although they may be simple, rough and fragmented or impractical, all contributions are valuable. It is not difficult for us to realize that with any emotional state, with any perspective and expression, the overarching theme is a burning desire to develop the homeland.

It can be affirmed thatBuilding Nghe An into a prosperous province in the futureis the legitimate and beautiful desire of the "people's heart", which seems to coincide with what the "Party's will" has been and is aiming for.

Panoramic view of Vinh city. Photo: Le Thang

“Nghe An becoming a fairly good province” was also the wish of President Ho Chi Minh during his lifetime, and also the aspiration of the people of the whole country. Before sitting down to write, I searched the keyword phrase “Nghe An becoming a fairly good province” online and received 1,246,620 results. Among them were statements by leaders and experts many years ago, even many... terms. That more or less shows that the title “fairly good province” was once a desire and is still a desire now.

According to common understanding, “fair” is above average, and “best” must be one level higher. So, when Uncle Ho said “Nghe An becomes one of the best provinces in the North”, he probably wanted the province to be in the top group. From this way of reasoning, we can temporarily divide it into 3 stages: The first stage is “escape from poverty”, the second stage is “fair” and the third stage is to rise to “best”. Obviously, this cannot be a simple journey.

First of all, let me ask you how far have we “gone”? Where is Nghe An on the “Northern” socio-economic map? No one has stopped to “wait” for us, and in recent years we have not been in a “stalemate” state. The evidence is that the economic scale has increased 1.44 times, and the GRDP per capita has increased 1.57 times.

To be fair, in recent decades, Nghe An has made great strides in all areas. The average economic growth rate in the 5 years from 2006 to 2010 reached 9.75%. The average growth rate in the period from 2011 to 2015 reached 7.89%. The growth rate in the period from 2015 to 2018 was equivalent to 8%/year. In 2019 alone (before the pandemic), GRDP growth reached 9.03%; GRDP per capita reached 43.08 million VND.

Thus, over the past 15 years, Nghe An's economy has continuously grown well, higher than the national average. In particular, the economic structure has shifted positively, the proportion of industry, construction and services increased from 77.62% in 2018 to 78.64% in 2019; the proportion of agriculture, forestry and fishery decreased from 22.38% in 2018 to 21.36% in 2019. (In 2020 and 2021, due to the impact of the pandemic, the author would like to not use the data for illustration).

Nghe An province is speeding up the progress of provincial planning for the 2021-2030 period, with a vision to 2050. Photo: Book Nguyen - Thanh Cuong - Le Thang

One of the numbers that is causing a stir on the internet is that in 2021, Nghe An ranked fourth in car purchases (after Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City and Hai Phong). The urban landscape is changing every day. Night economy (walking street) from a strange term suddenly becomes familiar. Nghe An is still one of the famous localities in the field of education through national and international exams. Security and defense are maintained. Administrative reform has made much progress... The Provincial Competitiveness Index (PCI) before the pandemic rose to 19th place in the country. Obviously, these are positive bright spots for the socio-economic picture of the province.

However, what no one can deny and no one wants is that Nghe An is still a poor province. The average income per capita is still low compared to the whole country.industrial economic index, the urban economy is still modest. The story of budget deficit is still a problem that needs to be solved. "A good province" is still a difficult destination ahead.

Admittedly, we cannot evaluate our optimistic growth in a static state. That is, we do not only compare ourselves with ourselves but forget that, while we grow up, other localities also grow up. We compare the vertical axis but forget the horizontal axis. Whenever we still take growth according to the model of "higher year after year" as satisfying our achievements, then the title of a fairly good province is still a very distant destination. That is probably also one of the reasons why netizens are "discussing online" in cyberspace. Obviously, considering the budget revenue perspective, it seems that our two neighbors are "better off". In terms of "present tense" numbers, it is clear that the provinces neighboring Nghe An have achieved and are achieving extremely important and encouraging achievements, which are important reference lessons, although we know that using a few contemporary indicators to evaluate the overall strategy is not enough.

We talk about the advantage of "large land and large population", is that the real advantage of Nghe An when 80% of our land is just forest land? Has the advantage of "large population" really become economic and social energy when the recent "repatriation to escape the epidemic" revealed the reality of where young workers in Nghe An choose to make a living?

We say “silver sea” but do we have the ability to build deep-water ports like other localities? We say “have an international airport” but is it worthy of the word “international” or is it just a “stop-over” for journeys?

We are proud of our “academic” achievements, but how many people return to “live and die” with their homeland? The keyword “fairly prosperous province” is still very far away if we keep lulling ourselves with self-proclaimed advantages! Israel has no advantages in farming, where does Singapore get “large land and large population”?

The amplitude of change does not depend only on the amplitude of expectation. Perhaps it is time for the people of the province to break out of the mindset of “next year will be better than last year” in order to reach the four words “Miracle of Lam River”.

Perhaps it is not for nothing that netizens are "shocked" and interested ineconomic budget figureslike that. Not only are they “impatient”, but I think they realize that the thirst in cadres, party members and people has been aroused. They see that Nghe An is starting to change. Positive growth rates have formed, a new vitality has been created. They believe in and expect a young and enthusiastic leadership. Nothing is impossible, if we can activate the endogenous strength of Nghe people, we can do it. Of course, it is never a simple journey.