Nghe An: Industry continues to grow but tourism declines due to Covid-19 pandemic

On the morning of February 21, the Provincial People's Committee held its regular February meeting. Comrade Thai Thanh Quy - Alternate member of the Party Central Committee, Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee, Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee chaired the meeting.

Co-chairs were comrades: Le Ngoc Hoa - Member of the Provincial Party Executive Committee, Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee; Bui Dinh Long - Member of the Provincial Party Executive Committee, Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee. Photo: Thanh Duy

COVID-19 PANDEMIC HAS A STRONG IMPACT ON TOURISM

At the meeting, the Provincial People's Committee listened to a report on the implementation of the conclusions of the Provincial People's Committee Chairman and Vice Chairmen in January 2020 and the socio-economic situation in February.

In February, the province focused on implementing the 2020 tasks right after the Lunar New Year in the face of some difficulties due to weather and epidemics, especially the impact of the acute respiratory infection caused by the new strain of Corona virus (Covid-19).

However, with high concentration, basically all sectors have had quite good growth. The industrial production development index increased by 15.92% over the same period in 2019. State budget revenue in the first 2 months of 2020 is estimated at more than 2,738 billion VND, reaching 18% of the estimate, up 21.9% over the same period in 2019.

As of February 17, 2020, the province has newly granted (approved investment policies and issued investment registration certificates) to 6 projects with a total registered investment capital of 686.7 billion VND. Comrade Le Tien Tri - Head of the Southeast Economic Zone Management Board said that in the coming time, there are projects worth thousands of billions of VND that are proposed to be invested in the Economic Zone.

Comrade Le Tien Tri - Head of the Southeast Economic Zone Management Board spoke at the meeting. Photo: Thanh Duy

In addition, the province granted new business registration certificates to 162 enterprises with a total registered capital of nearly VND1,378 billion; the number of enterprises registering to resume operations two months ahead of schedule was 165.

However, the tourism sector has encountered many difficulties due to the impact of the Covid-19 epidemic. It is estimated that in February 2020, the number of tourists reached 254,000, of which 152,000 were overnight guests, equal to 47.5% compared to the same period in 2019, and 3,580 were international visitors.

In the first two months, the number of tourists reached 627,000, only 65% ​​compared to the same period in 2019, of which the number of overnight guests reached 450,000, equal to 73% compared to the same period in 2019; international visitors reached 13,180.

Speaking at the meeting, Director of the Department of Tourism Nguyen Manh Cuong proposed a number of policies for travel businesses, and said that the industry should increase promotion and invite famtrip groups to survey Nghe An.

In addition, the industry will promote and advertise 5 provinces in the Northern region and Ho Chi Minh City; besides exploiting French market visitors, it will work with businesses to exploit Russian tourists.

The Department of Transport has proposed allocating capital to complete site clearance for Vinh - Cua Lo Avenue; providing early funding to maintain and repair degraded suspension bridges in Ky Son, Tuong Duong, Con Cuong, and Anh Son districts before the rainy and stormy season;...

Comrade Le Ngoc Hoa - Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee spoke at the meeting. Photo: Thanh Duy

Comrade Le Ngoc Hoa - Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee requested relevant departments and branches to prepare well for the meeting and investment promotion conference of the province scheduled to be held in March; pay attention to industrial park infrastructure development projects, and study and issue a price list of non-agricultural land in the Southeast Economic Zone.

The Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee said that the province is preparing to put the Public Administration Service Center into operation; thereby meeting the requirements of the Government and the Prime Minister on building e-government, in this process requiring departments and branches to actively participate.

PROMOTE INDUSTRIAL AND AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTION

Concluding the meeting, Comrade Thai Thanh Quy - Alternate Member of the Party Central Committee, Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee, Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee noted that departments, branches and the Provincial People's Committee need to proactively prepare well the contents for the sessions of the Provincial People's Council and regular meetings of the Provincial People's Committee.

Regarding the results achieved in February, the Provincial Party Secretary and Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee assessed that despite difficulties due to the impact of Covid-19, the province has implemented solutions to both prevent and control the epidemic and ensure the required economic growth rate.

Comrade Thai Thanh Quy - Alternate member of the Party Central Committee, Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee, Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee concluded the contents related to the tasks of socio-economic development. Photo: Thanh Duy

In March, facing the reality, comrade Thai Thanh Quy requested to continue focusing on implementing the work of preventing Covid-19, African swine fever, and H5N6 avian influenza with the viewpoint of not being subjective or negligent.

Besides, the province must focus on production, deep processing, finding outlets for agricultural products; increasing aquatic exploitation beyond targets; focusing on industrial production... to make up for the shortage caused by the decline in growth of the tourism and service industries.

The province also needs to focus on attracting investment, the highlight of which will be the meeting with investors in March with the participation of government leaders and many large enterprises. This is also a good premise for the organization of the Korea - North Central, Korea - Nghe An meetings held in the province.

The Provincial Party Secretary also highly agreed with the opinions on implementing policies, resolving administrative procedures; continuing to create a healthy and better investment and business environment for investors in general, and industrial park infrastructure investors in particular such as: VSIP Nghe An, WHA Industrial Zone Nghe An Joint Stock Company, Hoang Thinh Dat... Because this is one of the driving forces for development, budget collection, and job creation in the province.

In addition, all sectors and levels also need to prepare and organize well commemorative activities and major holidays with the view of highly orienting public opinion. Activities must ensure safety in both disease prevention and control and security and order.

Enterprises investing in VSIP Nghe An. Photo: Thanh Duy

The Provincial Party Secretary and Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee also agreed with the Department of Tourism's solution to strengthen the promotion of Nghe An tourism; at the same time, he requested relevant sectors and localities to speed up the disbursement of public investment; focus on completing and starting important projects such as Vinh - Cua Lo Boulevard, coastal road; work with investors to soon start registered projects.

In addition, he requested that all sectors and levels strengthen inspection, supervision, and tighten administrative discipline; participate in drafting high-quality documents for Party Congresses at all levels; ensure internal security in preparation for the Party Congress;...

The recommendations for departments and branches were also clearly concluded by the Provincial Party Secretary and the Provincial People's Committee Chairman, including the request for the Finance sector to study and balance the budget for repairing degraded suspension bridges to ensure safety for people during the rainy season as proposed by the Department of Transport.