Nghe An has been steadily developing into a brand.

(Baonghean) - The old year of Binh Than 2016 ended with many memorable things, worth our contemplation; a year with many important events at the provincial and national levels taking place successfully, with many exciting achievements in all aspects of politics, economy and society; a year laying the foundation for a prosperous term 2016 - 2020 with bigger goals and a vision of deeper integration.

Comrade Nguyen Xuan Duong discussed the removal of difficulties according to the proposal of the Hoa Sen Nghe An Factory project.

The most prominent marks of 2016 include the highest budget revenue ever - reaching over 11,000 billion VND; attention to supporting businesses with the number of established businesses reaching 1,541 units, an increase of 15%. Investment attraction in 2016 also continued to maintain the very good "form" of 2015 with 141 projects granted investment certificates, total registered capital reaching over 35,441 billion VND. Along with the strong development of the economy towards industrialization and modernization, the social sector also had positive changes with clear changes from rural to urban areas.

Intra-provincial roads have been upgraded and newly built, ensuring a traffic network connecting remote and special areas with the central area, creating conditions for even development for all regions. The presence of large national and international enterprises such as Ton Hoa Sen, Massan, The Vissai, VSIP, Hemaraj, Vingroup, TH, etc. not only creates jobs for Nghe An workers but also creates conditions for satellite services to develop, improving the quality of life of the locality. The growth rate of the year is quite good - reaching 7.5%; the poverty rate has decreased to 9.5%; 152 communes have completed the new rural construction program are other telling numbers to conclude 2016.

In addition to the outstanding achievements in the economic field, the cultural and social life of the people of the province has had positive changes. The achievements of the province's pupils and students in national and international competitions continue to maintain the tradition of Nghe An for many years. The quality of social security services is of concern and is increasingly improved. Although there have been complicated developments in national defense and security, in general, it is still maintained, closely monitored and promptly handled, avoiding affecting the general social security situation.

English class at Vinh University. Photo: Huu Nghia

To close the year of the Monkey 2016 and open the new year of the Rooster 2017, I would like to look back at an event that took place at the end of the year and attracted the attention of the media as well as many people inside and outside the province. That is the Sunflower Festival - an event associated with the sunflower field owned by TH Group, in Nghia Dan district. This is the first year that our province has organized this event, and it has a special point - that is, this event does not originate from an existing traditional cultural festival, but can be said to be completely "artificial", with the idea originating from the attraction of the sunflower field since 2015. In many days before, during and after the Sunflower Festival took place, our province welcomed many tourists to visit the flower field with many satellite services organized to serve the needs of tourists.

From spontaneous services of local people such as renting photo accessories, printing photos, selling clean agricultural products... to professional services of TH Farm, it can be seen that this year we have been more proactive in exploiting the economic value of this tourist destination. Entertainment activities and the Sunflower Beauty Contest are also highlights to attract tourists, helping to promote this new tourist destination more widely. Of course, being the first year of organization, it is inevitable that there will be shortcomings. There are still some unsightly scenes such as tourists littering in the flower fields, destroying flowers or traffic jams due to the large number of tourists coming... Besides the objective reasons from the local people and visitors, we admit that there are still some "sand grains" in the preparation and organization of the festival. In the coming years, we believe that we will learn from experience to become more and more proficient in preparing economic and cultural events like this, to create an image of Nghe An as friendly, civilized and attractive to tourists from near and far.

Sunflower field in Nghia Son commune (Nghia Dan) on the festival day in December 2016. Photo: TS

Choosing the Sunflower Festival to discuss here, I would like to emphasize one thing that Nghe An still lacks and is striving towards: Professionalism. That is an extremely important requirement for us to be able to deeply integrate with the region and the world. And in the immediate future, our goal is to rise up to be on par with the leading localities in the country in branding. For example, when mentioning Da Nang, we immediately think of a tourist city that is both modern, friendly, civilized, and caters to all tourists from ordinary people to those with high-end resort needs. Or for tourists who love to experience, their top favorite destinations cannot lack the pristine islands in the South with the provinces of Ninh Thuan, Binh Thuan, Quang Ngai or the high mountains in the North in the provinces of Ha Giang, Son La, Lai Chau, ...

Even Quang Binh, which was previously only famous for the Phong Nha - Ke Bang complex, is now also listed in the list of must-see destinations with new tourist attractions such as Thien Duong Cave, Dark Cave, and Mooc Spring. Some localities near big cities such as Hanoi or Ho Chi Minh City have developed resort tourism combined with experiences with camping areas, homestays with affordable prices, simple services, but still attract visitors thanks to the natural landscape, fresh air - things that seem normal but are never too much for urban people...

I think that in terms of tourism potential, Nghe An does not lack, but even has a lot. We have sea, rivers, mountains, many relics, landscapes - converging all types of terrain, landscape and cultural diversity. So what do we lack for Nghe An tourism to really make an impression on domestic and foreign tourists? I think we lack professionalism. Nghe An's tourism thinking is still quite simple, mainly in a spontaneous form.

For example, some beautiful waterfalls in Western Nghe An, after being widely promoted by the media and attracting a certain number of tourists to visit, fell into oblivion because the locality did not pay proper attention and had no direction for developing tourism economy for the people. That is really a pity and a waste. Especially for the mountainous areas of Nghe An that want to escape poverty, smokeless industries such as tourism and services are not too difficult directions that can bring high economic value, so the locality and people should be aware of the inherent advantages to have effective and sustainable exploitation.

Produced at Royal Foods Factory. Photo: LT

From the example of the tourism industry, speaking broadly, Nghe An also needs professionalism in many other fields. For example, agricultural development, trade, investment attraction, etc., if we want to integrate sustainably, we cannot do it haphazardly and without a method. It is difficult to imagine that, but to put it simply, let's start from the smallest and simplest things. Such as packaging and design, for example. We do not need to search and research any new products, but why not start with Cam Vinh, Nam Dan soy sauce, Western agricultural products, Cua Lo beach, Thanh Chuong tea island, the gates of heaven and the majestic mountain passes in Ky Son, etc.?

I believe that those who have been to Nghe An, who have known the specialties of the land and people of Nghe An must recognize the true values ​​of those specialties... However, for those who have not been to, have not heard of, or do not know about Nghe An, we need to show them the most beautiful and attractive images instead of the current somewhat sketchy and "rustic" branding. Only then will people want to come, want to experience and understand Nghe An even if they do not know anything about this land. There is a song about Nghe An that I think speaks quite accurately about the character and characteristics of the land and people here: "Love for Nghe An does not come quickly, but it becomes deep and deep/The more familiar you are with Nghe An, the deeper the love and affection". The depth and tenderness of the land and people of Nghe An is obviously also a beautiful and lovely feature, but it will be even better if we are open and proactive in connecting and introducing so that friends near and far can feel that beauty and come to us.

Nguyen Xuan Duong

Deputy Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee, Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee