Nghe An: Say no to speculative land projects, create conditions to attract capable investors

On the morning of March 27, comrade Nguyen Dac Vinh - Member of the Party Central Committee, Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee, Head of the National Assembly Delegation of the province worked with the Party Committee of the Provincial People's Committee to listen to the report on the economic development situation in the first quarter of 2018, some tasks and solutions for economic development in the second quarter of 2018 and the implementation results of Notice No. 889 - TB/TU dated January 2, 2018 on the conclusion of the Provincial Party Secretary working with the Party Committee of the Provincial People's Committee.

Attending the meeting were comrade Nguyen Xuan Duong - Deputy Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee, Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee. Members of the Provincial Party Standing Committee: Le Xuan Dai - Permanent Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee; Le Minh Thong - Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee. Comrades: Dinh Viet Hong, Huynh Thanh Dien, Le Ngoc Hoa - Vice Chairmen of the Provincial People's Committee. Also attending were members of the Party Committee of the Provincial People's Committee and representatives of leaders of a number of departments, branches and localities.

Provincial Party Secretary Nguyen Dac Vinh speaks at the meeting. Photo: Thanh Duy

According to the report of the Party Committee of the Provincial People's Committee, in the first quarter of 2018, the growth rate of the total product in the province (GRDP) is estimated to increase by 6.99%, of which the agriculture, forestry and fishery sector contributed 0.75%, the contribution in the first quarter of 2017 was 0.51%; the industry - construction sector contributed 3.09%, the first quarter of 2017 contributed 2.52%; the service sector contributed 3.04%, the first quarter of 2017 contributed 2.71%. However, product tax minus product subsidy contributed only 0.11%, the first quarter of 2017 contributed 0.78%.

In general, compared to the economic growth scenario, the economic development situation in the province is better than the plan, the growth rate is higher than in recent years; agricultural and industrial production both increased quite well; services developed well.

Therefore, the growth in the first quarter of 2018 has created conditions for better care for cultural and social fields, especially taking care of Tet for the poor, ensuring social security; people are in agreement and excited to enter the new year 2018.

However, to ensure 9% growth this year as planned, Permanent Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee Le Xuan Dai said that in the first 6 months of the year, growth must be at least 8% or more, so he requested that all levels and sectors must monitor to focus on directing and leading resolutely.

At the meeting, opinions focused on discussing frankly on overcoming shortcomings and limitations in implementing procedures for investors such as: site clearance, environmental impact assessment (EIA), coordination between departments and branches of the province; quality of consulting documents; restructuring of the agricultural sector, service development... Thereby, analyzing and clearly identifying resources and solutions to ensure breakthrough and outstanding growth.

Standing Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee Le Xuan Dai presented a report on economic development in the first quarter of 2018.

Concluding the meeting, Provincial Party Secretary Nguyen Dac Vinh assessed that from 2017 to this year, the province has built a scenario for managing growth targets and has made certain progress, with more positive results and clearer management work.

However, according to the Provincial Party Secretary, to effectively implement that scenario requires specifying the work in each industry and field so that there can be close and specific monitoring and urging of implementation.

For example, some projects are still slow to progress, the head of the Provincial Party Committee said that the Nghe An Investment Promotion and Support Center must monitor, closely follow and clearly demonstrate in the progress report of each project so that the provincial leaders can have both an overview of the overall picture and specific progress of the investment projects. That is the basis for leadership and direction to clearly assign tasks to relevant units and localities to focus on solving.

Therefore, Provincial Party Secretary Nguyen Dac Vinh requested the Party Committee of the Provincial People's Committee to have a mechanism to inspect and monitor the progress of projects in a specific manner to promptly remove obstacles for investors to disburse capital early, thereby contributing to growth.

The Provincial Party Secretary also proposed to accelerate the early completion of planning for a number of key projects such as Vinh - Cua Lo Boulevard, Cua Lo Port, N5 Road and Vinh City bypass planning to have a basis for calling for investors.

In terms of specific content, the 9% growth target in 2018 is considered high, but the head of the Provincial Party Committee emphasized the viewpoint that setting a high target is for the entire political system to strive to achieve, not "just empty talk".

Therefore, from the proposed growth scenario, Secretary Nguyen Dac Vinh requested that each industry associated with each field must not have the mindset of "fear of difficulties and retreat" but must have the mindset of attacking, building a specific plan and direction for implementation; at the same time, the Department of Planning and Investment is considered the "chief architect" for the socio-economic development of the province and must supervise the implementation process.

In particular, the agricultural, forestry and fishery sector must focus on restructuring the sector well to increase production value, especially in conjunction with the equitization process of a number of agricultural, forestry and fishery farms. It is necessary to choose good strategic investors for development, as well as promote the value of projects that have been and are being invested in this sector.

Regarding the industrial and construction sector, the Provincial Party Secretary assessed that industrial projects need a certain amount of time to be effective in practice, but in the short term, the construction industry has room for high growth.

Therefore, Provincial Party Secretary Nguyen Dac Vinh requested to review projects to resolve procedures for investors to start construction soon, such as supporting procedures for Hemaraj Group to start construction of the industrial park project soon.

On the other hand, the province needs to actively accompany investors like VSIP to call for and attract secondary investors...

Construction is a field with high growth potential. Photo: Document.

The Provincial Party Secretary also noted focusing on solutions to develop services because according to the assessment, compared to the province's potential, the growth rate of this area in the past few years is still low.

In particular, the Provincial Party Secretary noted that it is necessary to put the development of the service sector in a comprehensive relationship with other sectors for direction, for example, if the industrial and construction sector develops strongly, it will also lead to the development of services.

Regarding the low proportion of product tax contributions to growth, the Provincial Party Secretary also noted that tax agencies should thoroughly implement the spirit of preventing tax losses but should not collect tax from enterprises.

Another issue that was also discussed very enthusiastically at the meeting was the revocation of projects that were behind schedule. Because in reality, there were investors who, when licensed, did not implement the project as committed and showed signs of land speculation. Meanwhile, there were investors with investment capacity but did not have the land to invest and implement.

Regarding this content, the Provincial Party Secretary clearly stated the viewpoint of fighting land speculation, so when implementing the recovery of projects, focusing on investors showing signs of speculation with a decisive and clear viewpoint and attitude to create conditions to attract truly capable investors.

On the other hand, Secretary Nguyen Dac Vinh emphasized the need to promote administrative reform, especially with the 7 units selected by the province as pilot units in the 2018-2020 period, focusing on reviewing procedures and removing difficulties to effectively implement this content.

Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee Nguyen Xuan Duong delivered a speech concluding the meeting. Photo: Thanh Duy

At the end of the meeting, on behalf of the Party Committee of the Provincial People's Committee, Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee Nguyen Xuan Duong accepted the instructions of the Provincial Party Secretary to more effectively implement leadership and management work to ensure the growth target set in 2018.