Content of 6 special mechanisms and policies on Nghe An submitted by the Government to the National Assembly at the 2nd Session

Accordingly, the draft Resolution on piloting a number of specific mechanisms and policies for the development of Nghe An province submitted by the Government to the National Assembly includes 6 contents, focusing on opening up more space for the province to mobilize necessary resources, meeting the needs of investment in socio-economic development as well as decentralizing and delegating power to local authorities to be proactive and respond quickly, in order to improve the effectiveness of management and operation in a number of areas, especially in attracting investment.

Panorama of the National Assembly session at Dien Hong Hall, National Assembly House. Photo: Quochoi.vn

CREATE MORE ROOM TO MOBILIZATE FINANCIAL RESOURCES

According to the draft resolution, on the management of state finance and budget, Nghe An is allowed to borrow through the issuance of local government bonds, borrowing from domestic financial institutions, other domestic organizations and from foreign loans from the Government to the province with the total outstanding loan balance not exceeding 40% of the provincial budget revenue according to decentralization. The total amount of loans and annual provincial budget deficit are decided by the National Assembly according to the provisions of the State Budget Law.

Based on the 2021 budget estimate, Nghe An's maximum outstanding loan balance is VND 2,062 billion, because according to current general regulations, the outstanding loan balance is 20%. According to calculations, if the draft resolution is passed, raising the province's loan limit to 40%; then the maximum outstanding loan balance will reach VND 4,124 billion (calculated according to the 2021 budget estimate), an increase of VND 2,062 billion compared to current regulations, which will almost meet the need to mobilize resources to invest in developing the province's important socio-economic infrastructure system.

Panoramic view of Vinh city center, Nghe An. Photo: Le Thang

Reporting to the National Assembly on the morning of October 22, Minister of Planning and Investment Nguyen Chi Dung said that the drafting of the Resolution on piloting a number of specific development mechanisms and policies for the provinces and cities of Hai Phong, Nghe An, Thanh Hoa and Thua Thien Hue aims to ensure consistency and unity in institutionalizing the Politburo's policies for these localities, including Resolution No. 26 and Notice No. 55 on the direction and tasks for the development of Nghe An province.

The pilot mechanisms and policies for the four localities submitted to the National Assembly have all been carefully researched and evaluated, ensuring their correlation with the mechanisms and policies that the National Assembly has applied in the three major cities: Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City and Da Nang.

Specifically, the Government submitted to the National Assembly a draft Resolution on piloting a number of specific mechanisms and policies for the development of Hai Phong city with 6 mechanisms and policies, Thua Thien Hue province with 6 mechanisms and policies, Nghe An province with 6 mechanisms and policies, and Thanh Hoa province with 8 mechanisms and policies.

Minister of Planning and Investment Nguyen Chi Dung presented the Government's Proposal on the draft Resolution on piloting a number of specific development mechanisms and policies for the provinces and cities of Hai Phong, Nghe An, Thanh Hoa and Thua Thien Hue at the meeting on the morning of October 22. Photo: Quochoi.vn

Along with that, every year, the central budget will supplement the target for Nghe An province not exceeding 70% of the increase in revenue from import and export activities of imported and exported goods compared to the estimate assigned by the Prime Minister (excluding value added tax on imported goods), but not exceeding the total increase in revenue from import and export activities compared to the previous year's revenue and the central budget will not have a deficit, to implement local infrastructure investment projects.

This policy will encourage and create more motivation for the province to better perform the task of collecting the State budget in the area; at the same time, create necessary additional resources for the province to proactively invest in implementing important projects on socio-economic infrastructure, creating new momentum for local development.

The Government also proposed that the National Assembly allow Nghe An to allocate an additional 45% in percentage (%) of expenditures calculated according to population norms when formulating regular expenditure norms for the State budget in 2022 and during the implementation of this Resolution. This proposal, if approved, will contribute to meeting local spending needs and ensure similarity with other major provinces and cities in the country.

The additional budget will create conditions for the province to focus on investing in socio-economic development, especially infrastructure, boosting spending on education and training, science and technology, health care services, culture, sports, disaster prevention, climate change response, etc. to build Nghe An into a "center of finance, trade, tourism, education-training, science-technology, health, culture, sports, high-tech industry of the North Central region" according to the goals set out in Resolution 26-NQ/TW of the Politburo.

ENHANCE DECENTRALIZATION, DELEGATION OF POWERS, AUTONOMY, AND RESPONSIBILITY

The Draft Resolution on piloting a number of specific mechanisms and policies for the development of Nghe An province has been submitted to the National Assembly for permission to decentralize and delegate power to the province in a number of important areas, including: Land management; partial adjustment of the general planning for the construction of functional areas, partial adjustment of the general urban planning and forest management and use. This is considered to be consistent with the policies, leadership and direction of the Party, the National Assembly and the Government; at the same time, it increases local initiative and shortens the time to handle related issues.

Infrastructure of the Southeast Economic Zone through the WHA Industrial Zone 1 project - Nghe An is invested synchronously. Photo: Thanh Duy

Along with that, the National Assembly Standing Committee decided to convert the purpose of using protective forest land and special-use forest land with a scale of 50 hectares or more in the province and carry out the procedures according to the provisions of the law on land.

The application of this policy will contribute to promoting decentralization, in line with the policies, leadership and direction of the Party, the National Assembly and the Government, increasing local initiative and shortening the time for converting land use purposes compared to current regulations. This is a solution to create conditions for local authorities to be proactive and respond quickly to urgent requirements for land resources, thereby creating an open environment for localities to attract dynamic investment projects in the province.

Chairman of the Finance and Budget Committee Nguyen Phu Cuong presented the Verification Report on the draft Resolution on piloting a number of specific development mechanisms and policies of the provinces and cities of Hai Phong, Nghe An, Thanh Hoa and Thua Thien Hue at the meeting on the morning of October 22. Photo: Quochoi.vn

Presenting the review report on the draft Resolution of the National Assembly on piloting a number of specific mechanisms and policies for the development of Hai Phong city and the provinces of Thanh Hoa, Nghe An, and Thua Thien Hue on the morning of October 22, Chairman of the Finance and Budget Committee Nguyen Phu Cuong said that the Finance and Budget Committee agreed to issue this Resolution to institutionalize the Resolutions of the Politburo in order to create a mechanism to mobilize resources, contributing to promoting socio-economic development for these localities.

The draft law also proposes to allow, based on the planning project for the construction of functional areas and urban planning in Nghe An province approved by the Prime Minister, the Prime Minister to decide on decentralization to the People's Committee of Nghe An province to approve local adjustments to the general planning for the construction of functional areas and local adjustments to the general planning for urban areas according to the order and procedures prescribed by the Prime Minister and report to the Prime Minister on the implementation results.

Thus, it can be seen that the Prime Minister's decentralization of authority to the People's Committee of Nghe An province on this content will shorten the time for implementing adjustments, contributing to promoting the early attraction of a number of key infrastructure development investment projects of the province and ensuring a post-audit monitoring mechanism.

National Assembly delegates from Nghe An attend the session at Nghe An bridge on the afternoon of October 26. Photo: Thanh Duy

Along with that, regarding forest management and use, the draft Resolution proposes that the People's Council of Nghe An province has the authority to decide on the policy of changing the purpose of using production forests with a scale of less than 1,000 hectares, ensuring the principles and conditions for changing the purpose of using forests to other purposes according to the provisions of the law on forestry.

If this policy is approved, it will be significant for the development of the province, especially the Western Nghe An region. In fact, a number of socio-economic development projects in the province in general, especially urgent projects implemented in the mountainous districts of the West of Nghe An province in particular to serve the socio-economic development of ethnic minorities such as: Roads, resettlement area construction, power transmission... need to be implemented on forested land that cannot be arranged in other locations and need to follow the procedures to change the purpose of using production forests to other purposes for implementation. However, the authority to decide on the policy to change the purpose of using production forests to other purposes according to regulations belongs to the Prime Minister, therefore, localities and investors will need more time to complete the procedures, which may affect the progress of the projects.

Thus, if approved by the National Assembly in a shortened format at this session, the Resolution on piloting a number of specific mechanisms and policies for the development of Nghe An province will be one of the new driving forces for the province's development. According to the session's agenda, this morning (October 27), the National Assembly discussed the draft Resolution online and will vote on it in the afternoon of November 12 when meeting at the National Assembly House.