Resource allocation is not in line with policy.

On the morning of December 5th, delegates from the Provincial People's Council representing five electoral districts—Thanh Chuong, Nghia Dan, Tan Ky, Yen Thanh, and Thai Hoa—held discussions in Group 3.

The discussion session took place immediately after the opening session and included listening to reports presented to the Provincial People's Council at its 25th session, 18th term, 2021-2026.

Attending the discussion session were: Nguyen Nam Dinh - Member of the Standing Committee of the Provincial Party Committee, Permanent Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Council; Bui Thanh An - Member of the Standing Committee of the Provincial Party Committee, Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee; Nguyen Van De - Member of the Provincial Party Committee, Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee.

Ms. Le Thi Theu, a representative of the Provincial People's Council and Vice Chairperson of the Tan Ky District People's Council, chaired the discussion group.

Slow policy implementation

During the discussion session, 11 delegates (including 2 invited guests) raised concerns on various issues. Many opinions highlighted the implementation of central and provincial policies in the area. Alongside the achievements, the allocation of resources for the implementation of some policies has been slow.

Representative Lo Thi Kim Ngan - Head of the Ethnic Affairs Committee of the Provincial People's Council, Thanh Chuong delegation - cited examples of slow implementation of some policies in the cultural field issued by the Provincial People's Council, such as: support for cultural activity equipment for villages after mergers, and equipment for children's recreation and entertainment activities, which have been slow to receive funding.

"There are support programs scheduled for 2023 that villages only received in 2024; and there are support programs scheduled for 2024 that are only now undergoing the procedures for budget approval and contractor selection," the representative cited as an example.

Similarly, the implementation of the Provincial People's Council's resolution issued in 2023 on supporting investment in swimming pools and organizing swimming lessons for children in the province also failed to meet the target set in the resolution.

Based on this reality, delegates argued that the agency responsible for advising on the development of investment support mechanisms, during the policy impact assessment process, failed to anticipate the difficulties, obstacles, and effectiveness in practice. This led to the resolution having to be revised and adjusted shortly after its issuance to suit the current situation.

Therefore, delegate Lo Thi Kim Ngan proposed that the Provincial People's Committee direct the relevant departments and agencies to advise on and lead the implementation of these resolutions by adding tasks, solutions, and specific measures to address the issues; and at the same time, enhance the responsibility of the heads of departments, localities, and units in leadership and guidance to ensure the implementation of policies after their promulgation.

Delegate Pham Tuan Vinh - Member of the Provincial Party Committee, Secretary of the Party Committee of the Provincial Agencies Bloc, and representative of the Thai Hoa town delegation - highly appreciated the socio-economic achievements and strategic tasks that the province has implemented in 2024 to create momentum for future development.

However, after reviewing the socio-economic report, delegates expressed concern that while the province has a large number of OCOP products (739 products achieving 3-star or higher standards, ranking second nationwide), only 37 of them have achieved 4-star (approximately 5%); compared to the national average of 25.8%. Furthermore, only 1 product has achieved 5-star (approximately 0.4%), while the national average is 2.1%. Highlighting this situation, delegate Pham Tuan Vinh requested that the Provincial People's Committee direct relevant departments to implement more effective solutions to improve the quality of OCOP products.

The representative from Thai Hoa town also expressed concerns about the "health" of businesses in the province, noting that approximately 16,000 out of 39,000 registered businesses are currently operating, while 25,000 businesses (out of about 165,000 nationwide) have ceased operations. Therefore, the representative requested a clearer explanation of the difficulties faced by businesses in order to find solutions to address them.

Representative Pham Tuan Vinh stated that this year's budget revenue is projected at 23,751 billion VND; however, as the Provincial People's Committee acknowledges, budget revenue lacks sustainability, with nearly 40% coming from land fees.

"High land fees indicate that a lot of land is being sold," the representative analyzed, pointing out the inconsistency that despite high supply, the real estate market is heating up daily, especially in Vinh City.

"Apartment prices are skyrocketing, with some areas reaching over 30 million VND/m²."²“This greatly affects attracting labor, especially high-quality labor, to work here,” said delegate Pham Tuan Vinh, adding that this significantly impacts the attraction of workers, especially high-quality labor. Therefore, the delegate suggested that the Provincial People's Committee pay attention to allocating more land, including land for building social housing, to increase the supply for the real estate market and help workers, including young workers, access housing.”

Representative Pham Tuan Vinh also suggested that the Provincial People's Council study and develop a plan to implement resolutions on some specific mechanisms and policies for Cua Lo and Vinh City, now that Cua Lo has been merged into Vinh City since December 1, 2024. "So, will the resolutions of the Provincial People's Council regarding Cua Lo town be adjusted, and if so, how will they be implemented?", the representative asked.

Also at the Group 3 discussion session, delegates raised many opinions related to the slow disbursement of operational funds for some national target programs; considering improving policies and benefits for village and hamlet officials; reviewing the objectives associated with building a suitable roadmap for digital transformation at the grassroots level to ensure that the digital transformation process is substantive, becomes a need, and is implemented by the people themselves, eliminating the situation where officials do the work for them, as is currently the case in some localities.

In addition, delegates also raised concerns such as: the slow progress of land clearance for some projects; the need for solutions to more effectively disseminate, expand, and spread the folk songs of the Ví and Giặm genres; and the handling of surplus land and buildings after the reorganization of the administrative apparatus to avoid waste…

A suitable balance should be struck between the policies enacted and the resources available for their implementation.

Attending the discussion in Group 3, the leaders of the Provincial People's Committee and the Standing Committee of the Provincial People's Council exchanged views on several related issues. Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee Nguyen Van De analyzed the objective and subjective reasons leading to the slow disbursement of funds for national target programs; he stated that the Provincial People's Committee has been directing departments and agencies to focus on resolving these issues and improving the disbursement rate.

Specifically, regarding opinions on the quality of OCOP products, Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee Nguyen Van De acknowledged the reality that quality is not yet high and sales remain difficult despite the province's continuous promotion efforts through various solutions.

Looking back at the past period, Nghe An's OCOP products have been developing in breadth first, then depth. The Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee stated that in the coming time, the province will focus on improving quality to have more 4-star and 5-star OCOP products.

Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee Bui Thanh An also analyzed the revenue structure and explained why revenue from land fees still accounts for a relatively high proportion of the province's budget. Listing a series of solutions to increase the province's domestic revenue without including revenue from land, he stated that the most important thing is to attract investment to expand the revenue base.

The province has achieved great success in recent years; however, projects that have attracted investment and are under construction or have just started operating are still within the tax incentive period under the investment incentive policy. Therefore, the Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee stated that budget revenue from these projects always lags behind the economic growth rate, meaning there is a delay.

"If we attract investment during this term, we will reap the benefits in subsequent terms," ​​he said. "The Standing Committee of the Provincial Party Committee, the Provincial People's Council, and the Provincial People's Committee are persistently working to improve the effectiveness of investment attraction and job creation to increase budget revenue."

Regarding the budget allocation for implementing mechanisms and policies as reflected by the delegates, Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee Bui Thanh An agreed with the assessment that many mechanisms and policies are being allocated very slowly. Starting in 2025, the Provincial People's Committee will direct decisive action to ensure that funds are allocated to beneficiaries right from the beginning of the year.

Overall, entering the 2025-2030 term, based on the new term's direction and its three strategic breakthroughs, the Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee stated that the view is that it is necessary to review all mechanisms and policies; when they are issued, resources must be available to ensure their effectiveness.

Regarding the above issue, the Standing Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Council, Nguyen Nam Dinh, also noted that the ability to balance the budget to implement mechanisms and policies is still inadequate. Currently, the need to introduce mechanisms and policies is three times the financial sector's balancing capacity. Therefore, in the coming time, the Provincial People's Council will coordinate with the Provincial People's Committee to review policies, with the goal of ensuring that the policies issued are consistent with the province's budget balancing capacity.