To make Vinh city the focal point and highlight of the region (*)

(Baonghean) - Nghe An Newspaper quotes an article by Mr. Tran Ngoc Chinh - Chairman of the Vietnam Urban Planning and Development Association.

Resolution 26-NQ/TW of the Politburo clearly states: Vinh City - a class I urban area, the core of the urbanization process and the driving force for economic and social development of Nghe An and the North Central economic region. Vinh must build its position as the center of the North Central region in terms of finance, trade, tourism, science - technology, information technology, high-tech industry, health, culture, sports, education and training and be an important traffic hub of the entire region. Therefore, when considering the viewpoint and development goals for Vinh city, it must be placed in a spatial relationship with Cua Lo town, with the Southeast Economic Zone and with Nam Dan, Uncle Ho's hometown. On the other hand, it is also necessary to consider the space on both banks of the Lam River, which the Government has directed on the Nam Nghe - Bac Ha Construction Planning.

Vinh City is striving to become the center of the North Central region. Photo: Thanh Cuong

My personal opinion is that Vinh City needs to be built first to become a traffic hub in the North Central region and internationally. This is an important issue to promote regional connectivity, because Vinh connects with Cua Lo Town in the future to become a coastal city. On that basis, it is necessary to upgrade and complete National Highway 1A and the North-South Expressway, and complete the coastal traffic axis connecting with Cua Hoi Bridge through Ha Tinh. The traffic hub of the North-South National Highway connects the East-West National Highway, the Ho Chi Minh Road, and the road to Thanh Thuy border gate connecting with Laos - Thailand - Myanmar and ASEAN countries.

This external transport system connects with the external transport system of Vinh city and with Cua Lo seaport, Vinh International Airport and Vinh station. Regarding railway: Upgrade the entire route including the existing railway, and in the future there will be a cross-country high-speed railway. Vinh station is an important station, build Vinh station to become one of the 5 important modern stations of Vietnam (Hanoi - Vinh - Da Nang - Nha Trang - Saigon).

Regarding waterways: Vinh - Cua Lo - Cua Hoi - Song Lam urban area connects with the waterway traffic system and plans and constructs Cua Lo international seaport (national hub port type I) reaching 10-12 million tons/year (an import-export port, a specialized container port with international duties with Laos - Thailand...).

Regarding air transport: Vinh airport is currently a level 4C airport with a runway length of 2,400m and a width of 45m. It is a civil and military airport. Vinh airport has a capacity of 2.5 million passengers/year and has international flights to Laos and Bangkok (Thailand). The goal is to upgrade the airport to level 4E by 2020 for about 3 million passengers/year and serve domestic, Southeast Asian and Northeast Asian countries.

Regarding the construction of a financial and commercial center, there needs to be a clear zoning plan, combining contemporary life and traditional Nghe An culture. My personal initial idea is that in Vinh, it is necessary to re-plan Quang Trung and Tran Phu streets, with Vinh market as the center, into large commercial complexes like Vincom in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City; build modern banks to create a financial - banking - commercial city (which will become a unique and attractive center). At the same time, according to the urban planning, residential areas in the city all have commercial centers, banks serving residential clusters and there are wholesale markets and centers serving the city gates.

Dawn in Vinh city.

Regarding tourism, Vinh must connect destinations well, exploit the potential of tourism services, resorts, cuisine... Vinh city's tourism can also connect with other activities when Vinh becomes a science - technology center, regional information technology center, high-tech industry, regional medical center, cultural and educational center, and sports center of the North Central region.

Building Vinh into the center of the North Central region is an important and challenging task. The implementation process must focus on both directions: Economic and social development of the whole Nghe An province associated with the center of Vinh city. Vinh urban space with Cua Lo town is a continuous space, this is the core value for the city to have a development connection to the East, exploiting the entire marine economy (seaport, tourism, services...) to increase the strength and competitiveness of Vinh compared to many other cities in Vietnam.

During the development process, Vinh city also needs to consider and raise the issue of exploiting Lam River section through Vinh connecting with the southern bank with Tien Dien village, Nghi Xuan district (Ha Tinh), the hometown of Nguyen Du - World Cultural Celebrity. Thus, when developing and connecting, Vinh will become a modern city, with sea, river with a rich history and unique culture.

(*) Title by Nghe An Newspaper

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