Strengthening supervision and encouragement work, creating development breakthroughs

(Excerpt from comrade's speech)Ho Duc Phuc- Provincial Party Secretary at the 13th session - Provincial People's Council)

(Baonghean) - …In 2014, with the effective support of the Central Government and the efforts of the Party Committee, government and people of the province, our province has achieved very important results. Firstly, the economic growth rate reached 7.29% (the national average is 5.8%), this is a comprehensive indicator, demonstrating the great efforts and extremely dynamic approach in socio-economic development of our province. Secondly, we strive to increase budget revenue to 7,400 billion VND, exceeding 1,000 billion VND, the highest index ever. National defense and security are also maintained...

However, with the current budget growth rate, it will take 10 years for the province to balance its revenue.

Comrade Ho Duc Phuc.

Another issue is that our investment attraction is very strong, last year we attracted 105 projects with a capital of 18,500 billion VND. The difference in 2014 in terms of investment attraction is that large domestic corporations have invested in Nghe An, specifically corporations such as Ton Hoa Sen, Masan, Wincom ... and invested at a very fast pace. But there is still no breakthrough in attracting investment. Our economic development model is comprehensive development. That means economic development is linked to social welfare.

If we do not make a breakthrough in attracting investment, we will still be in the "lowland" area compared to the whole country, or in other words, we will not achieve the target. Regarding ODA capital, our province has signed agreements for 28 projects, with a total capital of 11,700 billion VND, but the implementation progress is very slow. For this capital source, as long as there is volume, it will be disbursed. We have two large projects: Japan's JICA project of 5,700 billion VND has not yet been bid, meaning it has not been disbursed, there is no volume; that also shows the capacity in the leadership and management process. The WB project of the World Bank investing in infrastructure development of Vinh City with a capital of 2,500 billion VND will end in 2017, and only now is the renovation of the North Canal underway, with not much volume.

Regarding infrastructure development, 2014 is considered the fastest year and has implemented many large projects, such as the construction of 6 overpasses, 4 overpasses worth nearly 3,000 billion VND have been completed, striving to complete 2 more large overpasses in the first quarter of next year: Yen Ly intersection overpass and National Highway 46 overpass. Airports and ports are constantly being invested in and upgraded. Cua Lo Port has been dredged to accommodate 20,000-ton ships and now investors have been found, we are going out to sea to continue building berths 5 and 6, so that in the future Cua Lo Port will reach a capacity of 20 million tons/year. Vinh Airport is the fastest growing airport in Vietnam, currently reaching 1.2 million passengers/year, has 6 flight routes and is investing in building an airport terminal for about 3 million passengers, is completing procedures to propose to the Ministry of Transport and the Aviation Corporation to turn Vinh Airport into an international airport, and continue to build a 3,000m runway with an investment of 1,300 billion VND. This is a very necessary condition for us to develop supporting industries.

Implementing the national target program on new rural construction, we have had 20 communes reach the finish line; over 100 communes achieved 13 criteria. In 2015, we strive to achieve 20% of communes achieving new rural status according to the target assigned by the Central Government, equivalent to 67 communes. The results we have achieved in implementing new rural areas are extremely meaningful and effective, such as in land consolidation, plot exchange, building economic models applying science and technology in agricultural production... In particular, we have made a breakthrough in building 2 communes to become model new rural areas.

In foreign relations, it has expanded investment cooperation and exchange with 3 provinces of Laos: Xieng Khouang, Hua Phan, Bolykhamxay, with Côtes d'Amor province of the French Republic, Gyeonggi province - South Korea, Ulianov province - Russian Federation and relations with international monetary organizations WB, ADB, Wbank, Cotra, German Reconstruction Bank... to attract investment projects into the province.

In the health sector, we have completed the 700-bed General Hospital, carried out good socialization work, and applied medical science and technology to medical examination and treatment, such as bone marrow transplantation, etc. Currently, the health sector of the province, the infrastructure is very good, we need to focus on two main contents: medical ethics and improving professional qualifications, so that the province's doctors have professional qualifications approaching those of doctors nationwide and in the region, so that people do not have to go to Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, Singapore for medical examination and treatment. We must continue to actively socialize health care such as the 400-bed Maternity Hospital which will be put into use before the 2015 Lunar New Year, and continue to promote cooperation to build a 600-bed hospital. We have also achieved high results in the field of education and training, ranking among the top in the country.

I propose that the Provincial People's Committee, together with the authorities at district and commune levels, concentrate resources, attention and determination to complete the national standard school target in 2015, to be worthy of a land of learning like Nghe An. Difficult problems have been solved by the Ministry of Education and Training, for example, land areas... Now the problem is the quality and facilities, which need to be focused on to complete to achieve the education target. At the same time, maintain high achievements in key training and comprehensively develop education. In the past year, implementing the attraction of excellent and excellent graduates, with university entrance exam scores above 25 points to departments, branches and sectors, we attracted the most in the country, with 70 students. The province's labor export accounts for 11% of the country and is also the highest in the country, contributing to job creation, transferring a large amount of foreign currency back home. The material and spiritual life of the people has been improved.

Currently, the world has recognized Nghe Tinh Vi and Dam folk songs as an intangible cultural heritage of humanity, this is a great source of pride, but in Nghe An, it is still quiet, there are no banners or strong propaganda slogans. Therefore, to make Vi and Dam folk songs last forever, first of all, the people and officials in the province must preserve and promote them, avoiding the idea that the world preserves our cultural heritage.

Here, I would like to share with you some orientations for the coming time. In 2015, we will hold the Party Congress at 3 levels, the year we will focus our efforts on completing the targets of the Resolution of the 17th Provincial Party Congress and entering a new 5-year term. Therefore, in 2015, we must create a breakthrough, if we cannot create economic breakthroughs, we will fail. Our province has vast land potential, abundant human resources and many talented people; many mineral resources, forests, seas, aviation, and seaports. Looking at other provinces, such as Thai Binh, Nam Dinh or the Southern provinces, having a rock to build a road is difficult, let alone ports or minerals, such as tin, wood, etc.

We need to worry about how Nghe An can develop? Nghe An people have a tradition of learning, and with resources, we must make a breakthrough. So what is the obstacle here? Is it the ideology, the spirit, the responsibility, or the way of doing? We have set goals, built strategies, and plans, which I think are relatively complete, but the problem is that we must reach the destination. And to reach the destination, the People's Council delegates in this session, departments, branches, organizations and all the people, we must all make efforts to make a breakthrough, only then can we achieve the goals set by the Provincial Party Congress, Resolution 26 of the Politburo and the Resolution of the Provincial People's Council. To do this, in my opinion, we will focus on several things:

The first is to focus on infrastructure construction. If we do well with international airports, ports, border gates, traffic systems, industrial park systems, and socio-economic infrastructure, then this is certainly a shortcut to creating conditions for economic development.

The second is to focus on attracting investment. If in 2015 we cannot bring VSIP 6 into operation, it means that we have failed a lot, our resolution has failed a lot. If we can bring VSIP 6 into operation in 2015, then in 2016 and 2017, we will promote efficiency, which means that the following terms will have added value and increase many times. At least VSIP 6 will bring in 400 - 500 enterprises, bringing our budget to about 20,000 - 30,000 billion VND, solving the problem of tens of thousands of workers. The Prime Minister has paid great attention to Nghe An and has worked with Mr. Lee Hsien Loong - Prime Minister of Singapore to locate VSIP 6 in Nghe An. Currently, they are only directing the construction of 3 more VSIPs: VSIP 6, VSIP 7 and VSIP 8. The problem is that we have to clear the land to coordinate with Becamex Binh Duong to build infrastructure, so that Sembcorp Group (Singapore) can bring economic group infrastructure here, then we can develop. And attracting infrastructure must have a focus, for example, I always remind the districts about the issue of developing leather shoes or the textile industry to solve labor problems, which is to balance human resources. A district has only a few factories, any district with many factories has only 3 factories to ensure jobs for idle agricultural workers; if we bring in many factories to compete for cheap labor, we will fail.

I would also like to inform you that the mechanisms and policies of the Prime Minister are very favorable for us. For example, Hoang Mai - Dong Hoi Industrial Park, we have 1,200 hectares, recently the Prime Minister signed a Decision to merge into the Southeast Economic Zone, which means that we will enjoy the same policies as the Southeast Economic Zone. 750 hectares of Hung Tay commune (Hung Nguyen) will also be processed to merge into the Southeast Economic Zone. That means the mechanism has been opened, incentives have been given, the problem is how to attract investment and how we manage it. Another problem is the cement industry. Now the planning of the cement industry is up to 15 million tons, by 2020 if we speed up, we will have 12 million tons of cement. Currently, Do Luong Cement has been handed over to Vissai and recently the Prime Minister has also allowed to increase the capacity to 6 million tons/year.

We also need to focus on human resource training and new rural issues, hunger eradication, poverty reduction, administrative reform, reform of mechanisms, policies and development of education and training. For each of these sectors, we choose one or two breakthroughs to be the locomotive to pull the sector forward. Regarding human resource training, we are a land of learning, there are many university students, but the Standing Committee of the Provincial Party Committee has discussed that we should shift to vocational training so that all our children, all families, have jobs and income. Those who study well will go to university to serve the country, serve the Fatherland; those who have difficult conditions, circumstances or poor academic performance will go to vocational schools, be trained and create jobs for them in economic groups, companies, and corporations.

In 2015, we continue to maintain social order and stability, build a solid national defense and security. Thus, the strategy, plan and doors have been opened. The goal has been clearly defined, the problem now is whether we can steer the boat to the shore or not, this is the responsibility of the entire Party, the entire people, the government at all levels, the Front and the organizations. Comrades together supervise, encourage and motivate to bring our province's economy to a breakthrough, develop, quickly become the economic center of the North Central region; so that Nghe An is worthy of being the land of learning, the homeland of Uncle Ho, truly overcoming poverty and backwardness...

(*) Title by Nghe An Newspaper.