How is the city building a new rural area?

(Baonghean)During his working visit to Nghe An province on February 20th, Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc and Deputy Prime Minister Vuong Dinh Hue presented Vinh City with a certificate recognizing its completion of the new rural development program.

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A reporter from Nghe An Newspaper interviewed Comrade Nguyen Hoai An - Deputy Secretary of the City Party Committee and Chairman of the City People's Committee - about the locality's next tasks after the above event.

Comrade Nguyen Hoai An - Chairman of the People's Committee of Vinh City

PV:Could you please tell us about the efforts the city of Vinh has made in directing and implementing the new rural development program in the 9 communes within its jurisdiction over the past period?

Comrade Nguyen Hoai An:The recent awarding of the Certificate of Recognition for completing the task of building new rural areas to Vinh City marks a significant development in the suburban communes of Vinh City.

In implementing the National Target Program for Building New Rural Areas in Nghe An province during the 2010-2020 period, the entire political system and people of Vinh city focused on mobilizing all resources to participate and respond, allocating investment resources, assigning personnel to closely monitor and supervise the work from the easiest to the most difficult tasks.

The city has vigorously launched the "Vinh City joins forces to build new rural areas" movement, calling on businesses, units, and organizations to actively support it. Simultaneously, it organized study tours for leaders from 9 communes to learn from the experience of building new rural areas in 4 southern provinces. In addition, the communes of Hung Dong, Hung Hoa, Nghi Lien, Nghi An, Nghi Duc, Hung Loc, Hung Chinh, and Nghi Kim organized visits to learn from the experiences of several communes within and outside the province.

Flower cultivation provides a high income in Nghi Lien commune (Vinh City). Photo: Chau Lan

The city has also issued separate funding support mechanisms for the program in a timely and effective manner, creating motivation for the people of the communes to actively contribute more resources and manpower to build rural infrastructure projects such as:

In 2015, the city provided support to three communes striving to achieve the new rural development goals (Nghi Phu, Hung Hoa, Hung Chinh) with 5 billion VND per commune to build new village cultural centers; in 2016, the city provided 15 billion VND to two communes, Nghi An and Nghi Duc, to invest in the construction of commune and village cultural centers and commune health stations.

The city also issued a policy to retain the portion of land use fees (40%) that would normally be paid to the city for land areas under 1,000 m2, in order to create additional resources for communes to invest in the construction of facilities serving the new rural development program.

At the commune level, the Party Committees of 9 communes have developed specialized resolutions on building new rural areas, and the People's Committees of the communes have developed new rural area projects for the period 2010-2020, projects on developing commercial agricultural production to increase people's income, etc.

Through concerted efforts, all 9/9 communes have now completed all 19/19 criteria for building new rural areas and have been recognized as meeting the standards by the Provincial People's Committee. Notably, the city has no outstanding debts for basic infrastructure construction.

Renovating shrimp ponds in Hung Hoa, Vinh City. Photo by Vo Huyen.

PV:What are the differences between implementing the new rural development program in Vinh City (a type 1 urban area) and in other districts and towns within the province, Comrade?

Comrade Nguyen Hoai An:The new rural areas of Vinh City have now met higher standards; specifically in terms of infrastructure such as electricity, roads, and schools. Environmental landscapes also require higher quality, especially in waste management in the communes.

The city collects garbage from each household, all households. The wastewater system is being connected and is becoming increasingly complete. On the other hand, agriculture in the districts is based on large-scale farming and is the main occupation, while in the city, agriculture can be done in gardens or fields, but it must be clean agriculture, agriculture that produces high-value products and is linked to ecotourism.

To achieve ecological agriculture, land consolidation and investment attraction are necessary. Communes must lease land from farmers to businesses; the businesses then undertake production with significant investment, and the people participate as well.

The city will have an investment mechanism for businesses using 2 hectares or more of land to produce clean agricultural products. The city's target products are clean flowers and vegetables, which require effective investment and the development of a large market for their output.

PV:What solutions will the city implement to improve standards and increase people's incomes, Comrade?

Comrade Nguyen Hoai An:The city's perspective is that no matter how much it develops in the future, the agricultural area will continue to exist, focusing on high-tech and clean agriculture, integrated with ecotourism; ensuring the supply of goods to the inner city and serving as a destination for tourist groups.

Based on the revised plan, the city will invest in infrastructure including roads, schools, markets, irrigation canals, and solid waste treatment facilities. While agriculture is not a major component of the nine new rural communes, the landscape must be preserved, with investment in greenery and flowers. For example, the city is currently investing in drainage canals and a flower market for Nghi An commune.

The city has issued economic development mechanisms and policies to increase people's income in communes, such as Decision No. 05/2012 on promulgating regulations on some mechanisms and policies to support the production of agricultural and fishery commodities; Decision No. 14/2014 on promulgating mechanisms and policies to support investment in basic construction and the production of agricultural and fishery commodities from the budget in the area, notably the mechanisms to support the development of safe vegetable growing areas for sustainable development, linking production with product consumption: supporting costs for topographic surveys, building vegetable infrastructure, training, workshops, building and developing brands to connect people and businesses.

Commercial quail eggs in Hung Hoa commune (Vinh City). Photo: Thanh Tam

In the industrial sector, the city has planned and implemented the initial steps to build industrial park infrastructure in Hung Dong commune with a total area of ​​39.51 hectares, currently attracting 7 businesses to register for investment; planned industrial clusters in Nghi An commune (15 hectares), Nghi Lien commune (20 hectares), and Nghi Kim commune (24 hectares); in addition, across 9 communes, there are currently 414 small and medium-sized enterprises and 23,243 production and business households providing employment for thousands of workers.

In the trade and service sector, the 9 communes have 9 markets, 15 agricultural service cooperatives; 6 non-agricultural cooperatives, and 6 cooperative groups, providing employment for thousands of workers. The average income of people in these communes reached 27.67 million VND/person in 2014, more than double the 12.61 million VND/person in 2010; it reached 31.47 million VND/person in 2015; and 33.86 million VND/person in 2016.

Currently, the People's Committee of Vinh City is implementing zoning plans, detailed plans, and urban designs in accordance with the revised master plan for Vinh City until 2030, with a vision to 2050, as per Decision No. 52/QD-TTg dated January 14, 2015, of the Prime Minister. The zoning plans for the communes, once implemented, will serve as a basis for the communes to invest in economic development, attract investment, and apply science and technology to improve the lives of the people.

PV:Thank you very much, comrade!

"Father Nguyen Dinh Thuc incites parishioners."

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