Group discussion 4: Concerns about the province's growth rate

On the afternoon of July 10, under the chairmanship of comrade Hoang Van Phi - Secretary of Hung Nguyen District Party Committee, the elected provincial People's Council delegates in group 4 including the units: Hung Nguyen, Nam Dan and Nghi Loc conducted a group discussion session. Also attending were representatives of provincial departments, branches and sectors; leaders of the localities of Hung Nguyen, Nam Dan and Nghi Loc. Photo: Thanh Le

Accelerate growth

Participating in giving opinions on the results of socio-economic development, delegate Hoang Nghia Hieu - Director of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development said that the results of socio-economic development have many positive changes. However, the growth rate (GRDP) in the first 6 months of 2019 reached 7.09%, lower than the same period in 2018 and compared to neighboring provinces, it has not met expectations.

The head of the Agriculture sector cited the results, Thanh Hoa's GRDP in the first 6 months of 2019 reached 22.18%, budget revenue reached 13,786 billion VND; Ha Tinh province's economic growth rate reached 12.78%, budget revenue reached 6,985 billion VND.

Director of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development Hoang Nghia Hieu expressed concerns about the province's growth rate. Photo: Thanh Le

Explaining the reason, the Director of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development of the province said: The province still lacks major breakthrough projects, the economy is maintaining a stable growth rate;

"According to the province's orientation to focus on attracting large projects such as Mitsubishi, Hoang Mai thermal power plant, Cua Lo oil refinery, the FLC Nghi Loc project will create a breakthrough in the province's economic development" - the head of the provincial Department of Agriculture expressed his hope.

Sharing the same view, delegate Nguyen Quang Hong (Nghi Loc unit) assessed that the province's socio-economic situation has many positive changes; people's lives have been improved; tourism has developed strongly, growing by 20%; security and order have been ensured. However, the growth rate has not reached the set target, the progress of basic construction is still slow, and the situation of construction debt still exists.

Delegate Hoang Nghia Hung speaks during a discussion on land management. Photo: Thanh Le

The delegates suggested that the Provincial People's Committee speed up the progress of basic construction to increase growth rate and create jobs. Also according to delegate Nguyen Quang Hong, the monitoring results of the Provincial People's Council show that there is still room for budget collection. Therefore, the province needs to focus on directing solutions for budget collection work" - delegate Hong suggested.

Lack of linkage in agricultural production

Discussing the province's agricultural development, Director of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development Hoang Nghia Hieu said: While production linkage and crop structure conversion are not clear, production conversion is extremely difficult.

"To improve the efficiency of agricultural production, we must create links between large enterprises, cooperatives and people. However, the links are not many, and 30% of cooperative operations are still at a loss," said Mr. Hoang Nghia Hieu.

Model of melon production in greenhouses in Nghi Loc district. Photo: Thanh Le

Regarding the issue of agricultural development, Chairman of Nam Dan District People's Committee Dinh Xuan Que reflected on the increasing situation of abandoned agricultural land, and the State has no sanctions to force people with land to use it for the right purpose and according to the planning.

“Low-income agricultural production, people keep land but leave it fallow, while the State has no sanctions, leading to difficulty in gathering land for factories and businesses to enter” - Mr. Dinh Xuan Que said.

Chairman of Nam Dan District People's Committee Dinh Xuan Que speaks at the group discussion session. Photo: Thanh Le

The Chairman of the People's Committee of Nam Dan district reflected on the shortcomings. According to regulations, farm projects submitted to the province must go through departments, branches and sectors. The process has many procedures that cause inconvenience to the people. Should we decentralize to the district, cut down on administrative procedures, reduce costs and travel for the people?

In addition, in the discussion session of group 4, delegates also mentioned the shortcomings in land management; the situation of African swine fever; solutions on the use of facilities and staff arrangement after merging villages and hamlets; policies on building model residential areas; environmental pollution, etc.

Concluding the discussion, comrade Hoang Van Phi acknowledged and highly appreciated the responsible and intelligent comments of the delegates. The opinions will be compiled by the Provincial People's Council and reported at the discussion session in the hall tomorrow morning (July 11).