The province needs to take a more decisive stance against slow-moving projects.

Group 1 included delegates from the Vinh City People's Council and Cua Lo Town People's Council. Participating in Group 1 were Comrade Nguyen Xuan Son - Chairman of the Provincial People's Council; members of the Provincial Party Standing Committee: Nguyen Thi Thu Huong - Head of the Provincial Party Propaganda Department; Phan Duc Dong - Secretary of the Vinh City Party Committee; and Nguyen Thi Kim Chi - Secretary of the Cua Lo Town Party Committee. Also present were Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee Bui Dinh Long; and representatives from several provincial departments and agencies. Photo: Thanh Cuong

Many projects are behind schedule.

During group discussions, delegates highly appreciated the leadership and management role of all levels and sectors in 2020. Despite a year marked by many negative impacts on the socio-economic situation, the province's economic growth rate still reached 4.45%, ranking 19th nationwide and 2nd in the North Central region.

In addition, some delegates also raised many concerns related to shortcomings, difficulties, and obstacles. Delegate Nguyen Thi Kim Chi (Cua Lo town) said that there is currently a "wave" in the province.investWhile the province has many new projects that are dynamic and groundbreaking in terms of revenue collection, many voters have expressed their concerns and aspirations for the province to pay attention to the development of small and medium-sized enterprises, cooperatives, and individual business households.

Representative Nguyen Thi Kim Chi (Cua Lo town) suggested that the Provincial People's Committee pay attention to the development of small and medium-sized enterprises. Photo: Thanh Cuong

Representative Nguyen Thi Kim Chi also stated that in 2020, the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic directly and severely affected the tourism economy, and in 2021, the control of the disease has not shown promising results, meaning that the tourism economy continues to be affected. Therefore, the trend of developing domestic tourism needs to be given attention and promoted.

However, the current state of tourism infrastructure and urban development in Cua Lo town is weak; therefore, it is requested that the province continue to support investment in infrastructure development in Cua Lo town. Simultaneously, decisive action is needed to address the issues.project behind scheduleOr they are not implemented, because in reality, many projects in the town have been approved for investment for many years but have not been implemented, causing stagnation in the town's development.

Delegate Cao Tien Trung speaks at the discussion session. Photo: Thanh Cuong

Also concerned about delayed projects, delegate Cao Tien Trung (Vinh City) stated: For many years, every voter consultation session has recorded complaints about projects that were approved for investment 10-15 years ago but have not been implemented, causing both a waste of land resources and the loss of investment opportunities for many other investors. Therefore, the Provincial People's Committee needs to continue reviewing and terminating projects that are not being implemented, transferring them to other investors or removing them from the planning.

Regarding delayed projects, delegate Le Tien Tri (Head of the Southeast Economic Zone Management Board) reported that there are currently 17 delayed projects in the Southeast Economic Zone and requested that the Provincial People's Committee and relevant departments objectively assess these projects to revoke or terminate investment in accordance with regulations.

Representative Le Tien Tri (Head of the Southeast Economic Zone Management Board) reported that currently, 17 projects in the Southeast Economic Zone are behind schedule. Photo: Thanh Cuong

Explaining the issue of delayed projects, delegate Nguyen Thi Giang - Deputy Head of the General Affairs Department, Department of Planning and Investment, affirmed that the province has made great efforts in this area over the past period. As evidence, in the period 2016-2020, the province directed the inspection of 454 projects (the number of projects inspected is 2.18 times the number of projects inspected in the period 2011-2015); of which, up to 56.6% of the projects had been allocated or leased land. And the number of projects whose land was reclaimed accounted for nearly 32% of the total number of projects inspected.

Nghe An is also the first province nationwide to issue regulations on coordinating the inspection and handling of slow-progress projects, as stipulated in Decision No. 25/2018/QD-UBND of the Provincial People's Committee.

However, in reality, many projects are still being implemented slowly and have not been reviewed or inspected. This is due to the difficulties in reviewing and compiling information and data on investment projects, especially those approved before the 2014 Investment Law – a time when many projects did not require investment registration procedures. Furthermore, each project has to go through 10 groups of procedures at various relevant departments and agencies.

In the coming period, in implementing Decision No. 25/2018/QD-UBND, the Department of Planning and Investment will continue to coordinate with other departments, agencies, and localities to advise the Provincial People's Committee on more decisively handling projects that are behind schedule or not being implemented.

A specific mechanism is needed for key regions.

In addition to the issues mentioned above, some delegates in Group 1 also suggested that the province needs a specific policy mechanism for key economic zones, including Cua Lo town and Vinh city; the development of Vinh city and Cua Lo town will create a driving force for the overall development of the province.

Regarding the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on the shortfall in some budget revenues compared to the 2020 annual forecast, provincial People's Council representatives requested the Provincial People's Committee to develop a plan to compensate for the revenue shortfall and meet expenditure needs from the budget.

Director of the Department of Construction Nguyen Truong Giang participates in the discussion at Group 1. Photo: Thanh Cuong

In addition, the Provincial People's Committee also needs to direct and urge the implementation of decisions and conclusions following inspections and audits, ensuring strict administrative discipline, especially the full implementation of the conclusions following the comprehensive inspection of urban and apartment projects recently, ensuring the rights of the people and meeting the requirements for the development of a civilized and modern city of Vinh.

Another issue raised by the Provincial People's Council representatives is that the Provincial People's Committee needs to have a specific plan for the use of facilities and cultural and sports institutions in commune-level administrative units and hamlets/villages undergoing mergers; pay attention to effective solutions in combating drug-related crimes and drug abuse; illegal activities such as multi-level marketing, illegal lending, and organized crime; and disseminate information and guide people to comply with the new government regulations on fireworks, avoiding misunderstandings and violations of the regulations...