Building Vinh city into a smart city, a growth engine

AVERAGE GROWTH RATE RATE REACHED NEARLY 9%

Opening the welcome speech at the conference, Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee Thai Thanh Quy informed about some key features of the socio-economic development of Nghe An province: The average GRDP growth rate in the period of 2016 - 2018 reached 8.0%; The investment and business environment has been increasingly improved. The Provincial Competitiveness Index (PCI) in 2018 ranked 19th in the country, leading the North Central provinces; the Provincial Governance and Public Administration Performance Index (PAPI) ranked 4th in the country.

The head of the provincial People's Committee said that contributing to the overall development achievements of the province, Vinh city has emerged as a growth engine and the political - economic - cultural - social center of Nghe An province.

Comrade Thai Thanh Quy - Alternate member of the Party Central Committee, Deputy Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee, Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee delivered the opening speech at the conference. Photo: Lam Tung

With its geographical advantage, long history of development, and many historical stages, Vinh has always been identified as a central city not only for Nghe An province, but also for the North Central region and has national significance in a number of fields. After more than 40 years of renovation, Vinh City has become a class 1 city with a population of over 500,000 people; the city's dynamism and development leadership have been clearly affirmed.

After 3 years of implementing Decision No. 2468 of the Prime Minister, the average growth rate of Vinh city in the period of 2016-2018 reached 8.54%; The average added value per capita in 2016 reached 68.4 million VND, in 2018 it reached 84.5 million VND, 2.23 times higher than the average of the province. The economic structure shifted in a positive direction, the budget revenue grew quite well and was relatively stable, the average in the period of 2016-2018 was 2,338 billion VND, 1.6 times higher than the period of 2011-2015; in 2018, domestic revenue reached 2,426 billion VND.

The urban architecture is increasingly spacious and modern, with highlights being the completed and ongoing projects of many large and prestigious investors such as: Vingroup, T&T, BRG, FLC, TH, Muong Thanh, VSIP, VNPT...

The vision and future development of Vinh city is determined as: together with Cua Lo town, it will become one of the coastal cities of Vietnam; a place of economic exchange and infrastructure development with the Southeast Economic Zone of Nghe An province; a center of the North Central region in the fields of: Finance, trade, tourism, science - technology, information technology, high-tech industry, health, culture, sports, education - training; has an important position in national security and defense, a national and international traffic hub.

However, in the context of limited resources, Vinh city's development is still not commensurate with its potential and set goals; there has not been a breakthrough compared to other large cities in the country, especially in terms of regional connectivity; the urban infrastructure system is still inadequate; there is a lack of large, key projects that create factors to be worthy of the role as an integration and development center in many fields of the North Central region.

Today's conference is an opportunity to review the results of the implementation of Decision No. 2468 dated December 29, 2015 of the Prime Minister on approving the Project to develop Vinh city into an economic and cultural center of the North Central region by 2020 in the spirit of Resolution No. 26 of the Politburo. At the same time, we hope to hear many contributions and initiatives from delegates to help Vinh city develop more and more modernly, dynamically and civilly.

Chairman of Provincial People's Committee Thai Thanh Quy

PRIORITIZE INVESTMENT RESOURCES IN MOTIVATION PROJECTS

With the viewpoint that Vinh city develops for Nghe An province to develop, speaking at the conference, Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee Thai Thanh Quy emphasized that the province will concentrate appropriate resources, create all favorable conditions, direct and accompany Vinh city to synchronously deploy a number of key tasks and solutions.

Prioritize investment resources to comprehensively and modernly develop Vinh city, soon becoming a smart city, a growth engine, and an innovation center of Nghe An province and the North Central region.

Delegates attending the conference deploy the contents of implementing Notice No. 55 of the Politburo to develop Vinh City, on the morning of September 8. Photo: Lam Tung

In addition, administrative reform will continue; review and develop specific policy mechanisms in a clear and practical manner to maximize the potential and strengths of Vinh city. Promote the comparative advantage of geo-economic position, take infrastructure, human resources, and foreign economy as the foundation to develop Vinh city into a modern and civilized urban area.

Focus on implementing urban spatial planning in the spirit of Decision No. 52 and Decision No. 2468 of the Prime Minister.

Vinh City at night is beautiful, modern and full of life. Photo courtesy of Devi Nguyen

"Nghe An province hopes that the Government will soon have specific mechanisms, prioritizing resources to develop Vinh city to soon become a regional center in the identified fields; pay attention to investing and supporting dynamic projects, creating highlights for Vinh city to develop to its full potential. The Party Committee and people of Nghe An province sincerely thank and hope to continue to receive more attention from the Central Party Committee, the National Assembly, the Government, the Central Ministries and branches; from domestic and foreign entrepreneurs and enterprises interested in, learning about and investing in Nghe An province in general and Vinh city in particular, to help Vinh city - the heroic red city in Uncle Ho's homeland truly become the center of the North Central region" - Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee Thai Thanh Quy emphasized.