Building Hoang Mai Town into a rich and powerful city, becoming the economic center of the province (*)

(Baonghean) - Excerpt from the speech directing the Hoang Mai Town Party Congress by comrade Ho Duc Phoc, Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee

...At this Congress, on behalf of the Provincial Party Committee Standing Committee and the provincial leaders, I would like to warmly commend and acknowledge the achievements that the Party Committee and people of the Town have achieved in the past time. That is, the average economic growth rate of the Town in the 3 years (2013 - 2015) reached 10.8%, a high growth rate compared to the average of the province. The economic structure has shifted in the right direction, attracting investment, completing some infrastructure of Hoang Mai Industrial Park, Dong Hoi and the administrative center area. The average income per capita reached 41.31 million VND, an increase of 8.5 million VND compared to the beginning of the term, higher than the average of the province of 29 million VND. The total state budget revenue reached 178 billion VND, an average increase of 21.33%/year. The total investment of the whole society was 15,200 billion VND. Education, training, culture and health have made much progress. The poverty rate has decreased to 3.37%. National defense and security have been maintained. The Party has high solidarity, cooperation and comprehensive strength....

Regarding limitations, the congress needs to focus on discussing a number of issues that must be overcome in the next term:

Firstly, growth is not commensurate with the potential and advantages of the country.

The town. Attracting initial investment has had some breakthrough projects. However, it is still the beginning, and whether the project is successful, reaching the final destination or not depends on the great efforts of the entire Party, the people's consensus, and support for investors.

Second, the town’s current socio-economic infrastructure is still weak. The town has no meeting hall, no office building, and no other cultural institutions. Traffic routes have not been built, expanded, or connected. This is an obstacle in the process of attracting investment.

Third, culture and society still have many limitations. The rate of national standard schools in the town is lower than the provincial average; the town has only reached 53%, while the province has reached 65%. The third child birth rate is still high, up to 26%. This is also an obstacle in the socio-economic development of the town, so the town must pay close attention and overcome it in the coming time.

Fourthly, regarding security, social order and safety, currently the situation is stable but in the future the security and order situation will develop in a difficult direction. It is necessary to be proactive to ensure a good security, order and social safety environment, creating conditions for the town to develop quickly, strongly and sustainably.

Regarding the direction and tasks for the next term, the Political Report sets the goal of building Hoang Mai Town to meet the criteria of a type III urban area by 2020. The Political Report of the Provincial Party Committee also sets the goal of making Hoang Mai Town one of the three key economic regions of the province, including: The first region is Vinh - Cua Lo - Southeast Economic Zone, the second is Hoang Mai and the third is the Western region. So, Hoang Mai Town plays the role of one of the three growth centers and is the driving economic region of the province and must achieve two goals: Developing Hoang Mai Town to become a rich and strong economic region, reaching the criteria of a type III urban area by 2020...

A corner of Hoang Mai town

I raise 6 issues for the congress to discuss:

Firstly, for a newly established urban area, the issue of planning and implementation of planning is extremely important. It is recommended that the town must manage the urban area well and complete the master plan, general and detailed construction plan and implement the plan well. Otherwise, if houses are built close together wherever the road goes, entertainment areas, public lands are encroached upon for other purposes, or planning is changed to build residential areas... it will disrupt the planning and the whole process of sustainable development in the future. Therefore, planning must be managed well to ensure sustainable development, create conditions to attract investment, and more importantly, ensure the quality of life of the people.

Second, focus on building infrastructure. Building good infrastructure means creating a physical foundation to attract investment for development, which is a runway for the town's economy to take off. When we say that Hoang Mai Town's infrastructure is still very weak, it is because the town does not have a construction process. The Government's agreement to establish Hoang Mai Town is a special case, so some criteria have not been prepared such as administrative headquarters, water plants, etc. That means we are in debt and now we have to pay the debt. So how can Hoang Mai Town develop? I think that investing in infrastructure is a prerequisite, a foundation for the development process, so I suggest that the town focus on building headquarters for Party agencies, the government and socio-political organizations, building internal roads, and taking care of foreign affairs. Next is the construction of urban areas, water supply and drainage systems, sports centers, football fields, cultural houses, etc. So the town still has a lot of work to do, and people do it for 5 years, the town must speed up the progress by 1 year to develop a breakthrough.

Third, the fundamental issue is attracting investment. Hoang Mai town is the province's key investment attraction. Currently, the town has a feasible project that has been and is being implemented to produce 8 million tons of cement/year. A 1.4 million tons/year cement plant has created many jobs and contributed greatly to the budget, so 8 million tons of cement/year will bring many times more efficiency. In the town, there is also a corrugated iron factory and a zinc factory of Hoa Sen Group, with an investment of 8,400 billion VND; in April 2016, the factory will be completed and produce products, collecting thousands of billions of VND for the budget and creating jobs for thousands of workers. In the near future, Hoa Sen Group will cooperate with a foreign corporation to build a steel production complex in Hoang Mai. Then the 2,400 MW thermal power plant will be invested with at least about 4 billion USD; 19-berth seaport and 3 industrial parks... If the 3 industrial parks are filled, Hoang Mai will break through and develop into a growth pole of the Northeast Nghe An region.

Fourth, in the fields of education, health, culture and sports, the town is requested to pay special attention to improve the material, cultural and spiritual aspects of the people.

Fifth, regarding national defense and security, the town is requested to focus on building strong national defense and security.

Sixth, on Party building work. Hoang Mai town has just been established, so it is necessary to promote a high spirit of solidarity. Because when the apparatus is divided, people from all over the country come here to work, each with their own mentality and habits, so it is necessary to put aside local issues, to achieve the common goal of building a rich and strong town. At the same time, promote a strong change in thinking with very high political determination, with great consensus. Because the people here come from agriculture, and now with urban life, it requires the awareness of an urban resident. Only then will there be a change in awareness, support for large projects, support for the way of doing things of the town and province leaders, support for future development. Although the future career may affect some of the present benefits, we must know how to give up the small current benefits, contribute to the common cause and create a great consensus, then we can build a rich, civilized town, become a type III urban area in the future, so that Hoang Mai can become the growth pole of the Northeast region of the province.

Ho Duc Phuc

(Provincial Party Secretary)

________

(*) Title by Nghe An Newspaper.