Building Thai Hoa town into a provincial city before 2030

This content was approved at the regular meeting of the Provincial Party Standing Committee in May 2021 when discussing the draft Resolution on building and developing Thai Hoa into a central urban area of ​​the Northwest region of Nghe An.

Comrade Thai Thanh Quy - Member of the Party Central Committee, Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee chaired the meeting. Photo: Thanh Duy

Comrade Thai Thanh Quy - Member of the Party Central Committee, Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee chaired the meeting. Also attending were comrades: Nguyen Van Thong - Standing Deputy Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee; Nguyen Duc Trung - Deputy Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee, Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee; Nguyen Xuan Son - Chairman of the Provincial People's Council; comrades of the Standing Committee of the Provincial Party Committee; leaders of a number of relevant departments and branches.

ORIENTATION TO DEVELOP INTO A CITY

The draft resolution sets out the direction of building Thai Hoa town into a central urban area, with the function of creating momentum, linking and promoting the socio-economic development of the Northwest region, the socio-economic development is rapid and sustainable, national defense and security are ensured, the material and spiritual life of the people is constantly improved. Strive to build Thai Hoa into a type III urban area before 2025, a city under the province before 2030.

To implement the above general direction and goals, the draft Resolution by the Standing Committee of Thai Hoa City Party Committee sets out 10 specific goals, in which the average economic growth rate in the period of 2021 - 2025 reaches 9.5 - 10.5%; by 2025, the State budget revenue in the area will reach 380 - 400 billion VND, the average added value per capita will reach about 110 - 120 million VND/person; the urbanization rate will reach 55 - 60%.

Comrade Pham Tuan Vinh - Member of the Provincial Party Executive Committee, Secretary of Thai Hoa Town Party Committee presented the draft resolution. Photo: Thanh Duy

In particular, regarding the goal of becoming a provincial city by 2030, the draft resolution emphasizes that this is the central urban area of ​​the Northwest region, one of the growth and innovation poles of the province and the Nam Thanh - Bac Nghe region, gradually moving towards an ecological urban area with its own identity.

To achieve the above goals, the Resolution identifies 10 main tasks and solutions, such as: Promoting administrative reform and building e-government; improving the investment and business environment, enhancing the effectiveness of investment promotion, creating favorable conditions for start-up and innovative enterprises.

Improve urban management capacity and effectively implement planning and planning management. In particular, expand, arrange and adjust the administrative boundaries of Thai Hoa town to meet the development space, criteria of type III urban area and provincial city;...

The draft Resolution also allows for a number of policies and mechanisms to develop the town, including: enjoying 100% of revenue from land use fees in the town from 2022 to 2030; annually prioritizing a minimum of VND 80 billion in support for the town to carry out tasks related to urban construction and environment; allocating public investment capital for a number of key projects and implementing plans to create regional linkages and increase budget revenue.

Along with that, prioritize programs and projects from ODA loans and foreign preferential loans to invest in developing urban infrastructure of the town; annually support 5,000 tons of cement for the town to invest in the transportation system, build advanced, model new rural areas and civilized urban areas.

Comrade Ho Le Ngoc - Member of the Standing Committee, Head of the Provincial Party Committee's Internal Affairs Committee spoke at the meeting. Photo: Thanh Duy

At the meeting, the opinions of the comrades in the Provincial Party Standing Committee agreed with the policy of issuing a Resolution on Thai Hoa town in the direction of building it into a city in the Western region of Nghe An. However, many opinions are still concerned about the criteria on area and population to achieve the criteria of a type III urban area by 2025 and a city by 2030, and the resources for implementation;...

Commenting on the draft Resolution, Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee Nguyen Duc Trung mainly emphasized that developing Thai Hoa town into a central urban area of ​​the Northwest region and a provincial city is a trend, associated with the conditions of being close to the dynamic development center of the North of the province, connecting the Nam Thanh - Bac Nghe regions.

Comrade Nguyen Duc Trung - Deputy Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee, Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee spoke at the meeting. Photo: Thanh Duy

Agreeing with the roadmap to 2025, Thai Hoa town will become a type III urban area and by 2030 become a provincial city, but to achieve this goal, the head of the Provincial People's Committee suggested that the specific criteria built in the Resolution should be considered closely following the urban criteria stipulated in the Resolution of the National Assembly Standing Committee; in addition, other criteria such as income and economic growth also need to be calculated to match the goals of each stage.

Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee Nguyen Duc Trung also said that the content of the Resolution also needs to supplement the development perspective, while being consistent with the provincial planning for the period 2021 - 2030, with a vision to 2050. On the other hand, agreeing with having a specific mechanism in terms of resources and policies, especially having a mechanism for decentralization of the organizational apparatus so that Thai Hoa town has the conditions to implement the goals, but according to the Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee, the Resolution only mentions this policy, should not be specifically regulated but assigned to the Party Committee of the Provincial People's Committee and the Party Delegation of the Provincial People's Council to specifically regulate.

Comrade Nguyen Xuan Son - Chairman of the Provincial People's Council spoke at the meeting. Photo: Thanh Duy

Agreeing to issue a separate resolution of the Provincial Party Standing Committee on Thai Hoa town to aim at building a city in the western region of Nghe An, Chairman of the Provincial People's Council Nguyen Xuan Son suggested that we must be very determined with appropriate steps, and at the same time, we must clearly show our development viewpoint in the Resolution.

The Chairman of the Provincial People's Council also agreed and proposed that the Standing Committee of the Provincial Party Committee unify with the expansion of the administrative boundaries of Thai Hoa town, and at the same time assign responsibility to the town to build an apparatus and a team of capable officials with an urban-oriented State management mindset; along with that, issue a number of specific mechanisms suitable to the conditions of a locality in the West, especially supporting and creating conditions for loans and decentralization to develop the town;...

Comrade Nguyen Van Thong - Standing Deputy Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee spoke at the meeting. Photo: Thanh Duy

Standing Deputy Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee Nguyen Van Thong basically agreed with the Provincial Party Committee's issuance of the Resolution on Thai Hoa town. However, in addition to the content of the Resolution, there should be an explanatory note as an action program, clearly showing the support mechanism and policies to ensure the effectiveness and efficiency of implementation; at the same time, it is necessary to clarify and handle current conflicts in the development of Thai Hoa town on contents such as: population, economic structure, expansion of administrative boundaries;...

APPROVING THE DRAFT RESOLUTION

Concluding this content, Provincial Party Secretary Thai Thanh Quy emphasized: The Provincial Party Standing Committee agreed with the goal that by 2025, Thai Hoa must complete the targets and criteria related to a type III urban area and is determined to become a city directly under the province by 2030.

This goal is consistent with the Resolution of the 19th Provincial Party Congress, and clearly specifies the Resolution of the Thai Hoa Town Party Congress for the 2020-2025 term. Therefore, Thai Hoa Town needs to closely follow the criteria approved by the National Assembly Standing Committee to have a basis for implementation.

Provincial Party Secretary Thai Thanh Quy delivered a concluding speech. Photo: Thanh Duy

Along with that, the Provincial Party Secretary suggested that the draft Resolution should add development perspectives including: Becoming a city and center, a growth pole of Western Nghe An and a connecting center of the region, especially the Nam Thanh - Bac Nghe region.

It was agreed that there would be a mechanism for Thai Hoa town, including: Direct resources such as: land, finance and decentralization. However, the head of the Provincial Party Committee also noted that in order to mobilize and effectively exploit resources, the town needs to be proactive in seeking information and opportunities; at the same time, the province will accompany the town to exploit other sources of capital.

Regarding decentralization and delegation of authority, the town also needs to independently study legal and sub-legal documents to propose the content that needs to be decentralized to the province. Any content that is difficult or overlapping should be proposed for piloting; along with that, it is necessary to prepare a team of qualified staff to implement the decentralized and delegated contents.

Regarding urban space, the head of the Provincial Party Committee also agreed on the need to expand the administrative boundaries of the town, so there needs to be a very specific plan, appropriate calculations, especially the town must have specific sub-projects. On the other hand, Thai Hoa also needs to pay attention to the scale and development orientation.

Model of an urban area in Thai Hoa town. Photo: Document

To effectively implement the Resolution, the Provincial Party Secretary emphasized that Thai Hoa town must have high political determination, solidarity and unity; scientific working methods, with focus, key points, and clear division of tasks. The staff must be strong, change their thinking and approach, and at the same time attract other human resources to work and contribute to the development of the town.

Along with that, the Provincial Party Secretary also noted that implementing the Resolution on building and developing Thai Hoa into a central urban area of ​​the Northwest Nghe An region is also the province's task, so the provincial sectors must pay close attention.

Unanimously approving the draft Resolution, comrade Thai Thanh Quy assigned the Standing Committee of Thai Hoa Town Party Committee to promptly develop a plan to implement the Resolution to advise the Provincial People's Committee and the Action Program to promptly implement the Resolution./.