Laying a solid foundation for the successful implementation of the Resolution of the 14th Provincial Party Congress, term 2020 - 2025, Binh Thuan has been determined to overcome difficulties and challenges, accelerate development, and become a strong province in marine economy, energy and tourism in the following years. Those are the shares of comrade Duong Van An - Member of the Party Central Committee, Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee, Head of the Provincial National Assembly Delegation with Binh Thuan Newspaper on the occasion of the beginning of the Year of the Dragon.
3 Pillar Growth
Dear Provincial Party Secretary, looking back at the socio-economic picture over the past year, what are the most impressive points?
Comrade Duong Van An - Provincial Party Secretary: We entered 2023 with the determination to accelerate development to make up for the first two years of the term affected by the Covid-19 pandemic. Despite many difficulties due to the general situation of the country and internal problems in the province, we also have advantages. That is the great attention and support of the leaders of the Party, State, leaders of central departments, ministries and branches with visits, working sessions, and very profound and comprehensive directions; the North - South expressway (East), Vinh Hao - Phan Thiet, Phan Thiet - Dau Giay sections were put into use, helping to shorten the time from Binh Thuan to other localities (especially provinces and cities in the Southern dynamic region), thereby becoming an attractive location, attracting large-scale investment projects; Hosting the National Tourism Year with more than 100 exciting, attractive and novel activities will help the tourism industry quickly recover and grow impressively.
With the above advantages, along with the efforts of the Party Committee, government, business community and people, the socio-economic picture of the province has many impressive results. The gross domestic product (GRDP) in 2023 increased by 8.1% compared to 2022, ranking 14th out of 63 provinces and cities nationwide and 4/14 localities in the North Central and Central Coast regions (while in 2022, it only ranked 45th out of 63 provinces and cities and 10th out of 14 localities in the region). In the context of the country's GDP growth at 5.05% and the province's target of 7.0 - 7.2%, this result has exceeded expectations. With a good growth rate in 2022 and 2023, the economic scale of the province reached more than 100,000 billion VND for the first time. The three sectors identified as the province's economic pillars are industry, tourism and agriculture, which continue to grow well, of which tourism has made a strong breakthrough. The whole province has welcomed more than 8.35 million visitors, an increase of nearly 46%; estimated revenue reached more than 22,300 billion VND, among the localities with the highest tourism revenue in the country. A very notable point is that in 2023, the province has attracted many very large-scale investment projects with a total investment of nearly 200,000 billion VND, of which, 3 projects alone are Son My LNG Port Warehouse, Son My I Thermal Power Plant and Son My 2 with a total registered capital of up to more than 5.27 billion USD (equivalent to 128,400 billion VND). However, this is just the beginning, the province needs to do a lot more work for these projects to disburse in practice, at that time it will create impressive economic growth for the province. In the context of the State reducing tax rates on some taxes, such as value added tax, environmental protection tax and land use fees by up to 30%, causing revenue to decrease accordingly, but thanks to efforts and room for development, the province's budget revenue has reached over 10,000 billion VND, exceeding the set plan.
Last year, the province also focused on removing difficulties and obstacles, resolving shortcomings in socio-economic development. For example, the problem of overlapping titanium mineral planning with other planning was resolved. More than 28 thousand hectares of coastal land, favorable for urban development, tourism, services, renewable energy located in the mineral reserve area, were removed from the reserve planning; nearly 48 thousand hectares of the remaining mineral reserve area that could not be invested in projects before, have now been implemented on the surface, creating more land space for the province to call for investment. This is a "bottleneck" in development that the province has been trying to resolve for many years and now has achieved results beyond expectations.
With quite good economic development, GRDP per capita ranked 4th out of 14 provinces and cities in the North Central and Central Coast regions, the province's per capita income increased by 5.1% compared to 2022, many poor households have escaped poverty. The appearance of urban and rural areas continues to be invested in and renovated, somewhat more beautiful and spacious than before. Military - national defense is maintained, political security, social order and safety are stable.
The above results are very positive, serving as the foundation and motivation for the province to continue accelerating development in 2024.
So what are the things that the province needs to focus on overcoming and make more efforts, comrade?
Comrade Duong Van An - Provincial Party Secretary: Despite many efforts, the province still has some limitations such as: Production and business activities of enterprises face many difficulties, the number of enterprises stopping operations and dissolving is higher than in 2022. Disbursement of public investment capital has not met the plan, many projects are behind schedule. Land and mineral management is not strict and confusing, many petitions and complaints about this field are slow to be resolved, causing frustration among the people. Administrative procedure reform has not had clear results, there is still a situation of pushing, avoiding responsibility, "asking back and forth" between functional agencies, causing people and enterprises to have to go back and forth many times when doing administrative procedures. Industrial development is still small-scale, there are no large, high-tech factories. Restructuring of the agricultural sector is still slow, agriculture is not modern, sustainable, and added value is not high. The quality of healthcare has not yet met the requirements for medical examination and treatment for the people, in which the number of doctors and nurses is still lacking and limited in qualifications; the facilities of hospitals, clinics, and medical stations are degraded. Cultural, physical education, sports, entertainment, and recreation facilities have not received much investment. Environmental sanitation in urban and rural areas is not green, clean, and beautiful; the situation of discharging wastewater and garbage into residential areas, public areas, along roads, canals, and lakes still occurs in many places, causing loss of aesthetics and pollution of the living environment as well as the tourism environment. Resolution No. 15-NQ/TU of the Provincial Party Committee has identified the need to focus on effectively overcoming the above limitations to create momentum to promote development in 2024 and the following years.
"Bright spot" in Party building work
The Provincial Party Standing Committee launched a wide-ranging political activity called "Keeping the Party member's oath" in early 2023. Could you tell us what the greatest effect this political activity brought?
Comrade Duong Van An - Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee: The Provincial Party Committee's launching of the political activity "Keeping the Party member's oath" is to concretize the implementation of Conclusion No. 21-KL/TW of the Party Central Committee on promoting the building and rectification of the Party and the political system; resolutely preventing, repelling, and strictly handling cadres and Party members who have degraded political ideology, ethics, lifestyle, and manifestations of "self-evolution" and "self-transformation" and Resolution No. 21-NQ/TW of the Party Central Committee on strengthening the consolidation and building of grassroots Party organizations and improving the quality of Party members in the new period. Through "reviewing" the oath before the Party flag, the national flag, and the portrait of President Ho Chi Minh; Promises made to the collective, voters and people when appointed or when running for the Party Committee, People's Council, or Executive Committee of mass organizations, each Party member, especially Party members holding leadership positions, should reflect on their own performance in the past, from which, draw conclusions about what they have done, what they have not done well, what they have promised but have not done, from which, continue to practice, cultivate, and strive to fulfill well the things they have sworn and promised.
The political activity “Keeping the Party member oath” initially aroused the sense of responsibility for the people of the cadres and party members of Binh Thuan province. Each time they reflect on the oath they took before the Party flag, it will help the cadres and party members have new motivation to overcome difficulties, successfully complete assigned tasks; have more “resistance” to overcome trivial temptations, to always cultivate, train and preserve revolutionary moral qualities.
Overcoming challenges, accelerating development
The foundation for the successful implementation of the Resolution of the 14th Provincial Party Congress, term 2020 - 2025, has been solid. Binh Thuan is determined to overcome challenges, continue to make breakthroughs, develop comprehensively, become a strong province in marine economy, energy and tourism, and people's lives are constantly improved.
* Why did the province choose the theme for 2024 as "Improving competitiveness and satisfaction of people and businesses" this year?
Comrade Duong Van An - Provincial Party Secretary: We are aiming to build a developmental state, taking people and businesses as the center and the objects of service; the state plays the role of creating, leading and promoting socio-economic development.
That requires the government to innovate its approach in solving problems, first of all, to reform administration, improve people's and businesses' satisfaction and enhance competitiveness.
Binh Thuan is still a poor province, with insufficient revenue to cover expenses, and must receive support from the central budget; there are not many corporations and enterprises with "names" investing in large projects, creating momentum for socio-economic development. Meanwhile, the province still has a lot of room for development, new opportunities from land potential, natural resources, from the North-South expressway in the East, Phan Thiet airport, Vinh Tan general port, from "billion-dollar" projects that have been approved for investment... are very large. Therefore, the province must create an open and favorable investment and business environment to attract investment, promote production, business, and make profit. The Provincial Party Standing Committee and the leaders of the Provincial People's Committee agreed that the approach must change from "waiting" for investors to "asking" to "giving" to "hunting and inviting", only then can we attract many large, capable, experienced, reputable, and dedicated investors to invest in the province.
Administrative reform, in the direction of serving the people, both overcomes the arising negative aspects and helps people easily access information, carry out procedures, participate in supervision, give opinions, and ensure the legitimate and legal rights and interests of the people. Resolution No. 12-NQ/TU of the Provincial Party Committee on a number of policies and solutions to improve people's lives emphasized the guiding viewpoint: "Ensure fairness in social welfare, access to public administrative services, health care and improve people's spiritual life". Meanwhile, this is the province's weakness. Indexes such as the Competitiveness Index (PCI), the Public Administration Reform Index (PAR Index), and the People's Satisfaction Index with the Services of State Administrative Agencies (SIPAS) are still in the low group nationwide; only the Public Administration Performance Index (PAPI) has improved significantly, ranking among the top in the country. The choice of the theme for 2024 as "Improving competitiveness and satisfaction of people and businesses" is to focus on overcoming limitations and weaknesses in this field, improving the above indicators.
At the same time, we will do a better job of political and ideological education so that cadres and civil servants can raise their sense of discipline and responsibility for their work; take work efficiency and people's and businesses' satisfaction as a measure to evaluate the performance of each agency, unit and each cadre and party member. Further promote the exemplary role and "locomotive" role of the head of the agency or unit to lead, inspire motivation, spirit and working attitude for subordinates; at the same time, research effective mechanisms and solutions to protect dynamic, creative cadres who dare to think and act for the common good; overcome the situation where cadres and civil servants avoid responsibility and push work away.
Through the theme of 2024, the Standing Committee of the Provincial Party Committee hopes that the team of cadres, civil servants and public employees will strive to work with both responsibility and emotion, with heart and vision; dare to think, dare to do, dare to take responsibility, strive to fulfill their duties and tasks well and complete the common tasks of the province.
Recently, the Prime Minister approved the Binh Thuan Provincial Planning for the period 2021 - 2030, with a vision to 2050. What are some major orientations in the development vision of Binh Thuan province?
Comrade Duong Van An - Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee: The provincial planning for the period 2021 - 2030, with a vision to 2050, is extremely important, helping the province shape its vision and development space, opening up new potentials and new opportunities to attract investment, promoting the rapid, strong and sustainable development of Binh Thuan.
The provincial planning sets out the general goal that by 2030, Binh Thuan will become a province with dynamic, rapid and sustainable development; strong, rich from the sea, with per capita income higher than the average of the region and the whole country; a center of national and international sea resort tourism; one of the green energy centers of the country.
These factors are the foundation for Binh Thuan to become an important development pole of the Central Coast region by 2050, with a strong and sustainable marine economy and modern economic structure; a clean energy center and a national tourism service provider.
To achieve that goal, the Provincial Planning has identified a number of major orientations.
Firstly, in the economic field, we will focus on strongly developing the processing and manufacturing industry, the electricity production industry; developing high-tech agriculture, forming concentrated production areas; strongly developing tourism into a spearhead economic sector and building Binh Thuan province into a national and international center for marine tourism and sports.
The province also prioritizes the development of transportation and logistics services into an important economic sector, making Binh Thuan one of the logistics centers of the South Central and Southern Central Highlands regions.
Second, in arranging new development space, the principle of "One dynamic axis - Two connecting axes - Three centers - Three development corridors" will be followed; specifically:
- The dynamic axis is the Northeast - Southwest axis connected to the North - South Eastern Expressway, high-speed railway, national railway and National Highway 1A.
- The two linkage axes are tourism linkage linking sea tourism of Binh Thuan with mountain tourism of the Central Highlands and production linkage linking mineral resources, agricultural and forestry products of the Central Highlands combined with mineral resources, agricultural, forestry and fishery products of Binh Thuan.
- The three centers are the provincial center (Phan Thiet city area and vicinity), the southern center (the core is La Gi urban area) and the northern center (the core is Lien Huong urban area).
- Three development corridors include: Development corridor associated with the dynamic axis; coastal corridor and development support corridor connecting the western and northwestern regions of the province, aiming at the goal of "leaving no one behind".
Third, by 2030, the province will strive to complete the investment in 10 industrial parks and 38 industrial clusters; focusing on promoting the areas that play a driving role in the province, such as Phan Thiet city, La Gi town, Tuy Phong district, and industrial parks in the area. At the same time, research will be conducted to form high-tech parks and coastal economic zones.
Fourth, prioritize investment in a number of key traffic projects and works, including: Renovation and upgrading of National Highway 28B and National Highway 55; construction of a new Phan Thiet Airport and a road connecting Phan Thiet Airport to the expressway, national highway, railway station and coastal area in the north of Phan Thiet city; coastal route from the north to the south of the province, including bridges at the Ca Ty River mouth and Phu Hai River mouth; urban light rail routes connecting the airport with tourist areas and the center of Phan Thiet city; upgrading Vinh Tan seaport, Phan Thiet port, Phu Quy port; construction of a new Son My general port and a number of cruise ports. In the longer term, the Vinh Hao - Lien Khuong expressway will be built, National Highway 1A and National Highway 28 will be continued; the Phan Thiet Airport Logistics Center and the Seaport Logistics Center in Tuy Phong district will be formed.
In the near future, the province will organize a conference to announce the provincial planning and promote investment so that people and businesses can know more fully and introduce the potential and development opportunities to attract investors to the province.
Welcoming the Year of the Dragon 2024, would you please share and send a few words to the cadres, soldiers and people of your province?
Comrade Duong Van An - Provincial Party Secretary: A new spring is coming, bringing with it new aspirations, beliefs and spirit. Binh Thuan's development opportunities and prospects are much different from before, but there are still many difficulties and challenges. What we need to do is turn difficulties and challenges into motivation for development, turn disadvantages into "treasures", turn potential into material wealth, turn opportunities into specific achievements. That process requires solidarity, joint efforts, and efforts of all cadres, soldiers, people and business community of the province. With efforts and determination, we can completely increase the economic scale of the province, enhance competitiveness, improve the province's rankings in the region and across the country, and complete the "orders" of the Party and State leaders such as: Completing Phan Thiet Airport to "open the sky"; budget autonomy by 2025; soon become a major energy center of the country, a national-level sea tourism and sports center; become a livable place, an attractive land for investors, a new growth pole in the region and Binh Thuan people will have a richer, happier life.
On the occasion of the New Year 2024 and the Lunar New Year of Giap Thin, I respectfully send to all cadres, soldiers, business community and people in the province my best wishes for a new year of good health, happiness, peace and prosperity!
Thank you, Secretary. I wish you and your family a happy and prosperous new year!
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