Quang Ninh eyes to be role model in pandemic prevention, economic development

The northern province of Quang Ninh is striving to become one of the typical Vietnamese localities in COVID-19 prevention and control and maintain double-digit economic growth momentum.

The statement was made by Secretary of the provincial Party Committee Nguyen Xuan Ky during the recent 16th meeting of the Party Committee Standing Board.

To achieve the target, the Standing Board emphasised the need to resolutely and persistently keep “green zones” safe, push ahead with measures that have proved effective, and take flexible solutions based on the reality.

The province looks to complete vaccination for 100 percent of eligible residents against COVID-19 this year, combined with boosting the adherence to the Ministry of Health’s 5K principle (“khau trang” - wearing facemasks, “khu khuan” - disinfection, “khoang cach” - keeping distance, “khong tu tap” - no gathering, and “khai bao y te” - making health declarations) and technology application.

The standing board highly agreed with the growth scenario for the fourth quarter of 2021 and the whole year of 2021 to fulfill the target of gross regional domestic product (GRDP) growth of over 10 percent and total state budget revenue of over 51 trillion VND (2.23 billion USD). These are high figures, showing the northern province's determination to continue to promote the country's development aspirations.

To that end, Secretary Ky requested departments, sectors and localities to continue to remove difficulties for the coal industry, take full advantage of market opportunities, and maximise domestic production output.

It is necessary to step up administrative reforms, further improve the local business and investment climate, and enhance discipline at grassroots public service agencies, aiming to stay among the top provinces and cities in terms of the Provincial Competitiveness Index (PCI), the Public Administration Reform (PAR) Index, the Satisfaction Index of Public Administration Services (SIPAS), and the Provincial Governance and Public Administration Performance Index (PAPI), Ky stressed.

He also asked local authorities to promote the efficiency and effectiveness of state management over land and natural resources, and make detailed planning schemes for Ha Long city, the Quang Yen coastal economic zone, and others.

The apparatus of State agencies will be streamlined in tandem with bettering their performance efficiency and effectiveness.

Legal bottlenecks will be removed while poor-performing rice cultivation and forest land areas are converted, and site clearance for projects is accelerated. The coordination between state agencies and localities in Quang Ninh will be strengthened to boost the disbursement of all capital sources, thereby creating an impulse for growth.

In addition, provincial authorities are requesting investors to quickly complete infrastructure at Song Khoai, Nam Tien Phong, Bac Tien Phong, and Viet Hung industrial parks. They are also encouraging secondary investors to speed up manufacturing projects.

Quang Ninh is one of the three nuclei of the northern key economic region and viewed as a strategic destination in northern Vietnam.

It looks to raise its GRDP by 10 percent on an annual average during 2020 - 2025, and the per capita GRDP to over 10,000 USD by 2025. The urbanisation rate is expected to surpass 75 percent, while the rate of poor households to go down to below 1 percent. The province plans to complete new-style rural area building by the end of 2030.

Despite the complex COVID-19 situation, which has substantially impacted all socio-economic aspects, Quang Ninh has still managed to achieve the “twin targets” of curbing the pandemic and boosting socio-economic development.

The GRDP growth rate in the first nine months of 2021 is estimated at 8.2 percent.

In particular, the processing and manufacturing industry has increased 36.2 percent year on year, serving as the main driving force for the industrial sector. It has made up for the pandemic-caused downturn in services, tourism, coal, and electricity sectors.

Meanwhile, nearly 34.38 trillion VND (over 1.5 billion USD) has been collected for the State budget, equivalent to 67 percent of this year’s target. Administrative reforms and the business environment have continued to be improved.