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Permanent Vice Chairman of Binh Dinh Province People’s Committee Le Huu Loc |
Binh Dinh is not only an important gateway in the central key economic region but an attractive destination for domestic and foreign investors. Permanent Vice Chairman of Binh Dinh Province People’s Committee Le Huu Loc talks more about the province’s effort and socio-economic achievements.
Binh Dinh is one of provinces nationwide reaping achievements in many fields. What are the reasons?
Last year saw many difficulties due to the global crisis and economic recession. However, Binh Dinh made every effort to maintain the GDP growth by 11 percent. The political stability, social and cultural development, and environment protection have been focused on.
The 2008 also witnessed positive changes. The industrial production value increased by 18.1 percent, the number of tourists coming to Binh Dinh went up by 28 percent, and the export turnover reached US$400 million, a surge of over 2 percent against 2007. The agricultural sector got the first-ever bumper crop.
The province has been strengthening the urban and infrastructure construction and economic mechanism transfer.
The Nhon Hoi Economic Zone, other industrial zones, including Phu Tai and Long My, as well as newly-established ones, such as Nhon Hoa and Hoa Hoi proved the effectiveness of the province’s policies.
69 domestic project with the registered capital of VND11,597 trillion and five FDI ones worth US$48.7 million were licensed to invest in Binh Dinh last year.
Thanks to the support from the Government and ministries as well as the steering of provincial leaders, Binh Dinh has reaped encouraging results.
Alongside this, the province has promoted the administrative reform and investment environment, contributing to the socio-economic development in the past few years.
The infrastructure construction plays a core role in the socio-economic development. Could you talk about key changes?
Being a small province far from two big cities, Binh Dinh faces many disadvantages to infrastructure. The preparation for infrastructure is the first priority to attract investment.
The province has, therefore, undergone massive changes with the infrastructure construction of all fields, let alone the staff development.
The province also asked the Government and ministries to upgrade Phu Cat Airport and allow high-quality trains to operate on the HCM City-Binh Dinh route, aiming to meet the ever-increasing demand for travelling.
The province’s partners, both domestically and abroad, highly appreciated its preparation for the social-economic infrastructure.
Also, thanks to the sponsorship from different sources, Binh Dinh is one of leading provinces investing in irrigation works and rural traffic projects.
Dinh Binh water reservoir, Thach Khe lake irrigation canal, and other works have, for example, played an important role in the sustainable rural and agricultural development.
Thi Nai Bridge and Nhon Hoi Economic Zone clearly showed the province’s changes for the industrialization and modernization period.
What are measures for the development in coming years?
The province will synchronously carry out some measures to promote production, services, and investment attraction, aiming to maintain the economic growth. Incentive policies will be continued, creating favourable conditions for business.
The province will assist businesses in resolving difficulties and enhancing the competitiveness as well as the effectiveness of industrial production.
The investment in agriculture production and rural development will be focused on, meeting the demand for domestic consumption and export.
The sustainable quality and effectiveness of agriculture, forest, and aquiculture production will be improved, together with the development of rural and mountainous areas as well as islands.
As planned, the 2009 focuses on following tasks: strengthening key infrastructure projects; implementing stimulus measures; developing distribution network and potential and high added value services; promoting tourism attraction; improving the quality of transport to ensure the goods circulation and demand for travelling; stepping up export and resolving export-relating issues to reduce expenses and enhance the competitiveness.
How about the support from the government and ministries for short-term difficulties and long-term development?
The province must receive the support from the government and ministries for its development.
Planning is the top issue. Binh Dinh plays an important role in the economic development and national defense and security.
It’s necessary, therefore, to have an overall planning for the regional development with the central province of Binh Dinh involved.
Capital is another issue. The province’s budget collection has increased in recent years, but it still hopes to receive the Government and ministries’ support for the capital allocation due to the high demand for infrastructure construction, particularly in Nhon Hoi Economic Zone.
The People’s Committee of Binh Dinh province also asked the Central to soon implement some key projects, such as the upgrade of Quy Nhon Port, Phu Cat Airport, national highway No 19, and the highway connecting Da Nang, Binh Dinh, and Nha Trang, aiming to improve the infrastructure in Binh Dinh as well as central and Tay Nguyen (Central Highlands) region.
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