Connecting the Southeast: ‘One province grows, another province is happy’



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Connecting the Southeast: Growth in one province, another in another - Photo 1.

The guests participated in the discussion of the seminar on Promotion of the Transport Infrastructure Connection in the Southeast – Photo: DUYEN PHAN

About 200 delegates attended the seminar, including leaders from 7 provinces and cities in the southeast: Ho Chi Minh City, Ba Ria – Vung Tau, Dong Nai, Binh Duong, Binh Phuoc, Tay Ninh and Binh Thuan; leaders of relevant ministries, branches and businesses in the area.

This is one seminar per newspaper Youth proactively propose and coordinate with the agencies mentioned to organize.

Connecting the Southeast: “Growth in one province, another also happy”

It is necessary to have a “driver” who sets the investment priorities, including sharing benefits among the provinces of the Southeast region, so that this local development is also joy and resonance for development. of the remaining provinces.

Connecting the Southeast: Growth in one province, another in another - Photo 2.

Adjunct Professor Dr. Tran Hoang Ngan – Director of HCMC Institute for Development Studies – Photo: DUYEN PHAN

Associate Professor Dr. Tran Hoang Ngan, director of the Ho Chi Minh City Institute for Development Studies, said there must be a strong enough mechanism, marked “driver”, to determine the strengths of each province and Southeast. There is even a need for a mechanism so that the provinces not only contribute resources for development, but also have a mechanism to share the benefits of that development.

“How can Ba ​​Ria – Vung Tau grow well with high budget income? Other provinces like Binh Duong, Dong Nai … will be happy and happy too,” asked Dr. Ngan.

Dr Tran Dinh Thien, a member of the Prime Minister’s Economic Advisory Group, said that there should be a new and more drastic way to pose a new regional connectivity problem because this problem has been raised for many years, but has not been implemented. How much.

Connecting the Southeast: One province grows, another province is happy - Photo 3.

Dr. Tran Dinh Thien – Photo: DUYEN PHAN

Mr. Thien said that with the position of the Southeast as the economic region that contributes the most in the country, the approach to regional connectivity cannot be only from the perspective of “ask – give”, not “loosen” but must be mechanisms to “get ahead”.

Mr Thien said that there is a need to have a new and more drastic way of posing a problem in regional connectivity because “this problem has been around for many years, but not much has been done.”

“There must be a mechanism to guarantee security, not pose a risk to implementers, go ahead and harmonize the interests between the state and the private sector in investment,” emphasized Mr. Thien.

Adjunct Professor Dr. Tran Dinh Thien – Member of the Prime Minister’s Economic Advisory Group – seminar presentation – Video: VAN BINH

Speaking at the workshop, Mr. Pham Viet Thanh, Secretary of the Ba Ria – Vung Tau Party Committee, stated that the Southeast has played a decisive role in contributing to the country’s economic growth, with around 45%. gross domestic product (GDP) and about 60% of the budget.

“This is one of the regions of dynamic economic development, the only region that currently converges all the conditions and advantages to take the lead in industrialization and modernization.

Additionally, the southeast has the advantage of being one of the top 20 locations for deepwater port development in the world, and by 2025, when Long Thanh International Airport becomes operational, it will create multimodal connectivity. opening a new space of economic development, new opportunities, a new growth engine, ”said Mr. Thanh.

Connecting the Southeast: One province grows, another province is happy - Photo 5.

Ba Ria Party Committee Secretary – Vung Tau Pham Viet Thanh delivers the workshop opening speech – Photo: DUYEN PHAN

The secretary of Ba Ria – Vung Tau also bluntly admitted that the Southeast faces overloaded and congested infrastructure, lack of adequate investment, lack of synchronous and sustainable connection.

“This is the direct cause of the slowdown in economic growth in the region,” Thanh said.

Therefore, the workshop is an important connecting step for delegates to exchange and discuss large-scale transport infrastructure projects with regional connectivity while identifying specific advantages and disadvantages. , problems. Since then, proposing and donating to the Government, ministries, central units and relevant agencies to direct the removal to expedite implementation.

Connecting the Southeast: One province grows, another province is happy - Photo 6.

Tuoi Tre newspaper editor-in-chief Le The Chu speaks at the conference – Photo: DUYEN PHAN

Before this workshop, starting in July 2020 Youth opened the forum “Southeast Infrastructure Connection”.

Mr. Le The Chu – editor-in-chief Youth – indicate with the orientation of the solution press, Youth Realizing this is not a new problem, but it is associated with the general development of the entire area, directly affecting people’s lives. Therefore, we want to attract comments, donations, suggestions from individuals, experts, state management agencies to contribute to this topic.

Mr. Chu said that the forum has attracted special attention from experts in economics, traffic and a large readership nationwide.

Connecting the Southeast: One province grows, another province is happy - Photo 7.

Dr. Truong Van Phuoc, Specialist Member of the Prime Minister’s Economic Advisory Group – speaking at the seminar – Photo: DUYEN PHAN

Commenting at the seminar, Dr Truong Van Phuoc, a member of the Prime Minister’s Advisory Group, noted that to address the downward investment in transport infrastructure in the Southeast, three big questions must be answered: “Where is the money? Where is the earth and where is the Will? ”.

Mr. Phuoc proposed establishing an interregional investment fund, in which a leader from the provinces and cities of the region is each member of the Board of Directors to jointly consider important interregional connection projects. .

Mr. Phuoc also suggested that since the public investment budget is limited, investment in transport infrastructure should be in the form of a public-private partnership. However, according to Mr. Phuoc, this form of investment also faces many problems, there is no consensus.

The representative of the Ministry of Transport said As planned, by 2020, the Southeast has 11 highways with a total length of 970 km, but so far only more than 120 km have been put into operation, so it is very necessary to have political determination from the central level to the store.

Connecting the Southeast: One province grows, another province is happy - Photo 8.

Dr. Nguyen Duc Kien, Economic Advisory Group to the Prime Minister – Photo: DUYEN PHAN

Dr. Nguyen Duc Kien, head of the government’s economic advisory group, also candidly pointed out why transport infrastructure projects in the south are slower than in the north due to the lack of a unified leadership. According to the approved plan, the command and coordination mechanism in the region is weak and lax. Therefore, according to Mr. Kien, “the provinces must coordinate with each other to choose what to do.”

Mr. Du Phuoc Tan, Head of the Urban Management Research Department of the Ho Chi Minh City Research and Development Institute, assessed that the organization of the seminar has a practical and close significance.

Specifically, according to Mr. Tan, starting in 2012, the Prime Minister decided to approve the planning of the Southeast region until 2020. Since then, 8 years have passed, but there is no summary assessment. Therefore, the workshop organization at this time will reevaluate the implementation of the plan. On the other hand, the issue of budget regulation for the region is very weak.

This is an opportunity to summarize and propose this issue to the Government.

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