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Southern region to sustain growth
The Southern Key Economic Region is expected to maintain annual growth rates of between 9.5 and 10 per cent through 2020, Politburo Member Le Hong Anh said at a conference held in HCM City on Monday.
The southern key economic region includes HCM City and the provinces of Dong Nai, Binh Duong, Ba Ria-Vung Tau-Binh Phuoc, Long An and Tien Giang.
The conference was held to review implementation of the Political Bureau's Resolution No 53-NQ/TW during the 2005-2010 period.
Passed in 2005, Resolution 53 sought to promote the region as socio-economic spearheads of the country.
Making significant contribution to the region would be the service sector, with an average growth rate of between 10 and 11 per cent per year, Anh said.
Anh said the Government determined that the region was of strategic significance in ensuring the nation's socio-economic growth, ensuring national defence and strengthening security.
Since Resolution 53 was passed, provinces and cities in the area had registered growth rates higher than the national average, Anh said.
For instance, its annual growth rate in the 2006-2010 period averaged 11 per cent while the national average was just seven per cent.
Anh said the region'economic structure aligned quickly with the goals of national industrialisation and modernisation.
It made great contribution to the State Budget – as high as 64 per cent in the 2005-2010 period, with HCM City alone contributing 50 per cent of this.
Living standards improved significantly in the region, with an annual per capita income of VND48.6 million, much higher than the national figure of VND22.8 million.
To achieve the growth target of 9.5 or 10 per cent set for the 2011-2020 period, the region would have to become much more competitive, Anh said.
He said the Government, for its part, should complete soon a comprehensive socio-economic development plan that enables full utilisation of the potentials and strengths of each province and city in the region and neighbouring regions.
The plan should ensure "close and harmonious" development among the provinces and cities so as to "create an uninterrupted and logical economic space," he said.
The Government should research and introduce new mechanisms and policies that can ensure Resolution No 53 is implemented effectively in the coming period, Anh said, adding that "a proper organisation should be set up to help the Government regulate common activities of the region."
Other delegates at the conference suggested several measures, one of which was to extend the authority as well as responsibility of administrations of provinces and cities in the region.
They said this would enable local authorities to deal with their own problems easily and effectively.
Other measures suggested included acceleration of the economic restructuring process in the region, with added focus on high value-added and high-tech industries; and building HCM City into a high-quality service center in the region and the world.
Conference participants also called for strong development of technical and social infrastructure including the expansion of old national highways and construction of new ones in localities that need these the most
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