Secretary Ngo Dong Hai and Thai Binh province's desire to reach out to the ocean

Editor's note:

Resolution No. 26-NQ/TW dated May 19, 2018 of the 7th Conference of the 12th tenure on "focusing on building a contingent of cadres at all levels, especially at the strategic level, with sufficient qualities, capacity and prestige, equal to the task" sets a specific goal that by 2025, provincial secretaries will basically be non-locals. Up to now, the number of provincial secretaries who are not local people is increasing, carefully selected and qualified. This has brought a new wind, contributing to innovation and creating many changes for the locality. In the current socio -economic development picture of localities, there is a strong "shadow" of many provincial party secretaries who are not local people. At the same time, many cadres who have been transferred to their localities have matured and returned to hold important positions in the Central Government. Through meetings and conversations with a number of provincial party secretaries who have been rotated recently, VietNamNet summarizes the initial results in implementing the policy of "the secretary is not a local person".

“ Thai Binh welcomed me like a destined relationship. It gave me a love where there were many difficulties but also many advantages,” Mr. Ngo Dong Hai shared with VietNamNet the story of a Provincial Party Secretary who is not a local.

Mr. Ngo Dong Hai was born on October 25, 1970; hometown Phuoc Hung commune, Tuy Phuoc district, Binh Dinh province; professional qualifications: PhD in Electronics and Telecommunications, Bachelor of Economics. He is a member of the Party Central Committee of the 11th (alternate), 12th (alternate), 13th terms; National Assembly Delegate of the 15th term, Head of the National Assembly Delegation of Thai Binh province. While holding the position of Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee and Head of the Management Board of Binh Dinh Economic Zone, he was transferred to the Central Government to work as Deputy Head of the Central Economic Committee from March 2016. On September 28, 2018, the Politburo transferred and appointed him to the position of Standing Deputy Secretary of the Thai Binh Provincial Party Committee. In June 2020, he was introduced by the Thai Binh Provincial Party Committee and appointed by the Politburo to hold the position of Provincial Party Secretary for the 2015-2020 term. In October 2020, at the 20th Thai Binh Provincial Party Congress, he was elected by the Provincial Party Committee as Provincial Party Secretary for the 2020-2025 term.

Like many other Provincial Party Secretaries who are not local, a cadre who initially came from far away could not fully understand the land, the people, and the entrenched and intertwined problems of the locality. That required Mr. Ngo Dong Hai or any personnel who came to Thai Binh at that time to have enough courage to take on the new mission, overcome all obstacles with responsibility, enthusiasm, and their own capacity. To help Thai Binh province transform, attract investment, escape stagnation, and rise to become a new industrial zone of the Red River Delta region, it required the head of the provincial Party Committee to have a "transformation" in leadership and management.

That expectation has been rewarded after 5 years. Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee Ngo Dong Hai, together with the Standing Committee of the Thai Binh Provincial Party Committee and Party committees at all levels, have created a transformation in the homeland of "5 tons". Thai Binh, from a purely agricultural land, has become a place with attractive policies to attract investment in high-quality industry and agriculture, competing directly with large neighboring localities in the region such as Hai Phong, Hai Duong, etc. Resolutions of the Provincial Party Committee have turned into specific action programs thanks to correct and drastic policies with a new breeze. Thai Binh has taken off its "old shirt called purely agricultural", putting on a diverse uniform that demonstrates its adaptability and modernity in the context of the global economy. This is clearly demonstrated by the fact that large, successful investors in Hai Phong and Hai Duong have shifted to Thai Binh to expand their investments, initially bringing positive results.

After the 20th Provincial Party Congress, Thai Binh launched its ambition to build the largest industrial park ever. Secretary of the Thai Binh Provincial Party Committee Ngo Dong Hai said that at that time, public opinion had many doubts about the feasibility of this aspiration. From a purely agricultural province with a fragmented economy and limited transport infrastructure, Thai Binh wanted to compete with neighboring provinces and cities that had developed for a long time such as Hai Phong, Hai Duong, and Hung Yen, which was easily considered "bragging" and sloganeering. "Overcoming doubts, the Thai Binh Provincial Party Committee considered this a driving force to overcome pressures and difficulties. The Standing Committee of the Thai Binh Provincial Party Committee had very specific directions to realize the dream of building an industrially developed province in the Red River Delta region," Mr. Ngo Dong Hai recalled. In each stage, Thai Binh proposed detailed plans to move towards the general goal. The locality made efforts to implement the plan and create specific results. Taking each step carefully, persistently, and strongly on the difficult path it has chosen, Thai Binh province has reached its aspiration. For example, after 2 years of operation, Lien Ha Thai Industrial Park (located in Thai Thuy district) has attracted 9 foreign direct investment (FDI) projects and 1 domestic direct investment (DDI) project, with a total investment capital of 754 million USD, and an area of nearly 600 hectares.

According to the leader of Lien Ha Thai Industrial Park, the unit has achieved 98% of the cleared land area of the total land area to be recovered, creating a miracle of land clearance for an unprecedented large industrial project in Thai Binh. This miracle was achieved thanks to the determination of the leaders of the Party Committee and provincial government.

The Secretary of Thai Binh shared the good news that the locality is currently speeding up the site clearance process to implement infrastructure construction, attract secondary investors to Hai Long Industrial Park, VSIP Thai Binh Industrial Park; selecting investors to implement the LNG thermal power plant project and procedures to establish the Pharmaceutical - Biological Industrial Park... According to Mr. Ngo Dong Hai, to turn the dream into reality is a long journey, it cannot be completed in a short 5-year term. "Thai Binh is taking advantage of every moment, every opportunity and support from the Central Government and the people in the province to implement the major policy, the sooner the people of Thai Binh will reach their dreams and aspirations", Mr. Hai expected. Up to this point, Thai Binh has had a great change in thinking about comprehensive socio-economic development, strongly arousing the inherent value of the province. Thanks to a clear strategy, in just over 2 years, starting from site clearance, infrastructure construction, staff development, etc., Thai Binh has attracted more than 1.5 billion USD in foreign investment capital. This is a miracle, an unprecedented result in the history of local economic development.

To do this, the steady and skillful "steering" of the Provincial Party Secretary is indispensable, first of all in the work of organizing the apparatus, because the work of cadres is the "key of the key". Therefore, right from the beginning, Mr. Ngo Dong Hai paid special attention to this work. "I am fortunate to have the comrades in the Standing Committee of the Provincial Party Committee, especially the veteran revolutionary cadres here, supporting and encouraging me in arranging and rearranging personnel for the new term", the Thai Binh Secretary shared. He also acknowledged that the initial period of doing this work was quite difficult, but up to now it can be considered "having sweet fruits". To achieve results, according to Mr. Hai, the work of cadres must ensure publicity, transparency, choose the right people, the right positions, and create high unity.

“What is right, I support, what is unreasonable, I must have my own opinion, gradually persuade based on the principle of benefiting the common cause. If there is a viewpoint contrary to the collective interest, I must resolutely change, absolutely not considering the factor of familiarity,” Mr. Ngo Dong Hai frankly said. Before taking up his assignment at the Central Economic Committee in March 2016, Mr. Hai had worked in Binh Dinh province, this was also an opportunity to help him accumulate a lot of experience, practical lessons, becoming valuable luggage to be able to firmly “steer” for the rotation in Thai Binh. “I have clearly determined my very strong motivation that going to the locality is to take on a task for the Party and the people. I always keep in mind that I will fulfill the duty assigned by the Party, with all my heart, responsibility, and aspiration,” Mr. Ngo Dong Hai affirmed.

Clearly defining his mission when he became the Secretary of Thai Binh, Mr. Ngo Dong Hai chose a long-term vision in his decisions as well as in his leadership and management. Therefore, all the goals set by the province have a long-term vision and have been thoroughly discussed and exchanged within the collective to unanimously concretize them into specific plans. This has been demonstrated throughout the documents of the Provincial Party Congress, from the beginning of the term until now. In recent times, the Thai Binh Provincial Party Committee has gathered collective strength and mobilized the consensus of the masses towards long-term and sustainable development for the locality. "I have not avoided any difficulties or hardships over the past 5 years and until now, I still have the same aspirations and enthusiasm as the day I first set foot in Thai Binh," Mr. Ngo Dong Hai shared.

Provincial Party Secretary Ngo Dong Hai holds hands with people and sings together at the National Great Unity Day in Thai Binh.

The Thai Binh Party Secretary expressed his joy that the past 5 years have helped him become "richer" in knowledge, practice, and thinking. "Staying with Thai Binh, I have collected, harvested, and matured with the values of the people here that cannot be measured in numbers. Until now, what makes me feel happiest and most satisfied is the achievements of each step, the growth and development of Thai Binh province," said Mr. Ngo Dong Hai. Having been attached to the rice land for 5 years, Mr. Ngo Dong Hai did not hesitate to express his love for this place "like loving the homeland where my parents gave birth to me." "I aspire to go out to the sea with the people of Thai Binh, bringing wealth to this land," said Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee Ngo Dong Hai.