Provincial Party Secretary Duong Van An: Potential and development prospects of Binh Thuan, becoming an attractive investment location

BTO - At the regular session of the Provincial People's Council at the end of 2023, which opened on the morning of December 6th, Comrade Duong Van An - Member of the Central Committee of the Party, Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee, and Head of the Provincial Delegation of National Assembly Deputies - delivered an important speech concerning the socio-economic situation, national defense and security, and the judicial sector in 2023, as well as the direction and tasks for 2024. Binh Thuan Newspaper summarizes some important contents for readers.

*Provincial Party Secretary Duong Van An delivered a speech at the Provincial People's Council meeting on the morning of December 6th.*

The tourism industry quickly recovered and experienced impressive growth.

Beginning his speech, the Provincial Party Secretary emphasized that Binh Thuan enters 2023 with many opportunities, advantages, and driving forces for development. These include the great attention and support from Party and State leaders, as well as leaders from central ministries and agencies, through their visits, working sessions, and insightful and comprehensive guidance. Another opportunity arises from the commissioning of the North-South expressways (Vinh Hao - Phan Thiet and Phan Thiet - Dau Giay), which significantly shortens travel time and facilitates the transportation of passengers and goods to and from Binh Thuan, especially from the Southern key economic region.

In addition, the province has taken the initiative to host the National Tourism Year with more than 70 vibrant, attractive, and innovative activities, helping the tourism industry quickly recover and develop impressively. Simultaneously, many large investors have recognized the potential and prospects for development in Binh Thuan, making it an attractive investment destination.

Some notable highlights include: the three sectors identified as the province's economic pillars continued their growth momentum, with tourism experiencing the highest growth, reaching a total of 8.35 million visitors (a 46% increase) and revenue exceeding 22.3 trillion VND (a 63% increase), placing it among the top 10 provinces and cities with the highest total number of visitors and tourism revenue nationwide. GRDP growth reached 8.1%, ranking 14th out of 63 provinces and cities, and 4th out of 14 provinces and cities in the North Central and Central Coastal regions. Many long-standing difficulties and obstacles in socio-economic development across various sectors are gradually being resolved.

In the socio-cultural field, there have been many positive changes, the quality of education has improved, social security and welfare have been well implemented, the poverty rate has decreased; per capita income has increased by 5.1% compared to 2022. National defense, security, order, and social safety in the province have been maintained…

*The North-South Expressway passes through Binh Thuan province.*

There is still a fear of making mistakes and a fear of taking responsibility.

Besides the achievements, the Provincial Party Secretary assessed that the province still faces many difficulties and challenges, including external factors such as the global economic crisis, rising prices of input materials, and difficulties in the financial, monetary, and real estate markets. Internal factors include the fear of making mistakes and taking responsibility among some officials and civil servants, leading to delays in work. Some inadequacies, obstacles, and even violations identified through inspections and investigations during the implementation of socio-economic development tasks have yet to be resolved. This has led to many socio-economic development projects being stalled and not implemented, wasting social resources.

The Provincial Party Secretary assessed that the rate of budget revenue growth was not high, and some revenue sources were lower than projected. Despite an economic scale exceeding 100,000 billion VND, the mobilization of GRDP into budget revenue remained low (approximately 8.1%), compared to 15.7% nationwide. Progress on key projects remained slow. Disbursement of public investment capital as of the end of November 2023 only reached 64.41% of the plan; support, resettlement, and project implementation remained unresolved. The encroachment on public land and project land, and illegal mineral exploitation, remained complex in some areas, but prevention was ineffective, leading to public suspicion of "cover-up" and "protection" by some officials. Illegal construction and littering causing environmental damage continued in many places.

Furthermore, there are still limitations and weaknesses in administrative procedure reform, especially in procedures related to land, investment, and public procurement. Regarding provincial People's Council representatives, during interactions with constituents, they promised to implement or forward constituents' recommendations to the relevant state agencies, but in some cases, they forgot, or forwarded them but only formally, without following up or monitoring…

Continue to develop all three economic pillars evenly.

According to the Provincial Party Secretary, 2024 is projected to present many challenges. Therefore, the provincial People's Council delegates will discuss measures and solutions to overcome difficulties and limitations, leverage potential, internal strengths, and new opportunities to continue developing the three economic pillars evenly: industry, tourism, and agriculture; and boost social investment attraction…

The Provincial People's Committee and local authorities, departments, and the team of officials and civil servants need to strive to work with both responsibility and dedication, with both heart and vision; daring to think, daring to act, and daring to take responsibility, using work efficiency, the satisfaction of people and businesses, and the development of the province as measures to evaluate the level of task completion. On the other hand, the provincial leadership requested that in the 2024 work program, the Provincial People's Council should continue to further promote the supervision of the results of overcoming some long-standing shortcomings and weaknesses. The attitude and responsibility of officials and civil servants in the process of performing their duties, especially in positions that frequently interact with and directly address the requests and proposals of people and businesses, should also be emphasized.

The Provincial Party Secretary requested that the leaders of the Provincial People's Committee, departments, and localities study, absorb, and uphold their responsibilities, and strengthen coordination to effectively address the legitimate needs and aspirations of voters and the people. The Standing Committee of the Provincial People's Council, the committees, the delegate groups, and individual members of the Provincial People's Council should pay more attention to monitoring the results of resolving voters' requests and aspirations by state agencies at all levels; promptly offer criticism and corrective measures for cases of delay, prolonged processing, or shirking of responsibility…

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