Government delegation working in Ninh Binh

On the afternoon of June 25th, a delegation of government members led by Comrade Tran Van Son, Member of the Central Committee of the Party, Minister and Head of the Government Office , held a working session with Ninh Binh province to discuss the situation of production, business, public investment, infrastructure construction, and import and export activities in the province.

Government delegation members work in Ninh Binh.

A view of the working session between the delegation and Ninh Binh province.

The delegation included representatives from several ministries, departments, and central agencies.

Receiving and working with the delegation on behalf of Ninh Binh province were: Mr. Pham Quang Ngoc, Deputy Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee and Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee; Mr. Tong Quang Thin, Member of the Standing Committee of the Provincial Party Committee and Permanent Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee; and leaders of relevant departments, agencies, and some districts and cities.

At the meeting, the leaders of Ninh Binh province reported on the situation of production, business, public investment, infrastructure construction, import and export, and the results of implementing the three National Target Programs in the first six months of 2024 in the province.

Accordingly, since the beginning of the year, the Provincial Party Committee, the Provincial People's Council, and the Provincial People's Committee have focused on directing units to continue closely monitoring the production and business situation of enterprises, promptly resolving difficulties and obstacles for enterprises, and restoring and developing production and business; especially key enterprises that make significant contributions to the production value of the industrial sector and increase local budget revenue. Therefore, the province's socio -economic situation in the first six months of the year continued to maintain a relatively high growth rate; increasing by 8.19% compared to the same period last year, ranking 12th out of 63 provinces and cities nationwide and 6th out of 11 provinces and cities in the Red River Delta region.

Industrial production is gradually recovering and stabilizing, with production value reaching over 48 trillion VND, an increase of 6.4% compared to the same period last year. Total development investment implemented in the first six months of the year reached nearly 15.4 trillion VND, an increase of 3.3% compared to the same period and reaching 46.6% of the annual plan. As of June 21, 2024, the total disbursed capital reached over 2,086 billion VND, equivalent to 32.3% of the plan assigned by the Prime Minister.

Projects, especially key projects with a ripple effect on the socio-economic development of the locality and region, have been implemented on schedule; some works and project components have been completed or are nearing completion, and will soon be put into operation and use, maximizing their effectiveness and making a positive contribution to the socio-economic development of the locality.

Import and export activities are showing positive signs of recovery, with total export turnover in the first six months estimated at 1,679 million USD, an increase of 10.8% compared to the same period last year, reaching 51.7% of the annual plan.

The implementation of the three national target programs on building new rural areas, sustainable poverty reduction; and socio-economic development for ethnic minorities and mountainous regions has been focused on and directed, achieving good results.

The province has also focused on leading and directing all levels and sectors to research and synchronously implement tasks and solutions to promptly resolve difficulties and obstacles in the real estate market.

During the meeting, delegates discussed and clarified difficulties, obstacles, causes, and proposals and recommendations from the province related to the use of surplus funds from the local budget for salary reform; dredging inland waterways in the Cua Day area, Kim Son district, combined with the recovery of sand to provide materials for investment projects in the province; developing a plan to cease operations at the Ninh Binh Thermal Power Plant and adding a 300MW flexible power plant project in Ninh Binh to the Implementation Plan for Power Development Plan VIII; and allowing the widespread application of the standards for urban administrative units with specific characteristics as stipulated in Resolution No. 27, dated September 21, 2022, of the Standing Committee of the National Assembly, which applies Article 9a to all localities "with tangible cultural heritage recognized by UNESCO".

Speaking at the meeting, Comrade Pham Quang Ngoc, Deputy Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee and Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee, emphasized: Following the direction of the Government and the Prime Minister, Ninh Binh has been proactive, positive, and highly determined in implementing socio-economic development tasks since the beginning of the year. It has proactively proposed comprehensive solutions to address challenges and promote production development. This demonstrates Ninh Binh's sustainable development across all three economic sectors: industry, agriculture, and tourism services.

In particular, over the past three years, despite many economic difficulties, Ninh Binh has maintained sustainable growth, clearly demonstrated by two key indicators: since 2022, Ninh Binh has become one of 16 localities that can balance their budgets and contribute to the central government. Thanks to the development of tourism and services, the province's per capita income ranks 11th nationwide. Economic development goes hand in hand with ensuring social welfare; the province has issued Resolution 43/2023/NQ-HĐND of the Provincial People's Council stipulating policies to support the construction and repair of housing for poor households in Ninh Binh province during the 2023-2025 period. To date, nearly 1,000 houses for poor and disadvantaged households have been newly built or repaired.

Several major transportation projects, which are crucial for economic development, are being actively implemented by the province. In addition, indicators assessing administrative reform and government governance have shown many positive changes. According to the latest announcement, in 2023, Ninh Binh ranked 11th out of 63 provinces and cities in the Public Administration Reform Index (PAR INDEX); 19th out of 63 provinces and cities in the Provincial Competitiveness Index (PCI); 14th out of 63 provinces and cities in the Provincial Public Administration and Governance Effectiveness Index (PAPI); and 28th out of 63 provinces and cities in the Satisfaction Index on Administrative Services (SIPAS).

The Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee also clarified the province's recommendations, expressing the hope that the Minister, Head of the Government Office, and the delegation would report to the Government and the Prime Minister to create favorable conditions for Ninh Binh to implement effective and sustainable socio-economic development policies.

Concluding the working session, Minister and Head of the Government Office Tran Van Son acknowledged: Despite facing many common difficulties and challenges, with the efforts and determination of the entire political system, Ninh Binh province has effectively exploited and promoted its potential and strengths for sustainable development, becoming one of the localities with high growth rates in the first six months of the year.

Sharing the difficulties and obstacles faced by the province in production, business, import and export, and the implementation of current investment projects, the Minister and Head of the Government Office requested that in the coming time, the province continue to focus on accelerating the progress of national key projects, including the Ninh Binh - Hai Phong expressway construction project and the Cao Bo - Mai Son expressway expansion project. At the same time, the province should continue to maintain, uphold, and improve its ranking in administrative reform indicators and pay more attention to ensuring social welfare in the area.

Acknowledging and clarifying some of the province's recommendations, the Minister and Head of the Government Office requested that ministries and agencies incorporate and compile reports for the Government and the Prime Minister to study and consider resolving them promptly, contributing to promoting socio-economic development in the current period.

*Earlier, Minister and Head of the Government Office Tran Van Son and the Government delegation inspected the production and business situation at several enterprises in the province.

Accompanying them were comrades: Pham Quang Ngoc, Deputy Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee and Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee; Tong Quang Thin, Member of the Standing Committee of the Provincial Party Committee and Permanent Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee; leaders of relevant departments, agencies, and some districts and cities.

The delegation inspected the production and business situation at the Tam Diep Cement Plant. According to the company's leadership report: The Tam Diep Cement Plant project has been in operation since 2004. In 2023, the project's revenue reached VND 1,215.9 billion, export value reached USD 26.4 million, and tax contributions amounted to VND 16.65 billion; it employed 618 workers with an average salary of VND 12 million per person per month. In the first six months of 2024, estimated revenue reached VND 712.7 billion (an increase of 10.8% compared to the same period in 2023); estimated export value reached USD 13 million, tax contributions amounted to VND 7.8 billion; and the average salary reached VND 12 million per person per month.

government — The working group inspected the production and business situation at Tam Diep Cement Plant.

Due to the volatile global and domestic economic situation, the company is currently facing several difficulties in product sales; fierce competition in cement exports has led to a sharp drop in export prices; there is a significant oversupply and high inventory levels; and the prices of input materials such as coal and electricity have increased. However, product selling prices have fallen, thus significantly impacting production, business operations, and the lives of employees.

During the inspection by the working group, business representatives also proposed several measures to alleviate difficulties in the real estate and housing market in order to increase domestic cement demand; to review and manage the granting of permits for new construction and expansion of production lines in areas with a high density of cement production lines or located far from raw material sources; to implement solutions to stabilize prices and supply of construction materials to stimulate the domestic cement market; and to create conditions for businesses to access reasonable sources of raw materials for production...

Furthermore, businesses hope the government will provide solutions to enable them to benefit from policies on taxes, exports, support for reduced loan interest rates, and guidance on accounting for certain land-related assets that have been transferred to local authorities...

At the CFG Glass Factory (Ha Long Float Glass Co., Ltd. - CFG) in Khanh Cu Industrial Park, Yen Khanh district, the Government delegation conducted an on-site inspection of production and listened to a report on the company's production and business situation.

Accordingly, the project has been operational since 2017. In 2023, the project's revenue reached VND 2,495 billion, export value reached USD 4.2 million, and tax contributions amounted to VND 21.15 billion; it employed 836 workers with an average salary of VND 8.7 million/person/month. In the first six months of 2024, estimated revenue reached VND 1,208 billion, an increase of 21% compared to the same period in 2023; tax contributions to the state budget are estimated at VND 26.3 billion.

The company is facing numerous difficulties in product sales, rising production costs, and high prices for raw materials. Furthermore, domestically produced glass faces fierce competition from imported glass, particularly from Southeast Asia (with 0% tariffs), and Vietnam lacks technical barriers to reduce foreign competition.

Businesses hope that the working group and the People's Committee of Ninh Binh province will consider and promptly take measures and plans to report to the Prime Minister so that timely policies can be implemented to alleviate difficulties for businesses, stabilize production, business and the lives of workers.

After conducting on-site inspections at two enterprises representing the construction materials manufacturing industry in Ninh Binh province, Minister and Head of the Government Office Tran Van Son highly appreciated the efforts of the enterprises in production, business, and ensuring stable livelihoods for their workers. However, based on his observations, he also noted that the production and consumption of export products by these enterprises are facing many difficulties, due to objective factors affecting both domestic and international markets.

The comrade expressed his hope that businesses would continue to unite and make even greater efforts to develop effective production and business plans and expand their consumer markets.

Regarding the businesses' recommendations, the Minister acknowledged them and will report to the Government and the Prime Minister to develop comprehensive solutions to address the difficulties faced by businesses nationwide in general, and those in the export and construction materials sectors in particular.

Nguyen Thom - Anh Tuan