Do not let the merger of provinces affect socio-economic development

Deputy Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee, Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee Rah Lan Chung and Vice Chairmen of the Provincial People's Committee: Nguyen Tuan Anh, Nguyen Huu Que, Duong Mah Tiep chaired the conference. Attending the conference were representatives of the Standing Committee of the Provincial People's Council, leaders of the Provincial Vietnam Fatherland Front Committee and departments and branches.

Deputy Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee, Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee Rah Lan Chung gave a speech at the conference. Photo: Minh Nguyen

The economy continues to grow

Reporting at the conference, Director of the Department of Finance Do Viet Hung said: The socio-economic situation in April and the first 4 months of the year continued to have positive changes, many key indicators increased compared to the same period in 2024.

Specifically, the total mobilized capital in the province reached 74,952 billion VND, up 9.4%; State budget revenue by the end of April 30 was estimated at 2,521 billion VND, reaching 40.3% compared to the estimate assigned by the Central Government, up 9%.

Total retail sales of goods and service revenue in April reached over VND5,600 billion, the total for the first 4 months of the year is estimated at over VND21,818 billion, up 11.51%; export turnover in April is estimated at 85 million USD, accumulated in 4 months is estimated at 685.7 million USD, up 55.8%.

In April, 100 new enterprises were established, and in the first 4 months, there were 360 ​​newly established enterprises, an increase of 5.9%; the registered capital was 3,694 billion VND, an increase of 4.9%. Currently, the whole province has 10,744 enterprises with a capital of 159,937 billion VND.

Director of the Department of Finance Do Viet Hung speaks at the conference. Photo: MT

Regarding the program to eliminate temporary and dilapidated houses, as of April 27, the whole province has started construction and repair of 6,461 houses (5,264 houses built, 1,197 houses repaired), reaching 79.23% of the plan. The fields of culture, society, health, science and technology continue to develop; the work of caring for policy families, people with meritorious services, and social groups in the community is of interest; political security, border security, and social order and safety are ensured.

However, according to the Director of the Department of Finance, there are still shortcomings and limitations such as: import turnover decreased; slow proposal to adjust land use planning until 2030 and district-level land use plan in 2025; 5 wind power projects and Nam Pleiku Industrial Park are still slow in removing obstacles to put into operation; land use rights auction work is facing difficulties, especially collecting land use fees at the provincial level. A number of cadres, civil servants and workers have psychological fluctuations before the information about merging provinces and communes and abolishing the district level, thereby affecting the progress of implementing common work.

At the conference, delegates focused on discussing the situation of agricultural production development, disease prevention and control on crops and livestock; progress of coordination to propose the Quy Nhon-Pleiku Expressway Construction Project; the Eastern Economic Corridor Road; information on policies and regimes to streamline staff after merging agencies and units; progress of developing a project to rearrange communes and merge provinces; the implementation of tasks for the 2024-2025 school year and preparation for the high school graduation exam; disbursement of capital for the National Target Program on socio-economic development in ethnic minority and mountainous areas...

Mr. Nguyen Ba Thach - Director of the Department of Ethnic Minorities and Religions - informed: The disbursement rate of capital for the National Target Program on Socio-Economic Development for Ethnic Minorities and Mountainous Areas is very low. The total estimated capital used in 2025 is more than 966 billion VND, but by April 30, only more than 145.5 billion VND had been disbursed, reaching 15.4%.

Of which, the assigned development investment capital is 658.8 billion VND, of which 142 billion VND has been disbursed, reaching 24.56%; the assigned public service capital is 308 billion VND, of which more than 3.4 billion VND has been disbursed, reaching more than 1%.

“The province’s disbursement rate for this capital source is currently very low, many departments, branches and localities have a disbursement rate of 0%; some localities have an average disbursement rate of 5-10%. In the context of merging communes and not organizing district-level authorities, many localities are afraid of difficulties and have the idea of ​​returning capital. The Department proposes that the Provincial People’s Committee soon direct localities to implement it soon” - the Director of the Department of Ethnic Minorities and Religions suggested.

According to Mr. Luu Trung Nghia - Director of the Department of Agriculture and Environment: The Department has reviewed localities where the expressway passes through such as Mang Yang, Dak Doa, Dak Po, An Khe to include in the land use planning. Up to now, the Provincial People's Committee has a plan to allocate 1,800 hectares of mineral land for leveling to localities; at the same time, the Department has reviewed and surveyed 60 fill mines with about 4 million m3 and 38 construction stone mines with about 3 million m3 to serve the Quy Nhon-Pleiku Expressway Construction Project and key projects. Along with that, the Department has also worked with Project Management Board 2, basically meeting the source of mineral materials for the project.

Mr. Luu Trung Nghia - Director of the Department of Agriculture and Environment said that he has reviewed localities with material sources to include in the planning for use in the Quy Nhon-Pleiku highway project and key projects. Photo: MT

Proactively prepare for provincial merger

Regarding the construction of the Quy Nhon-Pleiku expressway, Director of the Department of Construction Nguyen Truong Son said: It is expected that the Prime Minister will submit to the National Assembly for approval the pre-feasibility study report of the Quy Nhon-Pleiku expressway construction project. The volume of work related to this project is very large. In particular, the Government has issued a document assigning the two provinces of Gia Lai and Binh Dinh to organize compensation and site clearance.

“The Department proposed that the province establish a site clearance board to have a leading agency to implement the work immediately after the National Assembly approves, otherwise it will be behind schedule compared to the expected start date in 2025. Along with that, the Department also coordinated with the Ministry of Construction to propose 7,200 billion VND for medium-term public investment in the period of 2026-2030 for the Pleiku Airport Upgrade and Expansion Project. Currently, the Ministry of Finance is consulting and will submit it to the Government in the near future,” informed the Director of the Department of Construction.

Director of the Department of Construction Nguyen Truong Son proposed that the Provincial People's Committee establish a Site Clearance Board to promptly implement compensation and site clearance for the Quy Nhon-Pleiku expressway construction project to ensure the project's commencement in 2025. Photo: MT

From September 1, 2025, it is expected that Gia Lai and Binh Dinh provinces will merge into a new Gia Lai province. According to calculations, 1,972 cadres, civil servants and public employees of Gia Lai province will move to work in the center of Binh Dinh province. Regarding this content, Director of the Department of Home Affairs Pham Minh Trung said: There are a total of 1,219 cadres and civil servants; 602 public employees (excluding health, education, agriculture and environment officials...) and 151 workers at administrative agencies, departments, branches, sectors, and public service units. On that basis, the Department has coordinated with the Department of Finance to develop a plan to propose policies to support travel expenses, living expenses and propose policies to support accommodation costs for these cadres, civil servants and public employees.

Speaking at the conference, Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee Rah Lan Chung requested that the province's reorganization and merger not affect state management and administration activities; tasks of serving people and businesses and ensuring social security. Especially affecting socio-economic development and economic growth; the targets and plans set out must still be implemented normally.

The Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee affirmed: The government must play a supportive role and provide the best service so that people and businesses can feel secure in the context of changes in administrative organization.

The Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee requested departments and branches to continue to closely monitor, inspect, urge and guide agencies and units to fully implement socio-economic development plans and growth targets set out. In particular, speed up the preparation of investment procedures, construction and disbursement of public investment capital, especially the 3 national target programs.

Urge the adjustment of land use planning to 2030 and district-level land use plans to 2025. Strengthen management and effective use of public budget and assets; focus on developing projects to merge commune and provincial levels and abolish district levels according to the Central Government's guidelines. The organizational arrangement must not interrupt or delay the progress of implementing the province's development tasks.

The Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee assigned the Department of Home Affairs to study and propose the establishment of a permanent unit in Gia Lai to continue monitoring and resolving work on the spot; at the same time, assigned the Department of Finance to advise on policies to support officials when assigned to work in new localities such as Binh Dinh, including travel mechanisms, accommodation, and working conditions.

In addition, the Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee also noted the need to carefully review the physical conditions at the new location, ensuring that it meets the working and living needs of about 2,000 officials expected to be transferred. The relevant departments ensure that public activities, education, healthcare, social security and essential services such as electricity, water, and environmental sanitation continue to operate smoothly and are not affected by the rearrangement process. All departments and branches need to urgently research and propose solutions to avoid shortcomings in the implementation of tasks.

Source: https://baogialai.com.vn/khong-de-viec-sap-nhap-tinh-anh-huong-den-phat-trien-kinh-te-xa-hoi-post322854.html