Waste of investment in rural markets

Muong Phang market is quiet and deserted.

The market has… 5 businesses

Muong Phang Market, Muong Phang Commune (Dien Bien Phu City) has an area of ​​1,470m2, was built and handed over for management and use from October 13, 2023, with a total investment of 2.99 billion VND. The goal is to turn Muong Phang Market into a center for connecting trade in the region, promoting exchanges and trading of specific agricultural products and local specialties, creating conditions for socio-economic development, improving the lives of people in Muong Phang Commune... However, after more than 1 year of operation, Muong Phang Market is considered ineffective when the whole market has... 5 business households.

To better understand the current situation of exploitation and management of Muong Phang market, we worked with the leaders of Muong Phang commune. Mr. Lo Van Hop, Chairman of Muong Phang Commune People's Committee, said: Muong Phang market mainly operates in the morning, the number of buyers and sellers can be counted on the fingers, many kiosks in the market are empty. The market has been solidly built and is deserted, but around the market, people encroach on the traffic corridor or take advantage of the sidewalks in front of their houses to do business. We admit that this situation is due to the lack of determination in the management of the commune government. On the other hand, during the time the market was put into operation, the number of business households in the market was too small, so the commune People's Committee had not yet established a market management board and had not issued internal rules and regulations for operation. Coordination between the Commune People's Committee and specialized departments under the City People's Committee is not tight, so although the market has been operating for more than a year, the commune government has not yet received a decision on market fees, market classification according to Decree No. 60/2024/ND-CP of the Government on market development and management and the assignment of market management tasks from the City People's Committee. This is part of the reason why Muong Phang market has not operated effectively.

Not only in the suburban commune, right in the center of Dien Bien Phu City, C13 market, Thanh Truong ward was built and put into use since December 2023, but so far only 13 stalls have signed a lease contract. C13 market has a scale of 120 stalls (72 main market kiosks, 48 ​​corrugated iron roof kiosks) and an outdoor sales area of ^​​420m2 . Of the 13 stalls signed a contract, only 3 are operating, the remaining 10 stalls have been rented and left there.

Reporters work with leaders of Muong Phang commune (Dien Bien Phu city).

As one of three households renting and using a kiosk at C13 market since September 2024, Ms. Sung Thi My, Na Sang commune (Muong Cha district) sells costumes of the Mong ethnic group. After nearly 2 months of trading... not a single customer has come to buy her products! Ms. My shared: I see that the market is big and beautiful but the number of customers coming to the market to buy goods is very small, maybe people prefer to go to the city's shopping centers.

However, nearly 1km from C13 market, people encroached on the traffic corridor, taking advantage of the gas station that had stopped operating as a trading and business location. Meat, vegetables, cooked food, even clothes... were displayed everywhere, the atmosphere of buying and selling was bustling. A vegetable seller here shared: Bringing goods here can still be sold, but no one buys inside the market. In this area, in the afternoon rush hour, people passing by conveniently stop to buy goods. Thus, sellers and buyers became more and more crowded, creating a makeshift market right on the national highway corridor. Also according to the people here, "Many times the government has stepped in to clear out shops encroaching on the road and sidewalk, but after only a few days, when there were no functional forces on duty, the encroachment situation recurred."

Need to exploit and manage the market effectively

Recently, Thanh Truong ward (Dien Bien Phu city) has sought many solutions for business households, especially directing functional forces to organize the removal of illegal sales points around the market area, while at the same time propagating and mobilizing people to go to the market to trade, but the situation has not improved.

C13 Market, Thanh Truong Ward, Dien Bien Phu City, has been invested in and is spacious but has not attracted businesses.

Discussing the plan for using the market, Mr. Cao Dai Duong, Chairman of Thanh Truong Ward People's Committee said: In the coming time, the ward will continue to coordinate with mass organizations to strengthen propaganda and mobilize local people and business households who have the need to continue registering to do business at the market. At the same time, the ward requests neighboring wards and communes to coordinate propaganda for households who have the need to register to rent business booths. To attract business at the market, we will have our own policies, support new businesses, not collect fees for the first 2 months to evaluate the collection level and encourage business households to participate in activities at the market.

According to statistics from the Department of Industry and Trade, at present, the whole province has 41 markets and 21 rural communes have markets. Investment in new construction, upgrading, renovation, management and exploitation of markets has always been of interest to all levels and sectors. Up to now, commercial infrastructure in general and markets in particular have developed significantly, creating conditions for expanding trade of goods, increasingly better serving the needs of the people and contributing to promoting the local socio-economy. However, market management in the province still has many limitations, and investment resources have not been effectively exploited. On the basis of State management of markets, the Department of Industry and Trade issued Document No. 1389/SCT-QLTM dated August 28, 2023 on strengthening market management for People's Committees of districts, towns and cities.

Through the results of the review, inspection and assessment of the effectiveness of rural markets, the sector will submit to the Provincial People's Committee to change the purpose of use for ineffective or inactive markets. This is a reasonable solution proposed by the Department of Industry and Trade to avoid wasting investment resources and land for market construction. For future investment markets, it is necessary to follow the approved planning, focusing on investigation and field survey, correctly assessing the needs and necessity of investing in market construction, respecting the historical factors of market formation. With the goal of creating favorable conditions for people's exchange and trading activities to determine the appropriate scale and location.

Implementing the national target program for new rural construction, in the early stages, the mandatory criteria for infrastructure must include a market. However, the construction of a market is not really necessary, so it is recommended that the competent authority consider and weigh when implementing this criterion, to avoid the situation where the newly built market has to bear the debt of ineffective capital construction investment, wasting investment resources.

Source: https://baodienbienphu.com.vn/tin-tuc/kinh-te/219902/lang-phi-dau-tu-cho-nong-thon