'If you are afraid of responsibility, who will do it!'

Comrade Ngo Thanh Danh, Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee, Head of the National Assembly Delegation of Dak Nong province , spoke with Vietnam Weekly on the occasion of Dak Nong's record increase in the Provincial Competitiveness Index PCI 2022.

"I'm happy but also worried"

Dak Nong province has jumped dozens of places from the bottom of the PCI rankings a few years ago to 38th out of 63 provinces in the VCCI report. How do you feel?

I am very happy but also very worried. Seeing some provinces jumping from the low to the high ranks, I feel the pressure. If the provinces can jump like that, what will we do next? Moreover, the important thing is that we must maintain our position at least as this year. PCI is a measure of businesses' performance in the province.

Looking back frankly, we see that the management work in some agencies and localities of the province is not as resolute and determined as life requires; some cadres have not worked in accordance with their duties and responsibilities.

Furthermore, the simplification of procedures and records is still cumbersome and overlapping. Difficulties and obstacles for people and businesses still exist. These limitations need to be overcome drastically, synchronously and effectively as soon as possible.

Comrade Ngo Thanh Danh, Provincial Party Secretary, Head of the National Assembly Delegation of Dak Nong province

Normally, how does the provincial government grasp the difficulties of businesses?

Immediately after the 12th Provincial Party Congress, we developed programs in all fields and sectors that were very specific, close, and correct; including calls for improving the investment, production, and business environment.

The Provincial People's Committee and the Department of Planning and Investment proactively organize monthly and weekly meetings to "have coffee with entrepreneurs" to directly listen to their voices and see what difficulties and obstacles they are facing. Provincial and department leaders listen and discuss with them to see what bottlenecks can be resolved immediately... Of course, there are many other efforts to help the PCI indexes increase in rank.

During your leadership, do you see that the law still has many overlaps and problems that the locality cannot resolve, causing great difficulties for businesses?

Circulars, decrees and laws still have certain overlaps and problems, causing difficulties for both management agencies and businesses, so they need to be adjusted to suit reality, because after all, nothing is perfect.

VCCI emphasized that the space for reform now lies at the local level. What do you think of that recommendation?

That assessment is correct. Local leaders themselves must be proactive, creative, must understand the local situation, and must know how to share the difficulties of businesses in order to solve them. Local issues must be resolved by the locality, not by relying on others.

However, localities also need space and legal framework and support from central ministries and branches.

"If you are afraid of responsibility, who will do it?"

Officials in many localities are now expressing their concerns, they are also very responsible in wanting to solve difficulties for businesses, but if they are wrong, it is very risky. What is the situation in Dak Nong, sir?

There are cadres who have concerns. We work more carefully according to practical requirements and in accordance with legal regulations, more slowly and steadily so that we can eventually resolve the problems and difficulties. If we don't do it because the province is poor, then it will be even poorer!

Reform always has its bumps. How do you handle this?

In reality, there are many conflicts and barriers that need to be removed. In the conference meetings, we always tell the staff that they need to have faith, that doing things according to the law and for the common good is fine. But when they see discipline all day long, they are also afraid. However, they still do what they think is right. There are issues that have been pending for a long time but have been resolved after instructions and orientations.

Dak Nong Provincial Party Secretary: Promoting reforms, opening doors to welcome investors

As a provincial leader, what do you personally say to officials and civil servants so they can handle such work?

We always encourage our brothers, whoever intentionally does wrong for personal gain is not allowed, but whoever does it for the common good is supported, otherwise if we are afraid of responsibility, who will do it? If we were afraid of responsibility, there would be no such event of Dak Nong increasing its ranking. There must be a lot of support, mutual assistance, encouragement and commitment from the leaders. The leader must create all conditions for the brothers to do it.

We organize "business coffee", assigning the Director of the Department of Planning and Investment and a few other departments to take charge of this. It is necessary to be open and listen to businesses because otherwise (with business coffee) their voices will not always reach the ears of the leaders.

Wind power project in Dak Nong province. Photo: VOV

We also sat with leaders of departments and businesses... Our point of view is that if we say yes, we will, if we don't, we will. If we can't do it, then we will say we can do something else that is more suitable and effective. For example, in agriculture , if businesses don't understand, don't have the knowledge, or resources about agriculture, how can they invest effectively in agriculture? We need to reserve resources and space for more effective businesses. If everything is clear and transparent from the beginning, it will be easier for everyone.

“Born later, Dak Nong always has to try hard”

The government is considering requiring localities to set up working groups to completely resolve difficulties for businesses. Do you find this model effective?

Yes. Our province has been doing it. We have established working groups to remove difficulties or make final decisions on outstanding issues. For example, we have worked with TH Group to remove specific obstacles for them. There are projects that have been suspended for decades and have not been completed. They took the land but did not do anything. I said, let's return it to the province. There must be a time limit, it cannot be kept forever or hinder the development of the province.

From now on, how will Dak Nong province focus on reform to improve its ranking?

We focus strongly on continuing administrative reform, solving the difficulties of people and businesses, especially in the field of land. We commit to solving records in the shortest time, ensuring that requests are resolved decisively or in the shortest possible time. We create conditions, remove difficulties in terms of costs and time for people and businesses.

Dak Nong has developed substantially in recent years thanks to improving the investment environment and friendly approach to businesses. We have welcomed investment projects and large businesses. We are focusing on high-tech agriculture. TH Group is considering investing in large agricultural projects.

Provincial governments at all levels must always be open and transparent so that the State, businesses and people can all benefit from development achievements; it is not acceptable for only one of the three to benefit.

Does Dak Nong have a goal of making a significant improvement in the PCI rankings in the near future?

We are trying very hard and really want to, but it is really difficult because it depends on many factors such as geographical location and traffic infrastructure. Businesses have to travel hundreds of kilometers from Ho Chi Minh City to Dak Nong to work while the roads are still very poor and the transportation costs are very high.

As for the provincial leaders, we are always open, friendly and receptive. We know that we are poor and born late, so we always have to try and make an effort.

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Great promotion
Dak Nong's composite PCI index in the VCCI PCI ranking reached 64.87 points, ranking 38th out of 63 provinces and cities, the highest ever. Dak Nong's PCI index this year increased 14 places from 52nd in the 2021 ranking.
Some of the high-ranking indicators include: Time cost (ranked 6), transparency (ranked 17), dynamism of provincial government (ranked 23), informal costs (ranked 26)...

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Alumina big profit
Regarding the operation of the bauxite - aluminum - metallurgy industrial complex: Up to now, a total of 9 bauxite mining areas on an area of over 1,605 km2 have been identified. By June 2020, the mining area was estimated at over 234 hectares; the total output of exploited raw ore was about 13.78 million tons.
Alumina products are currently bringing huge production value to the metal manufacturing industry with product volume starting to increase sharply since 2017 when the Nhan Co Alumina factory project came into operation. In 2018, alumina production output reached 650,000 tons and by 2020 it was 715,268 tons, reaching 110% of the design capacity.
Up to now, Nhan Co Alumina Factory has not only mastered the technology, but also actively researched technical improvement solutions, rationalized the production line, and increased production output. Alumina products are mainly exported to the markets of Japan, Korea, the United Arab Emirates, and Switzerland.
Many solar and wind power projects face difficulties due to lack of policies.
Dak Nong is also assessed to have great potential and advantages to promote the development of renewable energy such as wind power and solar power. The total power capacity has increased rapidly thanks to the Government's policy of encouraging investment in renewable energy.
To date, there are 1,632 rooftop solar power systems with a total capacity of 377,412 MWp; 2 grid-connected solar power plants with a total capacity of 106.4MWp in operation. The Prime Minister has added 6 wind power projects to the VII power plan. Of these, 1 project has been completed and has generated commercial power (Dak Hoa wind power, capacity of 50MW); 01 project has been completed but has not generated power (Nam Binh 1 - 30MW wind power); 3 projects are under construction (Dak N'Drung 1, Dak N'Drung 2, Dak N'Drung 3) and 1 project is carrying out investment and construction procedures (Asia Dak Song 1 wind power project).
The biggest obstacle to developing renewable energy in Dak Nong today is the lack of related mechanisms and policies. It is recommended that central ministries and branches pay attention to and supplement the planning and development plan for local power sources into the Power Plan VIII so that businesses can invest in supplying renewable electricity, ensuring the feasibility of bauxite mining projects, aluminum electrolysis plants and developing the aluminum industry as directed by the central government.
In addition, consider and remove difficulties for wind power projects that are being implemented, have been completed but have not yet generated commercial electricity; soon have instructions and procedures for selecting investors for planned solar power projects; continue to remove difficulties for the Dak Nong aluminum electrolysis plant project.

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