Residents voiced their opinions at a public consultation session in Phong Dien ward.

Identify bottlenecks

In principle, services are always linked to the space where they operate, to where actual needs arise. However, in many cases, exploiting services within the heritage system and cultural spaces in Hue faces difficulties due to overlapping regulations. This is a long-standing issue. Yet, to date, the exploitation of services within the heritage system has not seen significant progress, meaning its great potential has not been fully realized.

Also related to the service and tourism sector, another paradox is the gap between "identification" and "product." Vice Chairman of the City People's Council, Ha Van Tuan, frankly stated: Hue talks a lot about being the capital of ao dai (traditional Vietnamese dress) and the culinary capital, but when it comes to concrete experiences, tourists find it very difficult to find a product that matches. They talk about Hue's ao dai but lack tailoring services and experiences that are quick and sophisticated enough. They talk about being the culinary capital but lack spaces of sufficient scale to fully showcase the culinary essence of the ancient capital.

City leaders inspect the operation of the new administration in Quang Dien commune.

In the field of industry and investment attraction, the Standing Committee of the City Party Committee and Vice Chairman of the City People's Committee, Hoang Hai Minh, pointed out that despite emphasizing decentralization, delegation of power, and administrative reform, the actual effectiveness has not met expectations. The question is whether the support for businesses has been sufficient? There are land clearance projects that drag on for many years, slowing down progress, increasing costs, and directly affecting investor confidence.

Another worrying bottleneck is the capacity to absorb capital. Some restoration projects last for decades, with hundreds of billions of dong allocated annually, yet the disbursement rate only reaches 60-70%. The resources are substantial, but the effectiveness is not commensurate, necessitating a review of the organizational capacity and the responsibilities of each stage and unit involved.

At the recent conference to disseminate the Resolution and Action Program of the 17th City Party Congress, Standing Committee member of the City Party Committee and Permanent Vice Chairman of the City People's Committee Nguyen Thanh Binh pointed out a fundamental bottleneck: the hesitant and fearful attitude towards responsibility among a segment of officials and civil servants; the number of those who dare to act and offer advice is still insufficient. In reality, even in some tasks under the authority of the City People's Committee, there are still obstacles in implementation, reflecting a lack of advisory capacity that demands a gradual improvement in the efficiency and effectiveness of the apparatus.

New thinking and approaches

From these bottlenecks, the issue is not just about adding more mechanisms, but more importantly, about changing mindsets and approaches. Hue needs to boldly propose pilot mechanisms that allow for the testing of new models, accompanied by risk control mechanisms and protection for those who dare to innovate.

Utilizing urban spaces in conjunction with culture, sports, and tourism should be considered a breakthrough direction. In particular, the city center, if properly reorganized, can form a continuous chain of activities: services, culture, cuisine, and nighttime economy . Public spaces, when properly "activated," will both revitalize the city and open up new growth opportunities for service industries.

According to Mr. Phan Thanh Hai, Director of the Department of Culture and Sports, event economics and sports economics need to be placed in the right position in the development strategy. A well-organized event not only has promotional significance but also creates a large ripple effect, attracting demand for accommodation, food, shopping, and sightseeing. The core issue is to broaden the policy framework, create conditions for participants to operate transparently and conveniently, and form a professional and sustainable event market.

The lagoon should be identified as a unique advantage of Hue. To effectively utilize it, a comprehensive and long-term approach is needed. Instead of scattered investment, clear functional zoning is necessary, forming clusters of distinctive products such as community-based ecotourism, fishing experiences, lagoon cuisine, and connecting with heritage tourism routes. Investment should not only focus on physical infrastructure, but also on spatial design, product development, and human resource training, while closely adhering to central government policies and projects, with individuals held accountable until completion.

Returning to the topic of removing bottlenecks in the implementation of work, the Standing Vice Chairman of the City People's Committee, Nguyen Thanh Binh, said that the City People's Committee has been promoting administrative reform associated with digital transformation. When work is carried out on a system, the process becomes clearer, assignments are more specific, and inspection and supervision are also stricter, thereby reducing the avoidance and shirking of responsibility.

At a meeting with relevant agencies to discuss solutions for the city's development in the 2026-2030 period, Central Committee member and City Party Secretary Nguyen Dinh Trung emphasized that Hue must strongly reform internal procedures, reduce intermediate layers, and overcome the fear of responsibility. At the same time, a clear growth scenario must be developed for the entire term, linking the responsibility of the head of each agency to the results achieved.

"Removing obstacles from delayed projects, definitively resolving long-standing issues, and ensuring transparency to increase social oversight are crucial solutions. Only when discipline and order are tightened, coupled with innovative thinking and methods, can we create a foundation for a period of substantive, sustainable development worthy of the city's status as a centrally-governed city," emphasized City Party Secretary Nguyen Dinh Trung.

DUC QUANG

Source: https://huengaynay.vn/chinh-polit-xa-hoi/thao-go-diem-nghen-de-but-pha-161218.html