From the 'cradle' of iron and steel to the center of modern industry

In 1958, the Party, the Government and President Ho Chi Minh chose Thai Nguyen to build the Iron and Steel Industrial Park, laying the foundation for the country's heavy industry. After more than 6 decades, Thai Nguyen has risen to the top of the provinces in the region and ranked 4th in the country in terms of industrial production value. Currently, the province focuses on developing basic industries, promoting the application of high technology, increasing added value and export capacity, moving towards modern industry.

Thai Nguyen promotes traffic infrastructure planning to attract investment in industrial development.

Exploiting advantages to attract investment

On June 4, 1959, implementing the direction of the Party and President Ho Chi Minh , the Government Council decided to establish the Thai Nguyen Iron and Steel Construction Site, building a factory with a designed capacity of 100,000 tons of rolled steel per year, meeting the urgent requirements of the material and technical foundation for the construction of socialism.

Only 4 days after the construction site was established, on June 8, 1959, Uncle Ho visited for the first time. During the talk with the cadres and workers, he emphasized the responsibility of being the master of the country and the factory; required the preservation of public property, emulation in thrift, and anti-waste; at the same time, encouraged the spirit of daring to think, daring to do, promoting initiatives to improve techniques and increase labor productivity.

After more than 3 years of construction, at exactly 8:30 a.m. on November 29, 1963, the first batch of iron from Blast Furnace No. 1 was born in an overwhelming joy. That historic moment marked an important milestone, opening a new development step for the Vietnamese metallurgical industry and becoming the Traditional Day of Iron and Steel Workers.

With a long history in heavy industry development, being the "cradle" of the metallurgical industry and still holding the position of one of the metallurgical centers of the country, in recent years Thai Nguyen has focused on planning the development of industrial zones and clusters, thereby strongly attracting investment, especially FDI projects.

To date, Thai Nguyen has planned 19 industrial parks and 1 concentrated information technology park, along with 68 industrial clusters with a total area of ​​nearly 4,600 hectares.

In the industrial parks in the area, there are 343 valid projects, including 188 FDI projects with a total registered capital of nearly 11 billion USD and 155 DDI projects with a total capital of about 34 trillion VND. Currently, 14 industrial parks have come into operation, attracting 76 production and business projects, of which 60 projects are in operation, creating jobs for nearly 12,000 workers.

Thai Nguyen is known as the "cradle" of heavy industrial production. In the photo: Production of zinc ingots at Thai Nguyen Electrolytic Zinc Factory.

Ms. Nguyen Thi Thuy, Kha Son commune, happily said: The province's industrial development policy has helped people "leave agriculture but never leave home". Currently, both my husband and I are workers at Phu Binh 4 Garment Branch (Kha Son Industrial Park) of TNG Investment and Trading Joint Stock Company, with a total income of more than 20 million VND/month. After work, the family still cultivates a few fields, raises livestock and poultry, so life is increasingly stable.

Developing platform industries

In recent times, the Party Committee and the government of Thai Nguyen province have promoted its potential and advantages, focused on leading and directing the rapid and strong economic restructuring. Thanks to that, Thai Nguyen is currently leading the provinces in the region and ranked fourth in the country in terms of industrial production value.

Thanks to its outstanding advantages in industrial park and industrial cluster infrastructure with clean land fund and synchronous transportation system, Thai Nguyen has become the destination of many large corporations such as Samsung, Masan, Central Retail... These enterprises not only create value chains but also are an important foundation for the province to maintain an industrial, commercial and service growth rate higher than the national average.

The province's logistics services are increasingly professionalized.

Besides the advantage of infrastructure, Thai Nguyen also has quality human resources with a system of universities, colleges, and concentrated vocational training facilities.

After the merger, the province's industrial development space and potential have been expanded. As one of the localities in the Capital Region, Thai Nguyen has a strategic geopolitical and geo-economic position, a fairly synchronous inter-provincial, inter-regional and international transportation system, and is located at the intersection of the plains and the mountains. This is a favorable condition for the province to attract investment and develop the economy, especially industry.

To realize the goal of turning Thai Nguyen into one of the modern industrial economic centers of the region by 2030, after the merger, the province directed departments and branches to urgently review and adjust the Provincial Planning, ensuring it is updated with the National Master Plan, Regional Planning and sectoral planning. The focus is on attracting investment and developing strong fundamental industries such as metallurgy, mechanical engineering, supporting industries, materials, mineral exploitation and processing, electricity and electronics.

At the same time, the province strengthens the connection between domestic enterprises and FDI enterprises, gradually creating conditions for enterprises in the province to participate deeply in the global production and supply chain.

At the same time, Thai Nguyen has promoted administrative reform, focusing on reviewing and removing difficulties and obstacles of key projects, especially in the industrial sector. The province has also reviewed, abolished or proposed to abolish inappropriate regulations, procedures and business conditions to reduce compliance costs and facilitate production and business activities.

With clear strategies and goals, Thai Nguyen is gradually realizing its aspiration to become a modern industrial center, achieving high average income by 2030 and striving to become a high-income province by 2045.

Resolution No. 11-NQ/TW dated February 10, 2022 of the Politburo identifies the development of Thai Nguyen province into one of the "growth poles" of the Northern Midlands and Mountains region as a favorable condition for Thai Nguyen to enhance its position and role, promote activities to attract investment capital, mobilize and effectively use resources, and promote the province's socio-economic development.

Source: https://baothainguyen.vn/kinh-te/202508/tu-cai-noi-gang-thep-den-trung-tam-cong-nghiep-hien-dai-23333ea/