Thanh Hoa Province in the Flow of the New Era

As if by divine providence, spring symbolizes a new beginning filled with faith and enthusiasm, the foundation of all aspirations for renewal and miraculous resurgence. And so, the laws of nature seem to surprisingly align with the laws of life, as the promising Spring of 2025 (Year of the Snake) ignites a spirit of exuberance and fuels a fervent desire for the nation's powerful resurgence in the new era. Nestled in the sacred atmosphere of spring, with its fresh, vibrant energy filling every corner, Thanh Hoa province, with its spirit of unity and self-reliance as its foundation, is tirelessly striving to realize its aspirations for prosperity and happiness.

The streets of Thanh Hoa City are adorned with flags and flowers to celebrate the 95th anniversary of the Communist Party of Vietnam. Photo: Le Hoi.

Closely linked to the historical flow of the nation, Thanh Hoa province bears the imprint and significant contributions of Vietnam in every turning point, every milestone, and every achievement. Today, as the country's strength, potential, position, and international prestige are strongly affirmed, creating a foundation for Vietnam to enter a new era – an era of national progress – Thanh Hoa is not outside the flow of the times. In fact, given its crucial position and status, Thanh Hoa must accelerate even more vigorously to become a developed province, a "model" province of the country.

Looking back at nearly four decades of implementing reforms, from a province consistently ranked among the poorest, Thanh Hoa has risen to become one of the leading provinces nationwide in many important development indicators. The economy has consistently experienced high growth rates. The average annual growth rate during the 2000-2020 period was over 10%; during the 2021-2023 period, it reached 9.69%, ranking 5th nationwide. In 2024, the growth rate of the Gross Regional Domestic Product (GRDP) is estimated at 12.16%, ranking 2nd nationwide (after Bac Giang province). GRDP per capita is estimated at 3,494 USD, an increase of 427 USD compared to 2023. Annual state budget revenue consistently exceeds the projected amount. Total budget revenue for the period 2021-2023 reached VND 132,418 billion, with an average annual growth rate of 11.3%; in 2024 alone, state budget revenue is estimated to reach over VND 56 trillion, the highest ever, ranking first in the North Central region and seventh nationwide. Investment mobilization for development has consistently remained high. Total social investment mobilized during the period 2021-2023 reached VND 409.3 trillion; over three years, 201 direct investment projects were attracted (including 29 FDI projects), with a total registered investment capital of VND 38,665 billion and USD 366.7 million. To date, the province has 167 active FDI projects, with a total registered investment capital of USD 14.77 billion, ranking first among North Central provinces and eighth nationwide in attracting FDI.

To gradually transform its appearance towards a civilized and modern direction, as well as to build an infrastructure foundation for development, Thanh Hoa has focused on innovating the attraction and effective use of state and economic resources to develop transportation infrastructure in a synchronous and modern manner. This includes concentrating budget capital, ODA capital, and capital from enterprises (invested through PPP methods) to develop the main transportation system along the North-South and East-West axes. Simultaneously, it involves investing in transportation infrastructure connecting urban areas, dynamic economic centers, and potential tourist areas and destinations; building an airport, a seaport system, etc.

To ensure rapid and sustainable development, along with the economy, the province has also paid special attention to the cultural, social, defense, security, and foreign affairs sectors. Culture, education, and healthcare have all seen very positive changes. Social welfare policies and policies for people with meritorious services have been fully implemented. Notably, during the period 2001-2023, the average annual poverty rate decreased by over 1.5% (from 21.94% in 2001 to 10.97% in 2016 and further to 3.52% in 2023)... National defense and security have been strengthened, and social order and safety have been ensured. The Party Committee and the political system have continuously grown stronger in all aspects...

It can be affirmed that the comprehensive achievements mentioned above are, first and foremost, forged from the foundation of a strong unity. Because there is a profoundly insightful historical lesson that always needs to be nurtured: "A great achievement is built on unity." Only with the concerted efforts, shared purpose, and consensus of the entire political system and every citizen of Thanh Hoa can immense strength be created to overcome all objective and internal challenges and achieve success. Along with "unity," a correct vision, innovative thinking, self-reliance, self-improvement, and the flexibility, initiative, and creativity in leadership, guidance, and management of the Party committee and government are the "keys" to Thanh Hoa's unprecedented achievements. And finally, just like the latent strength or core essence of spring, it is the ability to inspire confidence. This is crucial, even decisive, because only when guided by the belief in prosperity and happiness can people become more determined in their actions. The same is true for Thanh Hoa; the belief that Thanh Hoa will not succumb to poverty, but instead will rise strongly to live up to its potential and advantages, has always burned brightly. And so, guided by this "thread of belief," Thanh Hoa has taken firm steps on its journey to build a new position and strength, and the achievements attained in the past few decades of reform are the most vivid and convincing evidence.

Achievements have been confirmed, but this does not allow us to fall into the trap of complacency. On the contrary, we must correctly, accurately, and fully recognize the challenges we are facing and will face, both objective and internal. These could be limitations in each sector or field, or "bottlenecks" in mechanisms and policies that are slowing down socio-economic development. At the same time, we must find the causes of these limitations, and we cannot ignore the subjective causes of weakness, which stem from human factors. Specifically, a segment of cadres, civil servants, and public employees, including leaders and managers, have limited capacity, lack dedication, fear responsibility, leading to fear of making mistakes, shirking responsibility, working half-heartedly, rigidly, and causing difficulties in resolving issues. The monitoring, inspection, supervision, and urging of subordinates to perform their duties in some sectors and localities have not been thorough or decisive enough; Discipline and administrative order in the performance of official duties are not strictly enforced in some places...

The road connecting Thanh Hoa City to the Nghi Son route leading to Tho Xuan Airport has been completed, creating new development opportunities. Photo: Le Hoi

However, as a matter of course, only by recognizing weaknesses and limitations can we find solutions, which in turn means renewing outdated perceptions, thinking, and actions. Ultimately, to overcome difficulties and weaknesses, we must first remove the "bottleneck" in human resources, specifically the awareness, understanding, ethics, attitude, capabilities, and especially the sense of responsibility of cadres and Party members – the decisive factor in all success or failure. Only when this "bottleneck" is removed can we powerfully inspire the spirit and enthusiasm for contribution in each cadre and Party member, transforming challenges into motivation and valuable opportunities into advantages to create breakthroughs in development.

The country is facing a great opportunity to make a strong breakthrough and assert its national position on the international stage. This is also the time for Thanh Hoa province to rise up, maximizing the achievements built over several decades of reform and, in particular, the pioneering policies that the Party, the National Assembly, and the Government have generously dedicated to this land. However, to seize this great opportunity, a mindset of readiness to overcome obstacles is needed. This requires high determination, great effort, and decisive action; a spirit of unity, creativity, daring to think, daring to act, daring to overcome challenges, and daring to take responsibility; and the self-reliance, self-strength, confidence, and pride of the Party committees, the government, the entire political system, and every citizen of Thanh Hoa province. This also serves as a foundation for Thanh Hoa to confidently enter 2025 – a year of special significance, the final year of implementing the 2021-2025 five-year socio-economic development plan. From there, it will accumulate more in "quantity" to enable Thanh Hoa to achieve a "leap" in "quality" in the new phase.

The belief and hope for a bright future for the Vietnamese nation are being rekindled throughout the country. It will be a miraculous spring. And to be able to walk under that sacred and proud spring sky, Thanh Hoa province, with its rising status, must strive even harder in leveraging its strengths and creating momentum. At the same time, it must know how to awaken and develop the source of strength accumulated over thousands of years of history, to equip Thanh Hoa for a new spring – a new era: an era of rising strongly alongside the nation to affirm its national potential, position, and prestige.

Khoi Nguyen

Source: https://baothanhhoa.vn/xu-thanh-trong-dong-chay-thoi-dai-moi-238480.htm