Regional Connection: Kernel for Economic Development

Speaking at the forum, Mr Nguyen Van Yen, Vice Chairman of People’s Committee of Lam Dong province, said region connection is an objective demand of the province. For the past years, provinces have strived to improve connection and cooperation in commerce. However, recent connections among provinces are still weak; development level is not equal to demand, therefore each province cannot take advantages of its strong points and total strength of the whole region. Besides, regional connection is mainly between provincial authorities; connection between enterprises of provinces is very weak. “As enterprises in provinces rarely cooperate with each other, regional connection is accordingly weak,” a representative of Lam Dong provincial People’s Committee said.

 

Mr Le Manh Ha, Vice Chairman of People’s Committee of Ho Chi Minh City said: The forum was organised in the context of Ho Chi Minh City having achieved GDP growth target of 9.2 percent compared to that of 5.2 percent of the whole country. With the development of the whole country, southern areas centred by Ho Chi Minh City have natural urban connection in many fields such as transport, healthcare, education, telecommunications and banking.

 

Underlining the role of the Southeast, many delegates said that the Southeast (with Ho Chi Minh City as the centre) is a crucial strategic area in terms of economy, society, national security and safety; it is the biggest economic region of the whole country with continuous and dynamic growth, and has many important economic sectors. In the future, the region will become a metropolitan area with Ho Chi Minh City as a central kernel, pushing up the development of other provinces. The current problem is to improve linkage among urban areas to enhance connection, especially transport infrastructure. This is a chance for enterprises to search for investment opportunities in form of public – private partnerships (PPP).

 

Referring to policies promoting connection between Ho Chi Minh City and provinces of the Southeast, many delegates said that to develop regional society and economy based on comparative and competitive advantages of provinces, establishing connections between Ho Chi Minh City and other provinces in the Southeast is vital.

 

Besides, as a biggest goods consumption market of the region and the country, development of Ho Chi Minh City will relatively promote development of neighbouring provinces. Therefore, the blossoming of Ho Chi Minh City in the future will push up retail sales. Supermarket chains and modern retail channels will gradually replace traditional market. This will be a huge opportunity for providers.

 

However, difficulties for enterprises and providers are technology innovation to well connect with supermarkets to catch data on their goods such as inventories, freshness of goods, and position of goods on shelves in supermarkets and elaborate best providing plan.

 

Another difficulty identified by the Vice Chairman of People’s Committee of Ho Chi Minh City is budget. The Government has a regional plan but have no capital for regions. The regional budget is just enough to invest in small and medium scaled infrastructure projects, large scaled ones have to wait for state budget. Therefore, the connections among locals and regions are still very modest. As a result, “a musical conductor” is necessary - the Government – to implement planning and distribute specific resources.

 

Representative of enterprises, overseas Vietnamese entrepreneur Nguyen Tri Dung said that urban infrastructure has been improved but not fast enough to catch up with the rapid urbanization. Therefore, to have tighter regional connection, it is necessary to establish a regional development council with a permanent secretary to make regular agenda.

 

Especially, it is necessary to encourage investors to follow the regional planning, focusing on high - tech industries, intellectual products with high added value, and supporting industry development. Besides, it also needs to increase trade promotion, ultimately exploit neighbouring markets and regional markets; implement investment promotion and be active in international integration.

 

In the forum, delegates have proposed that provincial authorities need to take advantage of region relations to push up the connections, but stay away from overlaps and inefficiencies.