Buon Ma Thuot Striving to Become a Modern and BeautifulCity

Over the past two decades, with its great efforts Buon Ma Thuot has developed from a town into a city, second class, and an important centre of the Central Highlands. Vietnam Business Forum interviewed Huynh Ngoc Luan, deputy secretary of the Buon Ma Thuot Party Committee and chairman of the city People’s Committee, on the development of the city.

 

Over the two past decades, alongside the whole country’s implementation of the renovation process, Buon Ma Thuot made great efforts and recorded outstanding achievements as the city has become more modern and beautiful, in a process which has been hailed by Vietnamese and foreigners alike.

 

The city’s economy is stable, gaining a high growth tempo equally in all fields. Our economic structure has shifted into a manner of developing industry and services. By late 2005, the contribution of industry and construction to the province’s economy had been put at 32.29 per cent; services and trade, 48.27 per cent and agriculture and forestry, 19.44 per cent. The average economic growth rate was registered at 10 per cent per year. Our per capita GDP is put at over VND 9 million (or US$600) per year. Budget revenues in 2005 reached VND 330 billion, accounting for 40 per cent of Dak Lak province’s total budget revenues.

 

Many achievements have been recorded in social and cultural development. Accordingly, the number of poor and hungry households has seen a strong fall. The scale and quality of education and training have improved at all levels. Local people have enjoyed better health care services. In particular, in the last two years, the city did not find any case of bird flu. The local people average life time is 70 years. Cultural and sports activities have been expanded. The movement for cultural life building has been boosted while the lifestyle in urban areas has improved. Local people have been actively involved in charity activities. National defence and security have been promoted while political stability and social order and safety have been ensured. Democracy has been expanded and the people’s rights have increasingly respected. The Party and State’s policies on ethnic groups and religions have been observed. Equality, unity and co-operation among ethnic groups have been ensured. The local people’s have had their right to freedom of religion or non-religion.

 

Over the past two decades, with its great efforts, the city has two important landmarks, as it turned into a city, third class in 1995 and became a city, second class, ten years later.

 

The achievements were recorded thanks to appropriate renovation policies of the Communist Party of Vietnam and policies of the Government on investment and development for the Central Highlands and places where ethnic minority people live. Buon Ma Thuot city has developed its comparative advantages, tapped fully its internal strength and taken advantage of external resources to promote the investment in infrastructure development and the scientific and technological application to production activities, and foster and develop human resources.

 

Buon Ma Thuot has a natural area of 37,156 hectares and a population of 314,000 people of 31 ethnic groups. The city is one of the biggest urban areas in the Central Highlands, still evolving.

 

Despite being a mountainous urban area, Buon Ma Thuot has a convenient geographic location as a focal point of the Central Highlands, having an easy link with other economic centres, such Ho Chi Minh City, Da Nang and Hanoi in terms of roads, air and railway routes, via the Nha Trang station. Apart from its advantages of having abundant agricultural and forestry materials for developing the processing industry, the province has great potential for ecological and cultural tourism with cultural treasury of local ethnic people.

 

Buon Ma Thuot is in a good position for developing trade and services as it is located in the centre of the Central Highlands. Notably, the market consists of not only 300,000 people in the city, but also 1.7 million people in Dak Lak province and millions of people in the whole Central Highlands. It can further be expanded to eight provinces, such as Kon Tum, Gia Lai, Dak Lak, Dak Nong; Atopo, Sekong; Ratanakiri and Stung Treng within the Vietnam-Laos-Cambodia development triangle. Therefore, at present and in the future, Buon Ma Thuot is and will remain an attractive investment destination.

 

Over the past two decades, urbanisation of Buon Ma Thuot has taken place very fast. The city has become more modern and beautiful.

 

After a short time, Buon Ma Thuot turned into a city, third class, which was recognised in February 1995, from a town with underdeveloped infrastructure facilities. Based on the city’s plans, the urbanisation process occurred rapidly.

 

At present, the city’s scale has been formed with a natural area of 37,156 hectares, consisting of 13 wards and eight communes. Public transport has increased sharply, meeting the passenger and cargo transportation demand. In particular, the city has a convenient bus network, facilitating the local people’s travel and reducing the number of private transport means, thus helping reduce the number of traffic accidents. The city’s average housing area is 11.23 square metres per person. So far, 80 per cent of people living in the city have safe water for their daily life with 127 litres per person per day. The city’s water drainage, which is being built under the sponsorship of the Danish Government and will be completed in 2007, is considered as one of the most modern systems in Vietnam.   The city’s electricity supply network has been upgraded to provide electricity to 100 per cent of local people for their daily life and production activities. Every 100 people in the city have 16 telephones. More and more local people are subscribing to cable, DTH (direct to home) and satellite television.

Buon Ma Thuot development orientations are to build up to deserve the recognition as a second class city in the 2006-2010 period and become a city, first class, after 2010.