Hau Giang province is accelerating administrative reform and improving business investment environment. Amid the Covid-19 epidemic outbreak, the Provincial People’s Committee is working with branches and localities to launch many solutions to solve difficulties for businesses and investors. Vietnam Business Forum has an interview with Mr. Le Tien Chau, Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee, Chairman of the Provincial People’s Committee, on these efforts. Ngo Khuyen reports.
In recent years, with its dynamism and creativity, Hau Giang has made an important mark on economic development and investment attraction and shaped development directions: High-tech agriculture, processing industry, real estate and energy. On that basis, how will Hau Giang make breakthroughs in the coming time?
After being separated from former Can Tho province in 2004, Hau Giang was a pure agricultural province which seriously lacked facilities and human resources for development. Apart from a small GRDP size, the province had the most difficult conditions in the Mekong Delta. However, after more than 15 years of relentless efforts until the beginning of 2020, Hau Giang made impressive breakthroughs.
The province focused on tapping potential and mobilizing all available investment resources got economic development to achieve an average GRDP growth of 7.11% a year. The economic structure shifted towards a desired pattern, with an increasing share of industry, construction, trade and services and a declining share of agriculture. GRDP per capita reached over VND52 million in 2020, reaching 94.5% of the target.
The province also implemented many guidelines and solutions to mobilize and attract investment resources. To date, the province had 355 projects with a total investment of VND127,623 billion (US$5.5 billion), including 30 FDI projects with US$553 million.
In order to develop sustainably in the following years, the province is determined to focus on economic development, attract more investment capital, and strengthen the synergy of all economic sectors; facilitate business development, have private business policies; build socioeconomic infrastructure to connect localities inside and outside the province; actively strengthen regional linkage and international integration.
On that basis, the province will perform breakthrough tasks:
First, completing and strictly carrying out Hau Giang Planning in 2021-2030, with a vision to 2050; focusing on infrastructure investment for industrial development and important waterway transport infrastructure connecting Hau Giang with Mekong Delta provinces; prioritizing support resources for developing businesses, cooperatives, circular economy, and efficient agricultural economy
Second, focusing on building and perfecting local institutions and policies, especially investment attraction mechanisms and policies, developing enterprises and cooperatives by offering preferences and competing with other localities with easy access and low cost.
Third, promoting administrative reform together with building e-government, applying information technology; building the transparent and effective lean government apparatus from the provincial to grassroots levels for better service to people and businesses; attracting and improving the quality of human resources, building a contingent of public employees imbued with ethical qualities, enthusiasm, capacity and qualifications to meet requirements in the new context.
From above breakthrough goals and tasks, the province's expected main socioeconomic development targets will be set in the 2021 - 2025 period as follows:
1 Public Administration Reform Index (PAR Index) increases year after year to stand among Top 30 provinces and cities
2 The average economic growth is at 6.3 - 6.7% a year.
3 Per capita GRDP is VND80-87 million (US$3,373 - 3,639).
4 The economic structure continues to shift towards a desired pattern.
5 The total social investment capital is from VND99,000 to VND100,000 billion in five years.
6 The number of new registered enterprises reaches 1,000 in five years.
7 The State budget revenue totals VND44,000 - 45,000 billion in five years, of which domestic revenue is VND17,800 billion.
8 Export value and foreign currency services reach US$4.33 billion in five years.
2019 was the first year Hau Giang province conducted the Department and District Competitiveness Index (DDCI). What is the significance of DDCI to promoting administrative reform, improving the business environment and enhancing competitiveness of Hau Giang province in the current period?
Based on following common goals, applying DDCI is very important to accelerate administrative reform, improve the business environment and enhance the competitiveness of Hau Giang province in the current period:
- Improving the effect of leadership and administration from provincial to grassroots levels; filling the distance from provincial leadership to local enforcement.
- Maintaining a reliable, broad and transparent information channel for investors and enterprises to raise their ideas on construction of local governmental agencies.
- On the basis of assessing the governance of provincial and district governmental agencies in 2019, studying solutions for higher Provincial Competitiveness Index (PCI) in the coming years, and proposing solutions to address limitations and shortcomings
- Creating competition and emulation in quality of economic governance among provincial and local agencies, thus adding a driving force for drastic and consistent reform for better settlement of procedures relating to investors and enterprises; forming a favorable environment for investment, production and business activities in all fields.
In order to tackle difficulties for enterprises and investors go with them in the face of the COVID-19 epidemic, what solutions and supports Hau Giang province has taken and implemented?
In order to deal with difficulties and problems faced by investors and enterprises and accompany them amid the complicated COVID-19 epidemic outbreak, Hau Giang province has focused on carrying out the following solutions:
- Implementing tasks and solutions according to Resolution 01/NQ-CP, Directive 11/CT-TTg and Resolution 84/NQ-CP on tasks and solutions to tackle difficulties in manufacturing and business, accelerate public investment disbursement and ensure social order and safety amid the COVID-19 pandemic outbreak; sticking to action plans to carry out the Politburo’s Conclusion 77-KL/TW dated June 5, 2020, on policies to deal with the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic to restore and develop the country's economy.
- Implement the Government's Resolution 02/NQ-CP dated January 1, 2020, on continued tasks and solutions to improve the business environment and enhance national competitiveness in 2020.
- Reviewing legal documents related to investment and business and proposing plans to ensure consistency and transparency of the legal system in general and ensure the enforcement of the Law on Investment and Law on Enterprises (amended).
- Accelerate the implementation of the Governmental Resolution 68/NQ-CP on the Program to reduce and simplify regulations relating to business in the 2020 - 2025 period in order to remove difficulties for enterprises and investors and facilitate them to conduct investment and business.
- Quickly solving procedures related to investors' projects upon approval by competent authorities; strengthening the publicity and transparency in solving affairs for investors, enhancing the accountability of unit leaders in executing their tasks concerning business administrative procedures.
- Calling investors to invests in industrial zones to increase the occupancy rate, especially projects that tap local advantages to make industrial products, use advanced technology, create labor-extensive products; boosting trade promotion.
- Concentrating on administrative reform and improving competitiveness; further simplifying and reducing administrative procedures, improving the Public Administration Reform Index (PAR Index), the Provincial Competitiveness Index (PCI), the Vietnam Provincial Governance and Public Administration Performance Index (PAPI) and the Satisfaction Index of Public Administrative Services (SIPAS); promptly solving complaints and denunciations; organizing dialogues; maintaining political stability and promoting socioeconomic development.
- Promoting the provision of Level 3 and Level 4 online public services; instructing and encouraging people and enterprises to carry out procedures concerning investment registration, business registration and tax declaration online.
- Creating favorable conditions to support startups and individual business households seeking to transform into enterprises to access capital, labor, management experience and labor training.
- Reviewing the use of foreign workers in local enterprises, monitoring and managing medical declarations of people at high risk of epidemic infection.
- Stepping up the prevention and control of the COVID-19 epidemic; proactively keeping the epidemic at bay, strengthening inspection, supervision and early detection to have timely preventive solutions.
Source: Vietnam Business Forum
Vietnamese
