5:18:00 PM | 9/9/2013
To date, Thai Binh City has completed its project to apply for recognition as a second-grade city directly governed by the provincial government. The project has been submitted to the Standing Committee of the Provincial Party Committee and to the 6th plenary meeting of the 16th Provincial People’s Council in the 2011-2016 term. This result is attributed to unity and effort of the government and people of Thai Binh City. To know more about this result, Vietnam Business Forum Magazine’s reporter has an interview with Mr Nguyen Ngoc Y, Chairman of Thai Binh City People’s Committee. Le Sang reports.
Could you briefly describe the outstanding results the city achieved in 2012 and the first six months of 2013?
In 2012, the city’s production value increased 13.24 percent on year to more than VND7,176 billion and its export turnover grossed US$508 million, accounting for 69.5 percent of the province’s total export earnings. In the first six months of 2013 its total production value was estimated at VND3,200 billion, up 11.14 percent year on year. The economic structure is being shifted as expected, with an increasing proportion of industry, trade and services and a declining proportion of agriculture. The city’s total budget revenue reached over VND426 billion in 2012.
Social and political security were maintained, and safety was guaranteed. Social, cultural, sporting and medical activities were usefully and effectively deployed. Poverty reduction and education improvement made progress.
While the entire country is building a new face of countryside, what strategy has the city adopted to restructure the economy and attain comprehensive, sustainable development?
Currently, the city has 19 administrative units, including 10 urban wards and nine suburban communes. Seven communes are planning new countryside construction and two communes are planned to be new urban zones. Aiming to become a second-grade urban zone by 2014, Thai Binh City has focused all resources on new countryside construction.
To accomplish this goal, the city has, and will, focused on performing some solutions as follows. To make all officers and civil servants well-informed about new countryside construction to generate a unanimous consensus for the common goal, the city has sought all local resources for construction of social and economic infrastructure. The company has also effectively used industrial and agricultural promotion funds to build a production model and stepped up application of scientific and technological progress and mechanisation to production, to raise production value and formulate a commercial agriculture.
How has the city accompanied the local business community?
The city has accelerated public administration reform to improve the investment and business climate for enterprises, and directed site clearance, infrastructure construction in industrial zones and urban zones.
Particularly, the city has assisted businesses to access credit sources, especially small and medium enterprises, enhanced trade and investment promotion activities, and helped businesses to participate in trade fairs and exhibitions. The city has also organised regular meetings and dialogues with businesses to identify and remove obstacles, grasp their opinions, encourage and reward companies with outstanding results and great creativity in designing and training.
What are the key tasks the city will focus to ensure socioeconomic development at the present time?
To achieve desired economic growth objectives, the city has worked out specific content-based development directions. Industrially, Thai Binh City has focused on tap industry-specific potentials and strengths of every sector, every locality and every business. The city government has asked for a specific mechanism and set aside land funds for hi-tech projects that will generate great value. It has also strengthened supervision, solved problems and promoted vocational training.
As regards trade and services, the city has promoted the diversification of trade and service forms with appropriate scale and good quality to meet the needs of local production companies and livelihoods of local people. The city is striving to build 13 markets run by businesses by 2015.
In agriculture and fisheries, the city has sped up agricultural production restructuring towards large-scale commercial production and change crops and livestock. Thai Binh City will step up the new countryside construction programme to make all 19 communes and wards meet new countryside standards by 2015.
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