Prioritising the development of Tien Giang: “One focus, two enhancements, three advancements”

DNHN - Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh emphasised this at the conference to announce the province’s planning for the 2021-2030 period, with a vision to 2050, and to promote investment, which took place on March 24, 2024, in My Tho City, Tien Giang.

The conference was attended by Nguyen Van Thang, member of the Party Central Committee and Minister of Transport; Nguyen Van Danh, member of the Party Central Committee and Secretary of the Tien Giang Provincial Party Committee; leaders of central ministries, departments and agencies; leaders of provinces and cities; representatives of international organisations in Vietnam; experts, businesses and investors from within and outside Tien Giang province.

In his opening remarks, Nguyen Van Danh, a member of the Party Central Committee and Secretary of the Tien Giang Provincial Party Committee, stated that the task set out is that by 2030, Tien Giang will essentially become an industrial province with a comprehensive infrastructure system, with dynamic regions and economic centres for industry, tourism, the marine economy and urban areas. As a province with a favourable location “on the river and by the sea”, it plays an important role in connecting the Mekong Delta region with Ho Chi Minh City and the southeastern region; national defence, security, public order and safety are ensured; and the people enjoy a prosperous, civilised and happy life.

The Tien Giang provincial plan clearly defines the development orientations and priorities, including: “Two centres (namely, the Go Cong Dong - Tan Phu Dong marine economic centre and the Tan Phuoc industrial ecological zone), one strip (namely, the newly planned riverside strip along the Tien River, primarily for the development of riverside tourism), four economic corridors (namely, the economic corridor along the Trung Luong - My Thuan expressway, the economic corridor along National Highway 1, the economic corridor along the coastal road and National Highway 50, and the economic corridor along the Tien River connecting urban and industrial areas with the Mekong Delta region), and three strategic breakthroughs (namely, focusing resources on developing comprehensive and modern infrastructure in three key economic regions and corridors; promoting administrative reform, improving the investment and business environment, and enhancing provincial competitiveness; and developing high-quality human resources, attracting, employing and rewarding talent)”.

With the diverse natural conditions of different ecological zones and the advantage of a system of rivers, canals and river islands, a 32 km long coastline, cultural and historical sites, traditional craft villages, the Dong Thap Muoi ecological reserve, etc., Tien Giang has the advantage for developing ecotourism and other types of tourism and is favourably positioned to connect with Ho Chi Minh City and other provinces and cities in the Mekong Delta region for tourism development.

On the other hand, the province also has important transport routes such as National Highway 1A, National Highway 50, National Highway 60 and National Highway 30, and in particular the expressway from Ho Chi Minh City to Trung Luong - My Thuan, and in the future the Ho Chi Minh City - Trung Luong railway line, together with the system of Tien River, Vam Co Tay River, Soai Rap River and Cho Gao Canal, giving Tien Giang the position of a gateway for the western provinces to Ho Chi Minh City, which is a major advantage in attracting investment to the province.

Intending to maximise the mobilisation of resources to participate in the province’s socio-economic development, especially attracting investment in economic and technical infrastructure projects; building a truly dynamic investment environment; and enhancing investor satisfaction when investing in the province, Tien Giang is focusing on attracting investment in areas that exploit its strengths, such as: in agriculture, prioritising attracting investment to comprehensively develop high-tech agriculture, including a system of businesses, agricultural zones and production areas; and forming agricultural production areas corresponding to key agricultural and fishery products.

In industry, prioritising the development of industries that bring high economic efficiency, exploiting the location, existing resources and labour potential of the region, and meeting domestic and foreign demand.

In trade and services, attracting investment to develop tourism based on the strengths of land resources, climate, human resources and the formation of tourism centres, clusters and routes along international and national economic corridors connecting with tourism centres in the Ho Chi Minh City region, the Mekong Delta region and the Mekong sub-region; prioritising attracting investment to develop high-end entertainment areas, large-scale shopping centres and a system of wholesale markets for agricultural and aquatic products.

The target for 2030 is for the economic growth rate (GRDP) to reach 7.0 - 8.0% per year, with the proportion of the industry and construction sector in GRDP accounting for 41.5 - 43.5%; the service sector accounting for 29.5 - 30.0%; and the agriculture, forestry and fishery sector accounting for 21.5 - 23.5%. The multidimensional poverty rate will decrease by an average of 0.1 - 0.2 percentage points per year. 100% of communes and districts will meet new rural standards, and the province will complete the task of building a new countryside. The urbanisation rate will reach 45 - 47%. National defence and security will be ensured, and a social environment of order, discipline and safety will be built, ensuring a peaceful and happy life for the people.

With a vision to 2050, Tien Giang will become a modern industrial province with a relatively high level of development in the country, with a comprehensive and modern infrastructure system, and will become a desirable place to live, where cultural values are preserved and promoted…

In his direction to the conference, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh particularly emphasised prioritising the development of Tien Giang with “one focus, two enhancements and three advancements”. Of these, one focus is to mobilise and use all legitimate resources to promote traditional growth drivers such as exports, investment and consumption; and to make breakthroughs in new growth drivers such as digital transformation, green transformation, the circular economy, the sharing economy, the knowledge economy and climate change mitigation.

The two enhancements include enhancing human development by raising the level of education, training talent, improving the quality of human resources and ensuring social security, leaving no one behind; and enhancing regional, inter-regional and international connectivity through transport connectivity, production chain connectivity and supply chain connectivity.

The three advancements are advancing the construction of comprehensive, strategic infrastructure (transport, healthcare, education, social security); advancing industrial development to serve processing and manufacturing, especially of agricultural products with strengths; and advancing the application of science and technology and innovation in the fourth industrial revolution in production and business, creating jobs and livelihoods for people, and creating stability and development…

On behalf of the Tien Giang Provincial Party Committee, government and people, Nguyen Van Vinh, Chairman of the Tien Giang Provincial People’s Committee, fully accepted the direction of Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh. Vinh said that the province will incorporate the Prime Minister’s direction into the programme and plan for implementing the Resolution of the Provincial Party Congress and will urgently develop a Plan for implementing the Tien Giang Provincial Plan, ensuring that it is consistent with the National Master Plan, regional plans and sectoral plans so that it can be implemented in the coming period, striving to achieve the targets and indicators set out in the Resolution of the 11th Provincial Party Congress and contributing to the successful implementation of the Resolution of the 13th National Party Congress.

Chairman of the People’s Committee Nguyen Van Vinh affirmed that to complete the targets, tasks and content of the approved Tien Giang provincial plan, the entire Provincial Party Committee, government and people will make efforts, enhance their self-reliance, self-determination, sense of responsibility, dynamism and creativity, and be determined to mobilise resources, especially social resources, people’s resources and business community resources, to promote socio-economic development, especially the development of transport infrastructure, urban infrastructure, industrial infrastructure, services and trade; and to improve the quality of life of the people.

Within the framework of the conference, Tien Giang provincial leaders presented decisions approving investment policies and investment registration certificates for 15 projects and presented research policies for 10 projects. Tien Giang province also introduced a list of 40 priority projects for investment in 2024 in the following areas: urban development and residential areas (13 projects); trade, services and tourism (7 projects); industry (12 projects); infrastructure: healthcare, education, culture, sports and the environment (5 projects); and agriculture (3 projects), with a total expected investment capital of VND 53,900 billion.

Uyen Nhi