Unleashed for development

DNHN - Top 10 localities with biggest economy scale and GRDP per capita have been revealed.

According to HCMC Bureau of Statistics, the city’s total production (GRDP) is estimated to be about 1.299 million billion VND (as of January 1, 2022), 6.78% lower than the last year number. Despite witnessing the worst decrease in GRDP in the history, in 2021, this is still the city with the biggest economy scale in the whole nation.

Next was Binh Duong with 408.9 thousand billion VND, growing by 2.62% compared to the same period last year.

As for GRDP per capita, Ba Ria - Vung Tau has the highest index in the country with 281.24 million VND/person. In second place is Quang Ninh with 176 million VND/person, according to aggregated data from the local Bureau of Statistics.

Apparently, the chart above shows that the 10 localities with the highest growth in gross domestic product are not those with strengths in agriculture, but on the contrary, those where industry - trade and services play a key role. 

“No trade, no wealth; no industry, no flexibility”

When we started writing this article, the price of winter-spring rice 2021-2022 in the Mekong Delta decreased by 50-100 VND/kg compared to the previous month. In particular, fresh rice variety OM 18 was priced at 5,700 - 5,800 VND/kg; OM 5451 was priced at 5,500 VND/kg; Dai Thom 8 at 5,700 - 5,800 VND/kg; IR 50404 at 5,400 VND/kg... farmers are still under heavy pressure because of high production costs while the output is always volatile.

It is nearly 50 years after the day the South was completely liberated - the country was reunified (April 30, 1975 - April 30, 2022), but the agricultural - rural field still could not escape the prison circle of "Good harvest – low price", drowning people's life in poverty. The problem of production costs continuously pushes up the prices, pests in the field are always lurking, the connection between farmers - the state - entrepreneurs - banks is still superficial and loose. Instead of having solutions to stabilize agricultural products’ prices, every time the harvest is in full swing, ministries, sectors and communities have to rescue them. Just that is enough to see the instability of the agricultural economy after half a century of Vietnam's national independence.

Looking at our neighboring countries like: Singapore, Japan, although they do not have great potential for agricultural products, they have developed impressively. Another example is China - the proportion of people living in rural areas rapidly decreased, making way for industry and commerce to develop with reasonable policies and strategies to stimulate demand.

Thanks to a strong industrial chain, China has exported essential products, from daily necessities, electronic equipment to therapeutic medicines, to the global market.

The GDP per capita of the world's most populous country has reached $12,551, making China the first billion-populated country in the world to officially start entering the high-income threshold.

This success is largely due to the strategic policy of the Chinese government, including creating an open mechanism for private enterprises to develop, reducing dependence on agriculture, focusing on development of capacity in production, manufacturing, trade, tourism services.

The economy needs a change of fate

The current Land Law still has many shortcomings, tying up investors, pushing them into a difficult situation. In particular, in item b, article 58, it underestimates the role of local government (PPC) when only allowing investors to change the purpose of using agricultural land of less than 10 hectares of rice land, or 20 hectares of protective and special-use forest land.

While the Prime Minister's work is hefty and central ministries and branches still have a series of unresolved issues, the Land Law restricts the power of the Provincial People's Council in voting on the change of land use purpose for small scale projects.

How many more years will we need to turn Vietnam into “a Dragon - a Tiger” if it is forever entrenched as "a country with strengths in agriculture". It's time that definition was changed with positive thinking and drastic action, no longer relying on unreasonable items and articles to stagnate.