Cruise ships with tourists onboard sail in Hạ Long Bay, Quảng Ninh Province. The province aims to transition from a brown economy to a green economy driven by tourism and services in the short term. VNA/VNS Photo Bùi Văn Lanh

HÀ NỘI — Quảng Ninh Province aims to move from a 'brown' economy based on coal mining to a 'green' economy driven by tourism and services.

Vice Chairman of Quảng Ninh Provincial People's Committee Bùi Văn Khắng said the province will continue to incorporate environment protection into its economic growth strategy and draw in more environmentally-friendly high-tech projects in the short term.

For the period from 2020 to 2025, its economic growth strategy will centre around the transition from a brown economy into a green economy, which is built on three pillars - nature, people, and culture - and strengthened by international integration and the fourth industrial revolution.   

By 2030, its aim is to become an international tourism hub and a green-growth-centred province with high adaptability to climate change and rising sea levels.  

Regarding manufacturing sector, Quảng Ninh will opt for 'clean' industries, which feature industrial-urban-service complexes with developed infrastructure.

It is worth noting that many global big names operating in clean manufacturing industries, including Foxconn, Hyundai and Amata, have poured billions of dollars into the province over the years. 

Not only have the manufacturers changed the local economic landscape but also attracted new investors to the province to form closed-loop supply chains. As such, they have helped Quảng Ninh maintain its economic growth despite the difficulties caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

In the first nine months of 2022, clean manufacturing industries' output accounted for 12.3 per cent of the province's total output, 0.4 percentage points higher than that in 2021 and 2.5 percentage points than 2020.

As coal mining contributes to 40 per cent of the provincial fiscal revenues, Vietnam National Coal and Mineral Industries Group has leveraged technology innovations to improve productivity and minimise the environmental impact of coal mining. It has also embraced circular economy models through the recycling of mine water and reuse of mine wastes.  

Municipal authorities have put 'green economy' top of their agenda and adjusted their master plans in favour of green projects. For instance, Móng Cái City has made some adjustments to the master plan of Vĩnh Trung and Vĩnh Thực islands to make way for new windfarms in the future. 

Chairman of Móng Cái Municipal People's Committee Hồ Quang Huy said the city has begun to foster research on renewable energy to accelerate the switch from fossil fuels to wind and solar power.  

In regard to public investment, the province has carried out many environmental projects in the past few years, including a project to develop protection forests along the coast of Quảng Ninh, a project to curb pollution in Hạ Long Bay, and a project to encourage the use renewable energy among firms.     

Total public money allocated for environment protection amounted to more than VNĐ2 trillion between 2018 and 2022, equivalent to 4.59 per cent of the province's regular spending. 

As Quảng Ninh moves into a tourism-geared economy, its traffic systems and service facilities have been frequently ungraded to cater to a larger number of tourists.

A 176km highway has been built connecting Móng Cái Border Gate to Vân Đồn International Airport and Hòn Gai International Seaport. 

Roughly ten million tourists visited the province in the first ten months of 2022, three and a half times higher than the figure in 2021. The figure is expected to top 11.5 million by year end. 

In mid-October, the luxury yacht Le Lapérouse with many foreign passengers onboard visited Hòn Gai International Seaport, marking the first bright herald of tourism rebound. — VNS