HÀ NỘI — The northern key economic region’s development is of great significance to the socio-economic development of the Red River Delta and the country, heard a conference on Tuesday.

As the political, economic, cultural, scientific and technological hub of the entire country, the northern key economic region comprises seven cities and provinces – Hà Nội, Hưng Yên, Hải Phòng and Quảng Ninh, as well as Hải Dương, Bắc Ninh and Vĩnh Phúc.

It boasts a range of advantages in terms of geographical location and infrastructure systems, enabling it to support other regions’ development.

The region is also leading the country in terms of international co-operation, foreign investment attraction and close combination of socio-economic development with strengthening defence, security and social order.

In the 2011-16 period, the regional localities have reaped an array of outstanding co-operation results in planning, transport infrastructure development, industry and trade, as well as tourism and agriculture, among other fields. However, these results have yet to match with the region’s economic development potential.

Nguyễn Đức Long, chairman of Quảng Ninh People’s Committee, said the most difficulty facing the regional connectivity is transportation. He noted that his province will complete highway networks in 2018.

Long also stressed on the need to complete an express railway that connects the capital city of Hà Nội with the port city of Hải Phòng and Hạ Long City in Quảng Ninh Province.

Deputy Minister of Transport Nguyễn Ngọc Đông held that the regional localities have yet to fully exploit advantages in waterway transportation, thus roads are overloaded, leading to high transportation fees and slow flow of goods.

Minister of Planning and Investment Nguyễn Chí Dũng emphasised the importance of a common thought of the entire region in working out policies and investment programmes and projects.

The regional localities should partner together and support each other for common benefits and development, he said.

Chairman of Hà Nội People’s Committee Nguyễn Đức Chung asserted that the region has essentially completed tasks planned in the first year of the 2016-20 development plan, fuelled by the country’s intensive international integration and new opportunities. 
Hà Nội’s economic growth in 2016 reached 8.2 per cent, with budget collection hitting VNĐ173 trillion (US$7.7 billion) and total social investment estimated at VNĐ278 trillion ($12.4 billion). The city saw the establishment of over 22,900 new firms in the year, he noted. 

Chung called for the regional localities to foster connectivity to create sustainable value chains and fulfill sustainable development goals.

He pledged to adopt more supporting policies for safe agricultural production and trading facilities to encourage links from production to distribution.

Chung also proposed the regional localities organise more trans-provincial tourism events, conferences, exhibitions and fairs to promote regional tourism and introduce cultural values of each locality, thus boosting the rapid development of industry and services.

The capital city is also willing to take the lead in removing obstacles and forming policies to assist enterprises in accessing information, building trademarks, boosting production of domestic goods, particularly for the upcoming Lunar New Year holidays.

The region has also agreed that organising tourism exhibitions, seminars and fairs is important to promote and build the image and brand of the northern provinces.

Hà Nội has requested the northern provinces to take turns holding cultural events at the local Hoàn Kiếm pedestrian road every month.

At the conference, the chairman of Hải Phòng city People’s Committee was voted as the chairman of the council of the northern key economic zone for the 2017-2018 period.

Co-operation pact

The same day, Hà Nội inked a comprehensive co-operation agreement with 14 provinces and cities in the northern region.

The pact covers a wide range of areas such as investment promotion, trade, tourism, environment protection, solid waste treatment and water supply.

Chairman of the city People’s Committee Chung has urged all parties involved to translate their commitments into deeds as soon as possible.

To do this, the provinces and cities have to build production and distribution chains for farm produce to enhance food safety, with each participating region responsible for the quality of its own products during inter-provincial trade transactions.

The 15 regions that have signed the co-operation pact include Hà Nội, Hải Phòng, Quảng Ninh, Bắc Ninh, Hải Dương, Hưng Yên, Vĩnh Phúc, Hà Nam, Nam Định, Ninh Bình, Thái Bình, Hòa Bình, Phú Thọ, Thái Nguyên and Bắc Giang. – VNS