Party General Secretary Tô Lâm meets officials of Bình Định and Gia Lai provinces during his working visit to Gia Lai on Monday. — VNA/VNS Photo Thống Nhất

GIA LAI — The merger between Gia Lai and Bình Định provinces should bring about a new administrative unit that increases in both scale and competitiveness, Party General Secretary Tô Lâm said during a working visit to Gia Lai on Monday.

The working session between the Party chief and the Gia Lai and Bình Định Party Committees focused on the implementation of central directions, local administrative restructuring, national defence and security matters, and leadership in economic growth and social welfare at the local level.

Following the merger, these two provinces will form a larger one, taking the name of Gia Lai.

Reports presented at the meeting showed that Gia Lai has taken specific measures to promptly implement the Party Central Committee’s resolutions, directives and conclusions, thereby fostering consensus and unity in leadership.

The province has also seen significant socio-economic progress, with an estimated average economic growth rate of 6.36 per cent during the 2020-2025 term.

By the end of 2024, approximately 71.8 per cent of local schools met national standards, while over 95 per cent of communes, wards and townships met the national healthcare criteria.

During the working session, Gia Lai proposed developing special mechanisms and policies to ensure national defence and security in the strategic Central Highlands region, while continuing to focus on socio-economic progress, especially among ethnic groups. It also aimed for enhanced training, development and appointment of qualified and dedicated officials from ethnic communities.

Meanwhile, Bình Định’s GRDP growth is estimated at 7-7.2 per cent annually, with a poverty rate that is expected to fall to 0.62 per cent by the end of this year.

As of May, Bình Định had completed the construction, renovation and upgrading of homes for 4,411 households, achieving 100 per cent of the plan seven months ahead of the Prime Minister’s directive.

Bình Định stated that to enable the new Gia Lai Province to achieve breakthrough development and sustain double-digit growth over the next five years, resources must be provided to complete its transport and irrigation infrastructure, as well as support for a coherent two-tier governance model that ensures the delivery of public services.

Growth pole

Speaking at the meeting, Party leader Tô Lâm urged local Party committees and authorities in Bình Định and Gia Lai to take advantage of their similarities and strategic complementarities to shape a vision for the new, merged province.

Economy-wise, administrative restructuring will help support an efficient value chain, from production to processing, distribution and exports, to develop a green, sustainable and integrative growth strategy, he said.

In addition to their rich culture, Gia Lai and Bình Định have great potential in workforce and education, which must be leveraged to improve the local governance model in response to development needs.

Noting their ongoing challenges in innovation, transport and irrigation infrastructure, and the number of businesses and technically skilled workers, the Party General Secretary called on the two provinces to combine their collective strengths to form a long-term development vision for the new Gia Lai.

This vision must identify strategic breakthroughs in governance, infrastructure, science and technology and workforce development, drawing on the best of both provinces to become a major hub in the central region and contribute to the country’s breakthrough growth.

The new Gia Lai must focus on balanced, integrated development with regional connectivity, with a strategic priority on interregional infrastructure and modern logistics services. Tourism should be seen as a breakthrough sector, with a distinctive ecosystem connecting forests, seas and heritage.

Meanwhile, satellite cities should be developed in tandem with industrial parks, logistics hubs and services. Urban governments must increase their digital operations, ensuring transparency and efficiency for the convenience of businesses and citizens.

The Party chief suggested three foundational strategic breakthroughs to guide the new Gia Lai’s development, which focus on institutional innovation, infrastructure connectivity and workforce development.

He added that the new Gia Lai must maintain firm governance to ensure political stability, social order and border sovereignty. At the same time, the new administrative unit should promote the cultural identity of its diverse ethnic communities and care for people in remote areas.

Changes must not remain on paper or slogans, but be materialised through a local government that understands and serves its people, with citizen satisfaction and happiness as the highest measure of policy success, Lâm underscored.

During the administrative restructuring, the new Gia Lai must retain talented individuals and ensure balanced representation across regions, ethnicities and genders, cultivating a local administration rooted in performance.

Each public employee and Party member, especially those at the management level, must be bold, responsible and innovative, serving as catalysts for change within the political system and broader society, the Party chief said. — VNS