Prime Minister: Researching breakthrough mechanism for the Southeast

Making the conclusion speech at the Conference of the Coordination Council of the Southeast on July 18 in Ho Chi Minh city, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh said, “The leader of the Party and the State, especially General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong, is paying keen attention and deep concern about implementing the path of the XIII Congress on six socio-economic regions”.

In 2022, the Politburo issued six resolutions on six socio-economic regions and the Government issued the Action Program to implement these resolutions. According to Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh, the Coordinating Council of the Southeast (referred to as the Regional Council) is one of the four regional coordination councils established by the Prime Minister. This is also a new form of organization implemented in accordance with the Party's policy, especially with the requirement to strengthen the coordination between regions and promote regional links.

"The Council needs to operate effectively, real, no formality, no administration. It must create material wealth for the people and the country". Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh also noted that the operation of the Coordination Council of the Southeast needs to be synchronized with the operation of the Steering Committee to implement Resolution 98 of the National Assembly, taking Ho Chi Minh city as a head figure and model for the region and the entire country.

“Members of the Regional Council focus on directing, urging and guiding the implementation of objectives, tasks, programs, projects, and regional links to ensure synchronization, consistency and efficiency in accordance with the law and plannings approved by competent authorities”.

The Prime Minister asked local authorities to soon complete the planning, especially in Ho Chi Minh city. "The planning must have strategic thinking and long-term vision. it must maximize the development potential as well as the competitive advantage of the region while neutralizing conflicts and existing weaknesses of the region. We must immediately focus on solving three issues: traffic congestion, environment and housing for workers, low-income people, etc”.

The Prime Minister believed that to create a breakthrough means money is required, which calls for priority policy mechanisms. Members of the regional Council should proactively research and propose institutions, mechanisms and specific policies to develop the Southeast region, promoting regional links.

The Prime Minister also asked the regional Council to support localities in the region to solve inter-provincial and city problems not under the jurisdiction of the local authorities. “Localities must unite and unanimously coordinate with each other to solve inter-provincial and city issues, do not perform activities scatteredly, competitively and limit each other”.

The ministries need to have professional support for localities to solve issues under local authorities such as investing in highways, national highways and bridges through two localities, or the problem of environmental pollution between localities at the headwaters and downstream of river basins.

The Prime Minister asked members of the Regional Council to closely coordinate with ministries, branches and localities in the area to study mechanisms and policies and have specific coordination activities particularly in the field of urban, logistics, high quality services (financial centers, regional logistics centers), science and technology, innovation, digital transformation.

The Prime Minister noted that public investment should be correct, on point, focused, have key aspects, and promote public-private partnership, taking public investment to activate private investment; research the formation of regional infrastructure development fund to have a separate capital for associated fields, policies to mobilize social resources into associated activities; mobilize a variety of capital sources such as borrowing investment funds and issuing bonds.

At the conference, Chairman of Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee proposed a number of specific mechanisms and policies for the Southeast region.

In particular, the Chairman recommended setting up a regional transport system development fund, regional disease control center; building the end-level hospital network of the region; establishing a digital conversion center, regional or national innovation; building a regional planning and socio-economic data center; promulgating specific mechanisms in the Southeast such as Resolution 98 of the National Assembly for Ho Chi Minh City or more superior, especially the mechanisms of transit oriented development (TOD); using local budget investment in regional development; attracting strategic investors or decentralization - authorizing localities in the region.