Development plan for key southern economic region
Ho Chi Minh City, Sept. 25 (VNA) -- The key southern economic region covers only 3.8 percent of the country's acreage but has currently contributed 33.2 percent to the country's gross domestic product (GDP).
The region, covering Ho Chi Minh City and provinces of Dong Nai, Ba Ria-Vung Tau and Binh Duong, is blessed with favourable conditions for economic development. Each city and province in the region has its own strengths. Ho Chi Minh City, with a population of more than 6 million people, is the capital of the region. The city has advantages in high-technology, a contingent of skilled workers and qualified economic managers, many key industrial zones and export processing zones, and financial and export centres. The city is also easily accessible by road, rail and water. Dong Nai province has developed many major IZs while Ba Ria-Vung Tau province is the country's centre of the oil and gas industry and Binh Duong province has been successful in developing both foreign and domestic invested IZs.
The region has so far this year made up 57 percent of the country's industrial production value and 58 percent of export value. The region's revenues from detail sales and services increased remarkedly in the first nine months of this year, particularly Binh Duong province recording a 31.5 percent year-on-year increase.
However, the planning of and cooperation within the region should be discussed for higher effectiveness of production. Localities in the region have not defined their export staples in the plan on economic restructure, which has led to severe competition among leather shoes, garments, textiles, and electronic producers goods in the region.
To ensure long- and short-term development, the region needs a uniformed management of plans on developing industries, tourism, agriculture, fisheries, and materials supplying areas, environmental protection, trade promotion, and investment attraction.
The Government has, in its plan on economic restructure till 2005, decided to give priorities to the key southern economic region to develop high-tech industries, the financial and banking services, science and technology, services for oil and gas exploitation and processing, and fisheries.
Under the plan, the key southern economic region will make up 35.7 percent of the country's GDP by 2005, with industrial production value accounting for 59 percent, services, 36.5 percent, and agriculture-forestry-fisheries, 4.5 percent.--Enditem
