Over the past years, Kon Tum province has made many spectacular and impressive breakthroughs in attracting investment. Chairman of Kon Tum Provincial People's Committee Le Ngoc Tuan emphasized that Kon Tum is committed to standing by the business community; creating the most favorable business investment environment for them to feel secure in production, contributing more to the province’s prosperity.
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Driven by the motto "Creative and rapid to make a breakthrough", Kon Tum province has made great efforts to achieve encouraging results, some of which are the highest level ever. Could you be more specific?
In 2020, the province's socio-economic activities were hard hit by the Covid-19 pandemic. In that context, Kon Tum province successfully accomplished the dual goals including successfully controlling the Covid-19 pandemic and implementing the task of socio-economic development. The province obtained important and outstanding achievements such as reaching 11 out of 13 major economic - social - environmental targets; the growth of Gross regional domestic product (GRDP) reaching 9.39%; per capita income estimated at VND46.58 million; State budget revenue reaching VND3 trillion; export turnover reaching US$150 million; key products, medicinal plants, high-tech agriculture continuing to develop and increasingly asserting their brands on the market.
The province has achieved impressive results in attracting investment, such as approving investment policies for 192 projects, including 184 projects still valid with a total registered capital of VND20,610.7 billion. It is worth mentioning that the province has successfully attracted a number of major investors such as FLC Group, Vingroup and TH.
The social policy has been deployed widely and in a timely manner; e-government construction has been drastically carried out and achieved many important results, serving as a premise for a digital government and a digital economy. The administrative procedure reform has been strongly implemented, the administrative discipline and regulation have been prioritized; national defense and security have been maintained, social order and safety has been guaranteed; local foreign relations have increasingly been expanded.
Can you tell us the main targets and key missions in 2021?
Kon Tum province determines that the socio-economic development results of the province in 2021 will be a very important premise and a driving force to accomplish the goals of the Resolution of the Sixteenth Provincial Party Congress for the term 2020-2025. In the year 2021, in addition to continuing to effectively implement the goal of preventing the pandemic, we also have to seriously and thoroughly implement the solutions and directions of the Government, ministries and Central sectors on promoting economic restructuring associated with transforming the economic growth model toward the use of advanced, modern, green and environmentally-friendly technologies, thereby improving quality, efficiency and competitiveness. It is important to effectively exploit and use potential and strengths to boost the province's economy to high and sustainable growth. It is necessary to focus on implementing the conclusions of the Provincial Party Committee and Provincial Standing Committee on the implementation of programs, schemes and projects for the provincial socio-economic development, especially focusing on improving investment and business environment. The province will concentrate on agricultural development with high technology application and pharmaceutical development. It will speed up the implementation of important works and projects; invest in urban infrastructure and develop tourism. It will ensure social security and welfare; ensure national defense and security, and promote foreign affairs. It will try to build a clean and strong Party Committee. It will promote democracy, enhance the role of the Fatherland Front and socio-political organizations. The province will mobilize the whole political system. The specific targets are as follows:
For economy: The province's GRDP growth rate will be over 10%; the average GRDP per capita will be over VND50 million. The State budget revenue in the province will reach VND3,500 billion; export value will be US$162 million. It will focus on planting 500 hectares of Ngoc Linh Ginseng and 2,000 hectares of other medicinal plants. The rate of forest coverage (including rubber trees) will reach over 63.1%. The province will strive to have 8 more communes meeting new rural standards and welcome 1.5 million tourist arrivals.
About culture - society: the rate of trained workers will reach 54%. It will strive to increase the rate of pupils graduating from junior high school and high school changing to vocational training to 30%. The rate of the population participating in health insurance will reach 92.5%; the rate of the rural population using clean water will reach 91%. The rate of communes, wards and towns having cultural houses will reach 55%.
In order to remove the "bottlenecks" and promote the improvement of the business environment, in recent years, which solutions and activities has Kon Tum province implemented?
The province has carried out projects on improving the investment and business environment, programs and plans of the Provincial People's Committee on implementing resolutions 02/NQ-CP, 35/NQ-CP, 98/NQ-CP and other related documents.
State management agencies in the province have concretized with specific activities such as focusing on reforming administrative procedures related to people, enterprises, and investors; improving the technical infrastructure system to serve investors and businesses; implementing economic restructuring, managing plans, creating the environment for a common legal corridor. Periodically, the authorities at all levels have organized meetings and dialogues with businesses and investors to solve their problems and difficulties. The province has established and put into operation the Center for Public Administration of the province. All the state administrative agencies from province to commune level have implemented electronic one-stop-shop software.
For two consecutive years 2018 and 2019, the PCI of Kon Tum province has increased. How do you evaluate this result and what are local solutions to further improve the PCI?
According to the data and survey results announced by VCCI, the Provincial Competitiveness Index (PCI) of Kon Tum province in 2019 ranked 56 out of the 63 provinces and cities nationwide (with 63.54 points), up three places compared to that 2018. Compared to five provinces of the Central Highlands, Kon Tum ranked 4th. Compared with the median point, in 2019, Kon Tum province had three component indices with better scores than the median point including Market Entry Cost; Access to land and stability in land use; and Fair competition. In general, the investment and business environment has significantly improved.
However, the investment and business environment of the province still has certain limitations. By 2019, the PCI ranking of Kon Tum province was still in the average group in the ranking of provinces and cities nationwide. In the coming time, the province will focus on the following tasks to improve the PCI Index:
First, increasing the propaganda and dissemination of the meaning, the content of tasks, solutions on enhancing competitiveness, improving investment and business environment.
Second, widely disseminating the receiving address (hotline, receiving address) of reflecting opinions and recommendations of organizations and individuals for acts of harassment; building annual checking and inspection plans for enterprises, limiting enterprises having to receive many inspection and examination delegations in a year, creating favorable conditions for enterprises to do business; reducing time and costs for businesses; and minimizing the incidence of unofficial fees for businesses.
Third, continuing to direct the review, shortening the time to settle administrative procedures for land allocation, land lease, location introduction; procedures related to investment, construction, environment; enhancing the attraction of domestic and foreign enterprises to cooperate in fields and areas with potential and advantages of the province.
Fourth, focusing on mobilizing and integrating resources to implement well the supporting policies under the Law on Small and Medium Enterprises Support and other support policies for businesses.
Fifth, well implementing the work of reviewing and publicizing the clean land fund, preparing a list of projects calling for investment, serving as a basis for providing information, promoting investment calls; creating a clean land fund in economic zones, industrial parks, and industrial clusters to introduce to businesses, investors and improving occupancy rates; accelerating the implementation of compensation, resettlement and site clearance to implement key projects in the province.
Sixth, regularly organizing dialogues and meetings with businesses and investors to promptly remove difficulties and problems in the implementation of investment and business activities in the province.
Seventh, maintaining the effectiveness and the efficiency of the legal corridor, as well as ensuring fairness, publicity, transparency and bringing confidence to businesses in resolving civil and commercial disputes; creating a production and business environment to ensure security and order.
| As a province in the Central Highlands, Kon Tum holds an important geopolitical, geo-economic position as it shares a border with two countries in the region, Laos and Cambodia, and is located on the Indochinese triangle. |
Eighth, focusing on promoting the participation of the business community in the construction, issuance and implementation of policies to support and improve the investment and business environment in order to create high consensus and unification in performance.
Ninth, improving the quality of human resources to meet the needs of investors when investing in the province.
Tenth, efficiently operating the Provincial Public Administration Service Center and the result receiving and returning units at district and commune levels; increasing the number of documents processed online for online public service providers.
Eleventh, establishing the Working Group and the Assistant Team to implement the Action Program on enhancing Provincial Competitiveness Index, they will be responsible for advising and assisting the Provincial People's Committee to implement tasks and solutions to improve the competitiveness index at the provincial level.
On the occasion of the lunar new year, what will you share with investors and businesses in the province?
On the occasion of the new year, I would like to send my best wishes to the entire business community in Kon Tum province. I wish the provincial business community to achieve many successes in all fields of business, contributing more to the prosperity of Kon Tum province.
On behalf of the leaders of Kon Tum province, I pledge to always stand by and share with the business community in the province; support and create more favorable conditions for them to develop, focus on improving the business and investment environment, improving the competitiveness of the province, thereby creating the most favorable investment and business environment for enterprises to feel secure in production and business.
Source: Vietnam Business Foru
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