Action programme for development of southern key economic region

Mr. Pham Van Liem, Vice General Director of Industrial Policies and Strategies Institute (IPSI) under Ministry of Industry

To promote further the development of the southern key economic region until 2010 and orientations for 2020, Industry Ministry has sent a survey delegation to Dong Nai and other cities and provinces within the region for making development strategy in the future. On the visit by the delegation of Industry Ministry to Dong Nai province, Dong Nai Newspaper’s reporter had an interview with Mr. Pham Van Liem, head of the delegation and Vice General Director of Industrial Policies and Strategies Institute (IPSI) under Ministry of Industry.

What are your comments on development of industry in the southern key economic region?  Also, please talk about the future development strategy?

The southern key economic region comprises Ho Chi Minh City, Dong Nai, Ba Ria-Vung Tau, Binh Duong, Binh Phuoc, Tay Ninh, Long An and Tien Giang. The industry is concentrated in the southern key economic region. Over the past years, the industry of the region has witnessed relatively high growth and gross industrial output value accounted for more than 50% of the countrys total. Especially, Ho Chi Minh City and neighboring provinces such as Ba Ria-Vung Tau, Dong Nai and Binh Duong hold leading positions in the southern key economic region.  However, the obvious fact is that there is the lack of coordination among cities and provinces within the region. Thus, the highly industrialized localities in the region have not become models to push forward the development of industry in other regions such as the southwest, central highland, central coastal provinces and this has not encouraged the growth of industry in distant regions.

In the future, our concentration will be focused on strengthening the cooperation between cities and provinces within the region and further making use of potentials and advantages of each locality while encouraging high-tech industry growth in each locality.

What are objectives of regional economic development plan?

Action programme for development of the southern key economic region will help each locality develop their industrial zones and advance their potentials. For example, both Dong Nai province and Ho Chi Minh City have advantages in development in the mechanic sector. However, Dong Nai province should focus on mechanical applications while Ho Chi Minh City will place emphasis on design and creation of new products in order to promote effective development of mechanic sector in their respective localities.

I think that foreign companies should be encouraged to invest in these fields in Ho Chi Minh City and Dong Nai province because they have long experience in these fields and such investment will help these localities develop concentrated industrial zones and propel a sufficiently high growth of the sector.

To achieve the interconnection among cities and provinces within the southern key economic region, it’s necessary to establish a steering board. The problem is that who is going to undertake this task effectively?

This is a really difficult problem. The Government has established a steering board; however, the board has not yet achieved the expected results because it has to face some difficulties. Therefore, our duty is to clearly grasp the difficulties the region are facing through the survey; accordingly, we will put forward solutions and recommendations to the Government in order to be solved. This is an important problem, so we need to discuss and ask the Government’s opinion.

Reported by Khac Gioi