Attending the Thematic session were Mr. Nguyen Van Loi - Member of the Party Central Committee, Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee, Head of the Provincial Delegation of the National Assembly Deputies; Mr. Nguyen Hoang Thao – Permanent Deputy Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee; Mr. Vo Van Minh - Deputy Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee, Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee; leaders of the Provincial People's Council, Provincial People's Committee, provincial departments, committees, branches and mass organizations; experts and scientists.
Success comes from creativity
Speaking at the Thematic session, Prof. Dr. Nguyen Xuan Thang emphasized that inheriting the achievements of Song Be province, promoting the potential and advantages of the locality, and being facilitated by the mechanisms and policies of the central government, Binh Duong has chosen new, right and creative ways to become one of the most successful developing localities in the country. The development achievements of Binh Duong over the past 25 years are a bright spot, vividly reflecting the great and historically significant achievements of the country's renovation process, with important decisions such as: Shifting from the central planning mechanism to the market mechanism, opening the door for integration, carrying out industrialization and modernization, etc. has brought new opportunities for localities to maximize their potential, its advantage, increase the efficiency of using land resources, natural resources, capital, labor, etc. as well as mobilize new resources from inside and outside the country.
These achievements also reflect a very creative development model in the country's innovation process, which was probably first implemented in Binh Duong: "The central government paves the way, the local creates, and enterprises accompany" in the development process.
Prof. Dr. Nguyen Xuan Thang speaks at the thematic session on Economy - Urban Development
Binh Duong's success comes from the creative application of policies and guidelines of the Party and State. From the very beginning, having received favorable policies and mechanisms from the Central Government, the local authorities and enterprises have discussed ways to build infrastructure and attract investment, accompany enterprises to create a favorable business model for attracting investment and developing appropriate human resources "having an iron will as a community with enterprises", "Rolling out flower mat for investments" and "Rolling out red carpet for talents", slogans have been effectively and consistently implemented by authorities at all levels of Binh Duong for many years, bringing about practical and outstanding results.
Enterprises play an important role in the development process of Binh Duong
Prof. Dr. Nguyen Xuan Thang assessed that Becamex is a very successful company model, playing a very important role, contributing to shaping the development process of Binh Duong over the past 25 years. That success is something that no economic group has been able to do so far in other localities in the country and contributes to affirming a learned lesson: The locality wants to develop socio-economic needs the participation of strategic investors in the area.
Prof. Dr. Nguyen Xuan Thang also emphasized, Vietnam - Singapore Industrial Park (VSIP) is an industrial park model with a prominent mark in the development of Binh Duong. From the successful fulcrum of the first industrial park in Thuan An city, up to now, VSIP has developed into 11 industrial parks throughout the three regions of the South, Central and North. From the traditional industrial park model, VSIP has formed a model of an urban - industry - service complex. In particular, the birth of VSIP III in Binh Duong has become a new model of green industrial park development associated with the orientation of creating an industrial-high-tech ecosystem.
Binh Duong's development model in the country's renovation process is a unique model that meets the following approaches: "Think globally, View nationally, Act locally". With a creative way of doing things, thoroughly taking advantage of "later advantages", Binh Duong has chosen the path of "smart development", constantly searching for new ways to rise, surpass and achieve outstanding results, step by step on par with the region and the world.
Actively innovating
Prof. Dr. Nguyen Xuan Thang said that the Covid-19 pandemic and global geopolitical fluctuations make Vietnam in general and localities in particular need to redefine the model of economic growth and development. This is even more urgent for Binh Duong. World practice shows that, at the current level of industrial development like Binh Duong, there are usually two trends occurring: Firstly, localities that clearly grasp trends and make good use of opportunities can step up new development ladders based on innovation. Localities that do not adapt and transform in time will slow down and fall into the whirlpool of the middle-income trap. This is something Binh Duong needs to be aware of, predictive analysis must be correct and must be avoided.
Binh Duong is in a ready position for the race to a new peak of development from now to 2030, with a vision to the mid century. Binh Duong will be one of the first provinces that need to overcome the middle-income trap, in order to continue to be a model for other localities, creating motivation for the whole country to achieve the goal of becoming a developed and high-income country by 2045, realizing the aspiration to rise up to par with the powers of the five continents.
To achieve that goal, the growth rate of GDP per capita of the whole country in general and of Binh Duong in particular in the coming period must be higher than in the last period. This is a huge challenge, because according to the principle of climbing, the higher we go, the slower the climbing speed.
Innovation is always associated with new skills, talents and knowledge. Binh Duong needs to maximize this resource both at home and abroad. The presence of a number of universities of technology and engineering in Binh Duong is now very important and should be further upgraded; at the same time, Binh Duong also needs to continue to encourage more quality universities to return to the province. Upholding the tradition of "having an iron will as a community" between the government and enterprises, Binh Duong has a foundation to promote stronger ecosystems for innovation, with the participation of triple helix model: the Government, enterprise and university.
In particular, the dynamism, positivity and innovation of the local government is the bright spot of Binh Duong, and also the most important lesson to help answer the question: In the same institutional and policy environment, with similar geo-economic conditions, there are localities that develop breakthroughs, while there are localities that slow down. Binh Duong has the conditions and foundation to continue developing breakthroughs in the coming time.
Exploiting the province's advantages
Prof. Dr. Nguyen Xuan Thang said that the post-Covid-19 world is facing three prominent trends, which are: The explosion of contactless economic activities, the rapid growth of teleworking, and the decompression of the population density of megacities. With the development orientation to become an international financial center, Ho Chi Minh City is currently home to a highly skilled and talented workforce, but it is also facing overcrowding, traffic congestion and environmental pollution. Binh Duong needs to continue to exploit the province's geo-economic advantages and high urbanization rate, so that in the Provincial Planning for the 2021-2030 period, with a vision to 2050, it will raise the level of development of smart and livable satellite cities of small and medium scale, with high-standard medical, educational, and living environment services, synchronously connected with Ho Chi Minh City both in terms of traffic infrastructure and digital infrastructure, contributing to unpacking the population for Ho Chi Minh City, attracting high-quality human resources to live and work.
Binh Duong has a very favorable geo-economic position as it is located in the Southeast region - the most dynamic and important economic dynamic region of the country, with the potential to easily connect with domestic and international markets. This advantage helps enterprises cut transportation costs, trade costs, thereby increasing competitive advantages. Looking back over the past 25 years, investment in infrastructure systems, especially connected transport infrastructure, is one of the highest priorities in order to solve bottlenecks in growth, help attract resources, thereby maximizing Binh Duong's geo-economic advantages. Looking forward to the next 25 years, with new priorities such as: Investing in digital infrastructure, building livable and smart urban areas.
Binh Duong has gone through a quarter century with impressive results in socio-economic development. Binh Duong's development model and Binh Duong's creative way are a prominent mark in the country's innovation process. Based on the achieved foundation, we fully believe that Binh Duong will continue to be a local model in efforts to overcome the middle-income trap, develop sustainably in the direction of a smart and civilized urban area; strive to become a city directly under the Central Government; by 2030, to become a modern industrial center, by 2045 to be a smart urban area of the region and the whole country; together with the whole country to realize the vision and goal of turning our country into a developed, high-income, socialist-oriented country by the mid century.
Receiving the directions of Prof. Dr. Nguyen Xuan Thang, on behalf of the provincial leaders, Mr. Nguyen Hoang Thao - Permanent Deputy Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee thanked Prof. Dr. Nguyen Xuan Thang for the development of Binh Duong. The Provincial Standing Party Committee will realize the directions of Professor and doctor to build Binh Duong into a sustainable development locality in the future.
Reported by Mai Xuan- Translated by Thanh Tam