The session was attended by the speakers: Mr. Nguyen Hoa Cuong – Deputy Director of the Central Institute for Economic Management; Mr. Choi Kyu Chul – Vice President of the Korean Chamber of Industry and Trade in Ho Chi Minh City; Mr. Jeong Joon Kyu - General Director of Korea Trade – Investment Promotion Agency in Ho Chi Minh City; Mr. Mai Hung Dung - Standing Vice Chairman of Binh Duong Provincial People's Committee (PPC); Mr. Kang Ho Dong – Head of Becamex IDC Office in South Korea; Mr. Choi Keun Hwan – Marketing Director of VSIP. The discussion session was chaired by Mr. Park Jong Kyong - Consul General of the Embassy of the Republic of Korea (RoK) to Viet Nam.

​Speakers participating in the Discussion session

On the side of Binh Duong province, there were Mr. Vo Van Minh - Deputy Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee, Chairman of the PPC; Mr. Nguyen Van Loc - Member of the Provincial Standing Party Committee, Chairman of the Provincial People's Council; Ms. Nguyen Thi My Hang – Chairwoman of the Provincial Viet Nam Fatherland Front Committee.

Joining to overcoming challenges

Discussing cooperation between the two countries, speakers said that Viet Nam and the RoK are currently comprehensive strategic partners and each other's third largest trading partners. The two countries are working together to double two-way trade and investment by 2030. In the field of investment attraction, the RoK is the largest accumulated investor in Vietnam.

However, according to Mr. Jeong Joon Kyu - General Director of Korea Trade – Investment Promotion Agency in Ho Chi Minh City, facing the world's difficult situation and general instability, the global economy is facing 3 major problems, i.e., restructuring the supply chain, responding to climate change, and digital transformation. This has created many challenging factors for the economies of countries, including RoK and Viet Nam.

​​Mr. Jeong Joon Kyu - General Director of Korea Trade – Investment Promotion Agency in Ho Chi Minh City discussed at the session

To maintain the close economic relationship between RoK and Viet Nam and jointly respond to global challenges, the two countries need strategic orientations in the future. In particular, the Vietnamese Government needs to support South Korean enterprises in Viet Nam, especially manufacturing enterprises to improve their technological level. Vietnamese enterprises themselves must also improve their technological level.

In addition, Mr. Jeong Joon Kyu said that South Korean and Vietnamese economies commonly have a huge dependence on global trade. Especially the factor of importing semi-finished goods for the production of finished goods and export. Therefore, when the world restructures its supply chains, the two countries will be greatly affected.

"Currently, many South Korean enterprises have invested and participated in the supply chain in Viet Nam according to the trend of reducing production costs. However, with this trend, in the coming time, South Korean and Vietnamese enterprises need to switch to the supporting industry development structure to support the production process to create finished products without depending on imports. Additionally, to support South Korean enterprises, Viet Nam needs to have preferential tax policies and strengthen cooperation between the two countries in the garment industry." - Mr. Jeong Joon Kyu proposed.

At the same time, to attract and create a better environment for enterprises, the Governments of the two countries need to have reasonable legal directions and mechanisms, especially transparent information-sharing mechanisms. Local authorities should have many options to propose projects so that enterprises can participate.

In responding to climate change, the two countries should have new models of energy cooperation to reduce emissions and waste.

Mr. Jeong Joon Kyu also said that RoK is a thriving country with a value chain in information and communication technology (ICT); at the same time, we have experience in applying ICT to industry and life. In Viet Nam, the process of urbanization is strong and the demand for digital transformation is huge in the current period. Therefore, this will be an opportunity for South Korean enterprises to invest in this field. It also opens a new model of growth engine for Viet Nam, including the development of human resources in the field of ICT.

Mr. Nguyen Hoa Cuong - Deputy Director of the Central Institute for Economic Management shared that over the past time, Viet Nam has always created favorable conditions for investment and business activities. In addition, the Government has preferential policies, especially in high-tech industries and human resource development. Recently, the Government has approved the planning of different economic zones, which focuses on infrastructure investment. Vietnam's infrastructure has developed quite strongly. In particular, in the coordination work, leaders at all levels from the central to local levels have directly listened to the opinions of enterprises, to promptly remove difficulties and obstacles of enterprises, including South Korean enterprises.

Mr. Nguyen Hoa Cuong - Deputy Director of the Central Institute for Economic Management spoke at the discussion session

Binh Duong – an attractive destination for investors

Binh Duong is one of the localities in the Southern Key Economic Region which has made significant contributions to the economic development of the region and the whole country.

According to Mr. Mai Hung Dung - Member of the Provincial Standing Party Committee and Standing Vice Chairman of the PPC, to meet the needs of development and attract investment, in recent years, Binh Duong has always focused on synchronous transport connectivity in the region. In road connectivity, the province has been focusing on the construction of key roads such as Ring Road 3, and Ring Road 4; carrying out research and development of urban railways. In addition, the province is developing a strategy to develop rail and waterway transport to increase regional connectivity.

Mr. Mai Hung Dung - Member of the Provincial Standing Party Committee, Standing Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee spoke at the discussion session

Along with that, Binh Duong is focusing on developing high-quality human resources. Currently, there are 8 universities, many colleges, and intermediate schools in the province. In addition, Vietnam National University, Ho Chi Minh City (VNU), and Nong Lam University, Ho Chi Minh City (NLU) are also located in the province. This is a great advantage for the province to develop high-quality human resources. The province is also cooperating with many famous universities in the world to train and develop human resources for the province.

In addition, Binh Duong is promoting its leading role, together with Becamex IDC Corporation to promote the formation of high-tech industrial parks; the development of green industrial parks; the development of trade and services; and focus on green transformation training.  The province has included these orientations in the Binh Duong Provincial Plan for 2030, vision to 2050, and will be approved by the Prime Minister shortly.

According to Mr. Nguyen Hoa Cuong - Deputy Director of the Central Institute for Economic Management, with preferential policy factors in the high-tech industry; human resource development; and planning of economic zones, with emphasis on infrastructure development; the government listens to and supports businesses; creating favorable conditions for new local businesses, Binh Duong has increasingly attracted many businesses to invest, including many multinational corporations with huge investment capital. Specifically, Binh Duong has attracted 02 large foreign investment projects such as Lego Group's toy factory (Denmark) with a scale of more than 1 billion USD and the world's leading jewelry company Pandora (Denmark) with an investment of 150 million USD.

​The delegation visited SungJin INC Company Limited (Binh Chuan ward, Thuan An City). This is a 100% Korean-owned enterprise with nearly 1,900 workers specializing in manufacturing and processing imported and exported backpacks and handbags.

The delegation presents gifts to disadvantaged workers at Chi Hung Company Limited

Next, the delegation visited Chi Hung Company Limited (Thai Hoa ward, Tan Uyen City). This is a 100% Taiwanese (Chinese) owned enterprise with more than 7,000 workers, specializing in manufacturing sports shoes and semi-finished shoe products.

Ms. Nguyen Kim Loan - Chairwoman of the Provincial Labor Confederation presents gifts to support workers of Chi Hung Company

At the two companies, the delegation recognized and appreciated the efforts to overcome difficulties and stabilize production and business of the company's Board of Directors and the collective of workers, especially female workers.

Mr. Nguyen Loc Ha - Vice Chairman of Binh Duong PPC kindly asked about workers' health and encouraged them, who have tried to overcome difficulties to emulate production labor, contributing to the increasingly developed Binh Duong province.

Mr. Nguyen Loc Ha - Vice Chairman of Binh Duong PPC presents gifts to disadvantaged workers

The working group presented gifts to support disadvantaged workers. This activity aims to gain more trust and create motivation for young workers and laborers to stay with the province for a long time and consider Binh Duong as their second homeland to live and work.

Leaders of the PPC and Binh Duong Provincial Labor Confederation present gifts to SungJin INC Co., Ltd workers.

Shape and maximize development advantages

The conference reviewed and commented on the Provincial Planning for the 2021 – 2030 period, with a vision to 2050. Mr. Pham Trong Nhan - Director of the Department of Planning and Investment said that Binh Duong has closely followed the Planning Law, taking Resolution No. 24-NQ/TW of the Politburo on socio-economic development, and ensuring national defense and security in the Southeast region and the Planning of the Southeast region to 2030, vision to 2050 as the foundation and guideline for building the Planning.

According to the Ministry of Planning and Investment, Binh Duong is a locality that pays special attention to the orientation of regional integration and includes this content in the Planning project, placing the province in a relationship of interests to maximize comparative advantages in the Region.

Mr. Pham Trong Nhan - Director of the Department of Planning and Investment reports on the situation of building the Provincial Planning

The planning project shapes the development space of Binh Duong province into 3 driving-force regions. The gateway urban area (Thuan An City, Di An City) is a smart, modern urban area, a worth-living place, and an economic and financial center for the entire Southeast region. Therefore, its main task is to upgrade, reconstruct, and embellish the urban area.

The central core area (Thu Dau Mot City, Tan Uyen City, Ben Cat City, Bau Bang District) which is the core area of smart urban areas, based on the development of science - technology, and innovation, focusing on developing a new generation industrial - urban - service model. It is the growth pole, the driving force for the province's development, with the nucleus being the formation of a concentrated industrial and information technology park, to gradually form the province's science and technology park and shape the development of the fields: health, culture, education, trade, and high-quality services; attracting industries manufacturing electricity, electronics, chips, and semiconductor technology.

The Northern urban area (Phu Giao District, Dau Tieng District, Bac Tan Uyen District) which is a green reserve area, developing high-tech agriculture, associated with eco-tourism and green industry development. It is a satellite area of the province after filling up the central area associated with industrial relocation from the South.

Planning for the 2021 – 2030 period, the vision for 2050 shapes the development space of the province in the coming time. Photo: Thuan An, Di An urban area from above

Regarding spatial orientation for industrial development, from now to 2030, the province has planned and oriented about 18,500 hectares of industrial urban land and needs about 18,000 - 20,000 hectares for urban and service development along ring roads, expressway to form an economic corridor for the entire Region from Tay Ninh border gate - Cai Mep port and Long Thanh airport.

Shaping the ecological corridor: Dong Nai River and ecological corridor along the Saigon River and Dau Tieng Lake to develop high-quality urban, service and trade.

Shaping the development space for the fields of culture, physical education - sports, health, education, science-technology is to form a complex with about 1,500 hectares in Bau Bang district, with the function of organizing events of national stature, to promote the development of the trade and service sectors, contributing to a strong shift in the economic structure of the entire Region, towards increasing the proportion of the service industry.

The development of spatial orientations and important sectors will contribute to the target of an average GRDP growth rate of about 10% in the 2021-2030 period and achieve the goal of overcoming the middle-income trap.

Mr. Vo Van Minh - Deputy Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee, Chairman of the PPC speaks at the conference

Mr. Vo Van Minh - Deputy Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee, Chairman of the PPC said that this Provincial Planning project was elaborately and methodically prepared, going through many rounds of comments from experts, scientists, and development orientation. Departments and branches have closely followed the management field to review the contents to ensure feasibility when implementing. Up to now, the Planning has been basically completed in terms of content, submitted to the Provincial Party Committee for approval, and continues to be completed and submitted to the Provincial People's Council for approval. On that basis, it would complete procedures to submit to the Prime Minister for approval in June 2024.

The Planning Announcement Ceremony is expected to be held in July 2024, associated with attracting investment and commencing the Ho Chi Minh City Ring Road 4 project (section through Binh Duong province).

Manage flexibly and effectively for socio-economic development

Also at the conference, the Provincial Party Executive Committee summarized the Party building work for the 2020-2025 tenure and 15 years of implementing the Party Charter.

Through the opinions of the delegates and guiding statements at the conference, Mr. Nguyen Hoang Thao - Permanent Deputy Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee emphasized that the Binh Duong province's planning for the 2021-2030 period, vision to 2050 has many new points, new approaches, new thinking on methods and content of multi-sector and multi-sector integrated planning which is an important legal basis to promote distinct potential, outstanding opportunities, competitive advantages and overcome shortcomings and limitations over the past time. Thereby shaping a new development space and development orientation for industries and fields. This will be a guideline for the province's development and a core goal for building the Resolution of the Provincial Party Congress for the 2025 - 2030 tenure.

Mr. Nguyen Hoang Thao - Permanent Deputy Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee concludes the conference

The Permanent Deputy Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee requested branches, levels, and the entire political system to review targets and tasks, and closely follow the goals and orientations to implement and concretize the Provincial Planning project after it is approved by the Prime Minister.

It is necessary to maximize internal resources, promote external resources, unblock all resources, effectively exploit the land fund development project, to invest in completing infrastructure, especially transport infrastructure linking the region to turn Binh Duong into a center of ecological industry, smart urban areas, and modern services as set goals.

Regarding the summary report on Party building, he emphasized that the province determined that economic development is the central task, and Party building is the key task. However, in the Party building and enforcement of the Party Charter, there are still limitations in organizing the implementation of the Resolution and official evaluation, etc. Party Committees at all levels need to closely follow the results of Party building for the 2020-2025 tenure and summarize 15 years of enforcing the Party Charter to develop a political report to submit to the Congress for the 2025-2030 tenure, from there, proposing highly feasible solutions to overcome the shortcomings and limitations of the past time and draw lessons to effectively deploy Party building in the coming time.

Overview of the conference

The Provincial Party Executive Committee Conference is also an opportunity to review and re-evaluate socio-economic development targets and tasks until the middle of the second quarter of 2024, therefore, he requested that Party Committees, agencies, and units at all levels focus on urgently reviewing goals and tasks, propose solutions with consensus, and determine to organize and implement 100% completion of tasks in 2024.

Specifically, they should focus on reviewing and speeding up the construction progress and disbursement of the public investment plan in 2024, setting a goal that by the end of the second quarter of 2024, the disbursement rate must be over 35% to compensate for the first quarter. They must resolutely cut and reduce projects that are unable to disburse and mobilize maximum capital sources; in particular, from the 2023 experience, it must urgently complete and promote the effectiveness of the Project on exploiting land funds to invest in key infrastructure projects of the province.

Focusing on reviewing and speeding up construction progress and disbursement of public investment plan in 2024. Photo: Construction of Ring Road 3 at Binh Chuan intersection

Urgently completing investment procedures to start key projects in 2024 such as the Ho Chi Minh City Ring Road 4 section through the province in July 2024, construction of the Ho Chi Minh City - Chon Thanh expressway section through the province will start on the holiday of September 02, 2024.

Resolutely focusing on flexible and effective management of budget revenue and expenditure, ensuring budget revenue reaches the set target of reaching 45% of the estimate assigned by the Provincial People's Council by the end of the second quarter of 2024.

Promoting the effectiveness of Steering Groups to promptly handle and remove difficulties and obstacles for real estate projects and residential areas with complaints and lawsuits, large gatherings of people causing insecurity and disorder. At the same time, synthesizing the Provincial Party Standing Committee report in June 2024 to have general direction.

Focusing on analyzing, evaluating, and clarifying the subjective and objective causes of the PAPI and PCI being downgraded and losing points, thereby seriously learning from experience and taking corrective measures in 2024.

Localities increase weekly meetings to direct, urge, inspect, resolve, and remove procedural difficulties and obstacles for people and enterprises, creating a strong change in administrative procedure reform.

The meeting was attended by Mr. Vo Van Minh - Deputy Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee, Chairman of Binh Duong Provincial People's Committee (PPC); Mr. Vo Tan Duc - Acting Chairman of Dong Nai PPC; Mr. Pham Van Trong - Vice Chairman of Tien Giang PPC; representatives of local departments, and branches.

Binh Duong proactively removes difficulties for enterprises

At the meeting, localities reported on the production and business situation and solutions to support enterprises in restoring production in the first 4 months of 2024.

According to the Binh Duong PPC report, in the first 4 months of 2024, the province's socio-economic development situation has achieved positive results. The province has attracted 24,175 billion VND of domestic business registration capital (up 8.4% over the same period). Accumulated up to now, the province has 68,303 domestic enterprises with a total registered capital of 751,000 billion VND. The province has attracted 272.4 million USD of foreign investment (down 69% over the same period). Accumulated to date, the province has 4,286 foreign-invested projects with a total registered capital of 40.59 billion USD. The index of industrial production (IIP) increased by 4.29% over the same period.

Overview of the meeting

Export turnover reached 10 billion 954 million USD, up 15.6% over the same period. Import turnover reached 7 billion 568 million USD, up 10.5% over the same period. The total disbursement value of public investment capital is 2,517 billion VND, reaching 11.4% of the plan assigned by the Provincial People's Council and 16.5% of the plan assigned by the Prime Minister.

In particular, the PPC has implemented a series of solutions to support enterprises in the province to recover and do business stably. In particular, Binh Duong has focused on investment in infrastructure development, administrative reform, supporting access to loans, ensuring social security, programs and policies to support small and medium-sized enterprises, supporting enterprises to stabilize production and business, seeking new markets, etc., following the Government's guiding spirit.

In addition, Binh Duong has built and implemented a good dialogue mechanism, always accompanying enterprises, increasing support for enterprises in production and business activities, considering enterprises' difficulties as the provincial government's difficulties, and considering enterprises' success as the province's success. The PPC has established a Steering Committee to resolve difficulties for enterprises in implementing real estate projects in the province.

Accordingly, the PPC directed the Department of Planning and Investment and the Department of Construction to preside over and coordinate with relevant agencies and units to increase information and propaganda of central and provincial policies to enterprises; as well as provide a hotline phone number, an online reporting system and regularly keeping in touch via phone number, Zalo or email with the enterprises to grasp the production and business situation of enterprises, promptly advise the Steering Committee to organize meetings to remove difficulties and obstacles for enterprises and real estate projects. Up to now, the Steering Committee has organized 16 meetings and resolved more than 115 difficulties of enterprises and investors.

The PPC also regularly organizes and sends provincial leaders to participate in conferences, dialogues, and meetings with investors and enterprises to grasp the implementation status of projects in the province; and continues to attract and invite new investment projects. At the same time, it also listens and directs the resolution of difficulties and problems of the enterprise community to find solutions to help enterprises recover and develop.

Chairman of Binh Duong PPC Vo Van Minh reports on socio-economic development results and difficulties in the province

In addition, to be proactive in grasping and removing difficulties and obstacles for enterprises, the PPC also directed agencies and units to promote digital transformation and application of information technology such as: Actively propagating central and provincial policies on supporting production and business recovery to enterprises and workers facing difficulties on the website; establish Zalo groups with the enterprise community and build the Zalo Official Account platform; effectively deploy and operate the Intelligent Operation Center (IOC) at provincial and district levels and Hotline 1022. As a result, agencies and units in the province have received and coordinated to resolve 189/191 complaints and recommendations from enterprises. For issues that are not under the province's jurisdiction, the PPC has issued documents and reports at meetings with the Government, Ministry of Construction, Ministry of Planning and Investment, and relevant agencies.

Solutions to promote social housing development

At the meeting, localities reported difficulties and proposed solutions related to the following groups of issues: Legal procedures regarding land; construction investment procedures; fire prevention and fighting; administrative procedures; State management in the field of environmental protection and adaptation to climate change; payroll; logistics; evaluating and recognizing types of urban areas, etc. Relevant ministries and branches have specifically responded to the recommendations of the localities.

Reporting difficulties and obstacles in building social housing and real estate business, Chairman of the PPC Vo Van Minh said that the procedures for investing in construction and buying and selling social housing are still complicated and lengthy; the approval of beneficiaries of social housing policies must go through many steps, etc. making it difficult to access social housing. Determining the price of selling, leasing, and buying social housing must be appraised by the provincial State agency, which also takes time due to the need to wait for the audit results, which delays the time for enterprises to mobilize capital. Incentive policies for investors in social housing projects and housing for workers that have been issued are not attractive enough, not substantive, and do not attract or encourage investors.

Mr. Vo Tan Duc - Acting Chairman of Dong Nai PPC proposes the contents at the meeting

Agreeing with this opinion, Mr. Vo Tan Duc - Acting Chairman of Dong Nai PPC added that many enterprises are concerned about investing in social housing projects because they have more procedures than commercial housing, are difficult to implement, and cannot produce products. The current Housing Law does not have regulations allowing enterprise organizations and cooperatives to buy, rent, or lease-buy social housing while many of them want to buy or rent social housing then rent to their workers. Mr. Vo Tan Duc proposed that the Ministry of Construction consider having a plan to remove difficulties so that localities can implement it, contributing to achieving the goal of building 1 million social housing units as directed by the Prime Minister.

Responding to recommendations related to social housing, Mr. Vuong Duy Dung - Deputy Director of the Housing and Real Estate Market Management Agency said that the Prime Minister showed his interest and assigned the Ministry of Construction to coordinate with ministries, branches, and localities to create conditions for social housing development. The Ministry of Construction is presiding over the development of a process to shorten administrative procedures in selecting investors and implementing social housing projects to save time. It mobilizes and encourages social resources to participate in social housing development. He also requested localities to issue specific plans to lead and direct social housing development.

Mr. Vuong Duy Dung - Deputy Director of Housing and Real Estate Market Management Agency responds to local recommendations

Localities need to proactively allocate funds for site clearance, organize clean site clearance, and have clean land funds for social housing; organize auctions, bidding, and select investors with financial potential and experience; implement publicity and transparency, increase deposit rates and guarantees to ensure the selection of investors with good potential; invest "correctly", bidding and auction publicly and transparently, avoiding negativity and corruption.

In addition, localities must urge investors of commercial housing projects and urban areas to implement social housing projects on the land fund of 20% of these projects according to the approved schedule. They must specific mechanisms and solutions to shorten administrative procedures for project formulation and approval, land allocation, site clearance, and construction investment procedures to support and encourage enterprises to invest in project construction, creating supply for the market, and taking advantage of preferential capital for social housing development. "The Ministry of Construction is advising the Government to promulgate a Decree related to social housing, which includes specific regulations on subjects who rent and buy social housing; procedures and documents to buy and rent social housing, etc. as a basis to promote social housing development in the coming time.", said Mr. Vuong Duy Dung.

In addition, localities also recommended ministries and branches to complete and synchronize mechanisms, policies, and legal documents on responding to climate change, natural resource management, and environmental protection.

Minister of Construction Nguyen Thanh Nghi speaks to conclude the meeting

Through the opinions of ministries, branches, and localities, Minister of Construction Nguyen Thanh Nghi highly appreciated the localities' achievements in socio-economic development in the first months of 2024. At the same time, he emphasized that in the coming time, the delegation will continue to coordinate closely with localities to promptly remove difficulties and promote development. Ministries and branches will urgently respond to outstanding recommendations and summarize and report to the Prime Minister.

The Minister of Construction also proposed that the provinces continue to promote the socio-economic results achieved in the first 4 months of 2024. The two provinces of Binh Duong and Dong Nai will soon complete the Provincial Planning Project for the 2021-2030 period, with a vision for 2050. They must review urban planning and construction to adjust to suit new development needs, paying attention to urban management and urban order in the area.

Localities must focus on removing difficulties and obstacles to promote the development of the real estate market in the coming time. They should pay special attention to social housing development, especially in Binh Duong and Dong Nai because the housing needs of workers are very large. The Minister said that over the past time, Binh Duong has done very well in developing social housing, therefore, he requested the province to specify the project to speed up implementation progress.

Regarding other recommendations from localities, Minister Nguyen Thanh Nghi responded to clarify the relevant content. At the same time, he requested ministries and branches to review and find solutions to remove difficulties and obstacles to create conditions for localities to develop further in the coming time.

The meeting was attended by Mr. Vo Van Minh – Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee (PPC); Mr. Mai Hung Dung – Standing Vice Chairman of the PPC; Ms. Nguyen Truong Nhat Phuong – Vice Chairwoman of the Provincial People's Council with members of the PPC, and leaders of departments, and branches. 

A guideline for socio-economic development

According to the Planning and Investment Department, Binh Duong province is in the term 2021-2030, with a vision to 2050 has reached the end of the journey. The Central Appraisal Council has made comments, assessments, and suggestions for the draft provincial planning plan to ensure conformity with the general development orientation of the region and the country. The province will continue to implement the next steps for the Provincial People's Council to submit to the Prime Minister for approval.

The planning of Binh Duong province in the term 2021-2030, with a vision to 2050, is considered a vital tool and guideline for the province to orient, administer, and manage all socio-economic development activities, develop territorial space in the province, toward fast and sustainable development in the coming period.

In the Draft Master Plan to build a vision for 2050, Binh Duong will become a modern regional and international urban, industrial, and service area, one of the locomotives to promote national economy development with the main growth engine being industry, services, innovation, solid economic base, high competitiveness; people with income levels comparable to developed countries; have an inclusive and harmonious development economy among regions.

In 2030, the development goal will build, and develop Binh Duong together with other provinces, and cities in the Southeast region into an important national growth engine region, promote and spread development to localities in the region; one of the centers of dynamic and comprehensive development; modern service industry centers; sustainable urban development under the model of green growth and adaption to climate change; solid area of defense and security and international cooperation and competition.

The average economic growth rate in the term 2021-2030 will reach about 10%/year. Particularly, from 2021 to 2025, it will reach about 8.2 %/year; from 2026 to 2030, it will reach about 12 %/year. The population by 2030 will reach 4.04 million.

The master plan aims to build Binh Duong together with other provinces and cities in the Southeast region into an important growth engine of the country, one of the dynamic and comprehensive development centers, modern service industry centers, and sustainable urban development

The province will organize its socio-economic space according to the model of Innovation Industrial Urban Area including North-South Innovation Axis under the TOD model: New City, Bau Bang, Thu Dau Mot, Di An - Thuan An; developing the urban-industrial service belt along the Ring Road 4; developing two ecological corridors along the Saigon and Dong Nai rivers; redevelopment of the southern urban-industrial-service area; towards a development structure model including 01 axes of development; 02 ecological corridors; 03 bonding belts; 04 Motivation Centers; 05 development regions.

Binh Duong will develop the province's urban space associated with the central urban area of Ho Chi Minh City, following the model of a large urban area, with a synchronous and modern infrastructure framework, creating a foundation to promote the socio-economic development of Binh Duong province to become a national innovation region, an ecological and dynamic urban area of the Ho Chi Minh City region.

The provincial Southern area including Di An and Thuan An will be converted into regional service centers for trade and logistics services; the Thu Dau Mot area will be fully developed into a center of support and innovation services; the Ben Cat - Tan Uyen area will be developed the modern service industry urban model.

The provincial Northern region (Dau Tieng, Bau Bang, Phu Giao, Bac Tan Uyen) will be developed according to the eco-industrial urban model with a synchronous and modern infrastructure system, complete service network, investment attraction, labor force attraction, ensuring green environment, clean, and beautiful. It will be built and developed urban areas adaptive to climate change, green, smart, civilized, and pioneering growth leading innovative activities, becoming the driving force of development.

Mr. Le Hoang Phuong - National Institute of Urban and Rural Planning, the planning consultant reported at the meeting

Reporting on the progress of the planning, Mr. Le Hoang Phuong - National Institute of Urban and Rural Planning said that the consulting unit has received and synthesized comments to adjust the layout structure of the Planning Plan according to the approved plans. However, it still keeps an integrated strategy to clarify the unique characteristics of Binh Duong. At the same time, the unit has also worked and exchanged with sectors and localities to update sectoral and local planning plans arising in the past period related to the overall orientation, thereby editing specific information about names, places, administrative units, information on scale and contents related to planning solutions shown in explanations, draft Decisions, and drawings. Based on the general orientation framework, a long-term development strategy is to select optimal solutions for orienting sectors related to localities, ensuring synchronization and unity in common development.

Submitting for planning approval in June 2024

At the meeting, leaders of departments and branches highly appreciated some contents added and adjusted in the Planning and continued to discuss the completion of the Planning plan before implementing further procedures to submit to the Prime Minister for approval by June 2024.

Mr. Nguyen Anh Minh - Director of the Transport Department spoke at the meeting

Regarding the planning of transport infrastructure, Mr. Nguyen Anh Minh - Director of the Transport Department proposed the consulting unit to add National Highway 1K and National Highway 13 to the list of road development plans of the province. He also said that bridges and roads connecting with provinces and cities in the region are large-scale and regionally linked, so it is necessary to add works to the planning so that localities have a basis for implementation. In addition, it is essential to supplement the list of some registration centers, bus stations, ports, and inland waterways, etc. in Planning.

Mr. Vo Hoang Ngan - Director of the Construction Department spoke at the meeting

Meanwhile, Mr. Vo Hoang Ngan - Director of the Construction Department said that in the coming period, Binh Duong will plan more industrial zones and clusters in the Northern region of the province, so it is necessary to study plans to be able to add more to the planning of water supply plants, wastewater treatment systems, solid waste treatment areas meet the needs of industrial zones and clusters in the future.

Mr. Ngo Quang Su - Director of the Natural Resources and Environment Department proposed to continue reviewing the types of planning of the branch, allocating land use indicators of each locality for each type of land such as industrial park land, residential land... to adjust and explain under the needs and actual situation.

Mr. Mai Hung Dung – Standing Vice Chairman of the PPC spoke at the meeting

Through the opinions of consultant units and departments, Mr. Mai Hung Dung – Standing Vice Chairman of the PPC emphasized that the time to complete the Planning is limited, departments, localities, and consulting units must coordinate closely, and urgently complete the Planning Plan. In particular, departments and branches need to carefully review the content in the management field to ensure the feasibility of implementation. The Department of Planning and Investment must take parallel steps to accelerate the process of submitting planning approval.

The meeting also considered and approved the following contents: Specific land auction plan to calculate land rent for the implementation of the Nam Tan Uyen Industrial Park expansion project (phase II); draft submissions and resolutions stipulating tasks of environmental protection expenditures and support policies for persons performing tasks of supporting environmental protection at district and commune levels; propose the elaboration of a Resolution stipulating the collection rate, regime of collection, payment and management of business registration fees in the province; propose the elaboration of a legal resolution of the Provincial People's Council specifying criteria for establishing a security and order protection team and the number of members of the security and order protection team, support and retraining regimes for participants in security protection forces,  grassroots order, the level of expenditure for forces involved in protecting security and order at grassroots; approve lists of grade 5, grade 9 and grade 12 textbooks selected for use by educational institutions from the 2024-2025 school year; reorganization of Ho Chi Minh City Center for Culture - Information - Sports Thuan An, etc.

The draft of Trade Union Law (amended) includes 06 chapters, and 36 articles (amended and supplemented 28 articles, kept 05 articles unchanged, added 04 new articles, and removed one article compared to the 2012 Trade Union Law). The draft includes regulating the rights of establishing, joining, and activities in the Trade Union of workers; the right to join the Viet Nam Trade Union of Workers' organizations at the enterprise; functions, tasks, rights, and responsibilities of the Trade Union; the rights and responsibilities of trade union members; responsibilities of the State, State agencies, organizations, units, businesses, and employers towards the Trade Union. Besides, it is necessary to ensure the activities of the Trade Union, resolve disputes, and handle violations of Trade Union laws.

Overview of the meeting

Giving opinions to the draft of Trade Union Law (amended), delegates focused on analyzing and evaluating contents such as Regulations on the organization of the Trade Union apparatus, management mechanism of Trade Union officials, and strengthening the role of the Viet Nam Trade Union. The organization of the Trade Union apparatus was regulated in the context of deep international integration and the birth of employee organizations at enterprises outside the Viet Nam Trade Union system. Besides, the regulations of Trade Union Law are to ensure that the Viet Nam Trade Union performs its functions and tasks well in the new context, etc.

Ms. Nguyen Kim Loan - Chairwoman of the Provincial Labor Union commented on the draft of Trade Union Law (amended)

Representatives of departments and branches commented on the draft of Trade Union Law (amended)

Delegates said that it is necessary to supplement specific regulations for establishing a Trade Union. It needs to be regulated clearly to ensure Trade Union activities. The number of Binh Duong Provincial Trade Union officials is among the lowest in the Southeast, while the number of provincial union members is the highest in the country. Therefore, it is recommended to allow the Provincial Labor Union to sign labor contracts to meet operational requirements, etc.

Ms. Nguyen Thi Ngoc Xuan - Deputy Head of the Provincial Delegation of the National Assembly concluded the conference

Delivering a speech to conclude the conference, Ms. Nguyen Thi Ngoc Xuan said that the delegates agreed that the contents of the draft of Trade Union Law (amended) are necessary and appropriate. Especially, many new points create more favorable conditions for Trade Union activities. The Conference received 09 comments from delegates, and the Provincial Delegation of the National Assembly will receive, compile, and submit to the 7th Session of the Fifteenth National Assembly to consider and complete the draft of the Law.​

At the meeting, the leader of the Department of Foreign Affairs (DOFA) reported the preparation to organize Meet Korea 2024 in Binh Duong.

Accordingly, Meet Korea is a chain of events organized by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) in coordination with the Embassy of the Republic of Korea to Viet Nam since 2015 to exchange and propose proposals to promote trade – investment, culture - tourism, development cooperation and many other fields between domestic localities, businesses, and South Korean partners.

In the spirit of unity between senior leaders of Viet Nam and South Korea, MOFA coordinated with the Embassy of the Republic of Korea to Viet Nam and the Binh Duong PPC to organize Meet Korea 2024 in Binh Duong province.

The event would contribute to strengthening economic diplomacy activities, widely promoting the image of Binh Duong province, and attracting foreign direct investment capital. It would also tighten the relationship between Binh Duong province and South Korean localities and partners, thereby contributing to promoting the extensive strategic partnership between the two countries. At the same time, it would contribute to promoting diplomatic relations between Viet Nam and South Korea.​​

Overview of the meeting.

The event takes place from May 16 to May 17, 2024, at the Binh Duong Convention & Exhibition Center and other neighboring locations, with about 570 Vietnamese and South Korean delegates.

The programs of Meet Korea 2024 include the plenary "Meet Korea 2024", the Opening ceremony of Viet Nam - Korea Products Fair, a Meeting between the Korean Ambassador and Consul General with Vietnamese localities (G2G), and Connecting governments and businesses of the two countries (G2B, B2B).

Representatives of departments and branches speak at the meeting.

Through the opinions of departments and branches, Mr. Mai Hung Dung – Standing Vice Chairman of the PPC requested DOFA to coordinate with relevant departments and branches to implement the preparation for each session. At the same time, DOFA also needs to urgently review and complete detailed plans, then assign specific responsibilities to individuals and units so that they can thoughtfully and thoroughly prepare and serve as a basis for reasonable funding allocation, avoiding duplication.

The Standing Vice Chairman of the PPC emphasized that the organization requires synchronous, close, and effective coordination between agencies and units so that the event can take place solemnly, practically, effectively, and economically; ensure security and safety; leave a good impression of Binh Duong for localities and South Korean partners.

​The conference was attended by Mr. Nguyen Van Nen – Member of the Politburo, Secretary of the Ho Chi Minh City Party Committee, and representatives of departments, branches, and localities in the Southeast region.

Leaders of provinces and cities attended the conference

On the side of Binh Duong province, there were Mr. Nguyen Van Loi – Member of the Party Central Committee, Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee, Head of the Provincial National Assembly Delegation; Mr. Vo Van Minh – Deputy Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee, Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee (PPC); representatives of provincial departments and branches.

Building the Southeast region with modern and synchronous infrastructure

The conference announced the Southeast Regional Plan for the term 2021-2030, with a vision to 2050.

Accordingly, the scope of planning boundaries includes the entire administrative boundary of Ho Chi Minh City and 5 provinces, i.e., Dong Nai, Binh Duong, Ba Ria – Vung Tau, Binh Phuoc, and Tay Ninh.

The planning goal is that by 2030, the Southeast region will become a civilized, modern, industrial-developed region, surpassing the threshold of high income, material and spiritual life of the leading people nationwide; will be the largest growth-driving area in the country, developing dynamically and with a high growth rate; Science, technology, and innovation centers, high-tech industries, logistics, and international financial centers will be highly competitive in the region.

Overview of the conference

Regarding the economy, the region is striving for the average GRDP growth rate from 2021 to 2030 to reach about 8-9% per year. GRDP per capita at current prices is about 380 - 420 million VND, equivalent to 14,500 - 16,000 USD.

The proportion of service sector accounts for about 41-42% of GRDP; industry and construction are 45-46% (in particular, processing and manufacturing industry are about 33%); agriculture, forestry, and fishery account for 2-3%; Product tax minus subsidies account for 10 - 11%.

Socially, the Human Development Index (HDI) is above 0.8. The proportion of trained workers with certificates reaches about 40-45%; the unemployment rate remains below 3%, and so on.

The growth rate of GRDP in the term 2031-2050 will reach about 7.5%/year, and GRDP/person by 2050 will reach about 54,000 USD.

The Southeast will accelerate regional economic restructuring in association with renovating growth models, creating breakthroughs to improve productivity based on science, technology, innovation, and digital transformation. It will develop a number of modern industries and services to become new growth engines such as the semiconductor industry, chip manufacturing, financial services (associated with the formation of an international financial center), and logistics.

It will also form a synchronous, modern, and smart infrastructure framework, focusing on transport, urban, energy, digital, social, and irrigation infrastructure, preventing and controlling natural disasters, and adapting to climate change. Besides, it will fundamentally solve traffic congestion, waterlogging, and environmental pollution. The region will promote urban development in association with the development orientation of transit-oriented development (TOD).

Prime Minster Pham Minh Chinh handed over the Decision approving the master plan to localities.

The region will focus on developing the Southern Dynamic Region (National Dynamic Zone) to become the leading economic center of the country and Southeast Asia. Urban construction in Ho Chi Minh City will be built to be modern, intelligent, leading and creating spillover effects, linking urban areas, being competitive, integrating regionally and internationally, and playing an important role in the urban network of the region.

It will form and develop economic corridors, with priority given to the North-South economic corridor, Moc Bai – Ho Chi Minh City - Bien Hoa - Vung Tau economic corridors, and the industrial - urban - service belts associated with Ring Road 3, Ring Road 4 of Ho Chi Minh City; effectively connecting seaports, airports, international border gates, major trade hubs, cities, economic centers and serving as a basis for reorganizing the regional development space.

The plan is also to strengthen intra-regional and inter-regional linkages to ensure efficient use of resources and improve regional competitiveness...

According to the report of the People's Committee of Binh Duong province, the Ministry of Planning and Investment has chaired the organization of the conference on the appraisal of the planning of Binh Duong province in the term 2021 - 2030, with a vision to 2050. Thereby, the Appraisal Council has made comments, assessed the conformity, and compliance with the planning submission, integrated contents, diagram system, maps, etc., and other comments contributed by reviewers to ensure that they are consistent with the general development orientation of the region and the country.

It is expected that the planning of Binh Duong province in the term 2021 - 2030 will be approved by the Provincial People's Council in 5/2024 and submitted to the Prime Minister in June 2024.

The planning of Binh Duong province in the period of 2021 - 2030, vision to 2050 is a framework for the strategic orientation of development, in order to renew thinking and vision, promoting the dynamism and creativity of local authorities and the companionship and guidance of leading enterprises to create new impetus for the strong transformation of existing models to new development models, from the township symbiotic and service-integrated industrial model to the modern industrial model adapting to the Industrial Revolution 4.0: High-tech industry (participating in global supply and value chains) - smart and innovative cities (modern and livable cities) - high-quality services (participating in value chains inflated).

Proposing mechanisms and policies for the implementation of the Ring Road 4

At the conference, representatives of ministries, branches, and localities discussed and proposed mechanisms and policies for the development of the Southeast region, especially for key transport projects with regional connectivity.

Chairman of Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee Phan Van Mai proposed mechanisms and policies for localities in the Southeast region

​​According to Mr. Phan Van Mai - Chairman of Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee, the Ring Road 4 project is being actively implemented by localities in the region. However, the current difficulty is the lack of mechanisms for localities to use local budget capital to invest in the Ring Road 4 project, the capital for the project implementation is large but the local budget is limited, etc. Therefore, Ho Chi Minh City proposed that the Prime Minister approve the policy of assigning the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee to coordinate with ministries, branches, and localities to develop specific policies applicable to the construction projects of Ring Road 4 in Ho Chi Minh City. The central budget supports Binh Duong, Dong Nai, and Ba Ria – Vung Tau with 50% of the cost of site clearance compensation of about 10,041 billion VND; of which Binh Duong is about 4,398 billion VND, Ba Ria – Vung Tau is 1,718 billion VND, Dong Nai is about 3,925 billion VND. Particularly, Long An province proposed to support 75% of the total budget capital participating in the project, equivalent to about 28,458 billion VND.

Chairman of Binh Duong People's Committee Vo Van Minh gave a speech at the conference

In consensus with the proposal and recommendations of Ho Chi Minh City, Mr. Vo Van Minh – Chairman of Binh Duong People's Committee said that after more than one year of implementing Resolution No. 24-NQ/TW of the Politburo, the province has many remarkable achievements, including Development cooperation with localities in the Region to remove difficulties, problems for key traffic projects such as Ring Road 3, Ring Road 4, Ho Chi Minh City - Chon Thanh Expressway, etc., determine the route directions connecting localities in the Region to airports (Tan Son Nhat, Long Thanh), seaports (Cai Mep - Thi Vai); have an investment plan to develop Song Than station (Di An) into a key freight transportation center of the Southeast region, from which goods transported by rail from Binh Duong will connect with provinces and cities from the South to the North.

However, the province is facing difficulties in the implementation of the Ring Road 4 project in Ho Chi Minh City which passes through Binh Duong province due to difficulties in provincial budget capital and huge investment demand in the province. Therefore, the province proposes central agencies to consider supporting 50% of the total budget capital participating in the project for the road through Binh Duong province similar to the Ring Road 3 project in Ho Chi Minh City.

In addition, the Thu Bien bridge construction project is not on the list of pilot projects with some specific policies on investment in road construction. Therefore, the province proposes central agencies consider and approve Binh Duong province to apply the mechanism: "The provincial People's Council is entitled to decide to use the local budget and approve investment policies for the implementation of traffic projects and works of regional and inter-regional located on the boundary, administrative boundaries between localities under the Ring Road 4 project in Ho Chi Minh City" to have a foundation to continue implementing the project.

Through reviewing the draft report on specific mechanisms and policies for the Southeast region, Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee Vo Van Minh proposed that the Ministry of Planning and Investment soon complete and submit to the National Assembly for promulgation to remove difficulties and obstacles in institutions and create a breakthrough growth engine for provinces, cities in the Region.

Regarding investment resources, according to Mr. Vo Van Minh, regional transport infrastructure needs large resources whilst the Southeast region has 4/6 provinces and cities in the group of localities that have budget regulation to the Central. However, on average, the proportion of the local budget received is lower than in other regions. Therefore, the province also proposed ministries, branches, and central agencies to adopt policies and mechanisms to remove difficulties, and to increase the rate of regulation of local budget sources accepted so that provinces and cities in the region concentrate resources on synchronous investment in inter-provincial transport infrastructure, and regional infrastructure.

Through the discussion of ministries, branches, and localities, the concluding remark, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh praised the achievements in the socio-economic development of localities in the Southeast region. The Prime Minister also pointed out limitations that are not commensurate with the development of the region such as the development of the cultural industry; the connectivity infrastructure between regions is still limited in transport, supply chain, and production of goods; environmental pollution, flooding, and traffic jams still take place; the support between localities is still limited, especially budget support, etc.

Therefore, the Prime Minister proposed that localities in the Southeast region need to "accelerate, breakthrough, pioneer, resolute, rigorous, quality and effective". In particular, it is necessary to develop mechanisms and policies for ventilation and innovation; building strategic infrastructure must be fast and modern; management must be smart, in line with new development trends. Besides, it goes hand in hand with innovation, scientific and technological development, consumer export investment, adding new motivation; building a green, circular, and knowledge-based economy; and identifying 03 strategic breakthroughs: Infrastructure, institutional, and human development.

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh gave a speech after the conference

 The Prime Minister emphasized the key tasks for the development of the Southeast region in the coming time. In particular, people must be put at the center of development; focus on developing synchronous and modern transport infrastructure; and mobilize all resources for development, especially capital resources.

The Prime Minister agrees with localities' proposals in developing mechanisms and policies for implementing the Ring Road 4. The Ministry of Finance is responsible for studying and proposing regimes and policies to mobilize capital sources for project implementation. The Prime Minister proposed to complete Long Thanh Airport in 2025; the expansion project of Tan Son Nhat Airport must be completed by April 30, 2025; to accelerate the deployment of expressways, especially the Bien Hoa – Vung Tau expressway. The Government Office synthesizes local proposals to assign leaders of the Government and ministries to coordinate in implementing specific tasks.

The meeting was attended by Ms. Truong Thi Bich Hanh - Member of the Provincial Standing Party Committee, Head of the Propaganda and Training Commission of the Provincial Party Committee; Mr. Mai Hung Dung - Member of the Provincial Standing Party Committee, Standing Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee (PPC); leader representatives of provincial departments, and branches.

Invest in upgrading and expanding key transport projects

Reporting to the Delegation, Mr. Doan Hong Tuoi - Chairman of Tan Uyen City People's Committee said that in the first months of 2024, industrial production growth is low because enterprises are still facing many difficulties, industrial and construction production value is estimated at 6,194 billion VND, up 4.81% over the same period. The value of trade and services is estimated at 8,202 billion VND, up 24.35% over the same period. To date, the disbursement value of convention investment capital has reached 143,755/380,543 million VND, reaching 38% of the plan. Total state budget revenue is 1,902 billion VND, reaching 45% of the provincial estimate; Total implemented local budget expenditure is 551 billion VND, reaching 43% of the estimate assigned by the province.

The work of ensuring social security and welfare implementation is focused on, especially during the Lunar New Year 2024, ensuring sufficient, correct, and timely spending. The city has also regularly paid attention and promptly supported workers and enterprises when problems arise in labor relations.

Mr. Doan Hong Tuoi - Chairman of Tan Uyen City People's Committee reports on the socio-economic, defense, and security situation in the city in the first 4 months of 2024

In the coming time, the city will continue to focus on directing and managing the implementation of proposed tasks and solutions. In particular, it will enhance investment attraction and sustainable development according to local urban development orientation, focus on establishing investment procedures for projects expected to start construction in 2024, speed up the construction progress of transitional projects, and works to celebrate the 10^th establishing anniversary of Tan Uyen Town - Tan Uyen City (April 01, 2014 - April 01, 2024); promote disbursement of public investment capital; and carry out compensation, support and resettlement procedures for key projects.

Reporting some current difficulties and problems, Mr. Bui Minh Tri - Secretary of Tan Uyen City Party Committee said that Thanh Phuoc Port Project Phase 1 was completed in 2012, Phase 2 has been approved by the PPC with a total area of about 28.53 hectares. However, from 2016 until now, the investor has not yet implemented land acquisition and site clearance. To exploit and use the Thanh Phuoc Port Project more effectively in the coming time, the city recommends that the Provincial Party Committee and PPC consider abandoning Phase 2 planning and adjusting the project land planning to commercial and service planning. At the same time, it is recommended that the Provincial Party Committee and PPC consider and provide guidance on resolving toll stations on road DT.747A (section from Thai Hoa to Uyen Hung) and road DT.747B (section from Thay Tho Pagoda to Ong Tiep bridge); consider and allocate capital to implement projects: Upgrading and expanding road DT.747A (section from Thai Hoa to Uyen Hung) with 4 lanes, total roadbed width of 28 meters; upgrading and expanding road DT.747B (section from Thay Tho pagoda to Ong Tiep bridge); Project to upgrade and expand road DT.742 (section through the city) with 6 lanes, total roadbed width of 42 meters to meet the needs of developing traffic networks connecting with Ring Road No. 4, Ho Chi Minh City - Chon Thanh Expressway section through Binh Duong province, attracting investment, creating motivation for socio-economic development in the city in particular and Binh Duong province in general. At the same time, it is necessary to consider continuing to deploy and construct the remaining part of road DT.746 (section from Uyen Hung to Tan My, Bac Tan Uyen district) because compensation and site clearance have been completed since 2020 but are being temporarily suspended to soon connect with Ring Road No. 4.

City Party Secretary Bui Minh Tri reports the difficulties the city is currently facing.

Currently, the traffic system in the southern area of Tan Uyen City connects with Thuan An and Di An cities through DT.747B, DT.743, and DH.401 roads connecting with My Phuoc - Tan Van road, forming a vital traffic axis connecting Binh Duong province with Dong Nai province and Ho Chi Minh City. However, the DH.401 road (from the foot of Thanh Hoi Bridge, Thai Hoa Ward to the border of Thuan An City) is very narrow (07 meters, with 02 lanes). Every year, the City People's Committee allocates funds for maintenance and patching, but due to the high traffic density, this road section is often damaged and degraded. In addition, there are Thai Hoa High School and Thai Hoa Secondary School on the road. When students leave school at peak times, they often get stuck in traffic, causing local traffic congestion and not ensuring traffic safety on the route. However, the city's budget is currently very tight, with insufficient resources to invest and upgrade this road. Therefore, the Secretary of the City Party Committee proposed that the Provincial Party Committee and PPC consider allocating capital for the City People's Committee to invest in the construction of upgrading and expanding road DH.401, Thai Hoa ward, with a roadbed width of 20 meters (4 lanes) to relieve traffic pressure, ensure traffic safety, and connect traffic between branch roads and the traffic axis of My Phuoc - Tan Van road.

Tan Uyen City also proposed that the Provincial Party Committee and PPC consider allocating capital for the city to invest in the construction of infrastructure completion projects to help Bach Dang commune complete all criteria for a model new-style rural area towards building a Smart Village in the 2021-2025 period and the following years.

Review and utilize all resources for development

Through local recommendations, representatives of provincial departments, and branches proposed solutions to solve difficulties and problems, creating favorable conditions for Tan Uyen City to continue to successfully implement political tasks, striving to complete the targets set by the Resolution of the 12^th Tan Uyen City Party Congress, 2020 -2025 tenure and aim to develop Tan Uyen City into a smart, civilized, modern and meaningful urban area.

Mr. Nguyen Anh Minh - Director of the Department of Transport responds to the city's recommendations related to the field of transportation

Responding to local recommendations related to key transport projects, Mr. Nguyen Anh Minh - Director of the Department of Transport said that the Department has worked with the investor to agree on a plan to resolve toll stations on road DT747A (section from Thai Hoa to Uyen Hung) and road DT747B (section from Thay Tho Pagoda to Ong Tiep bridge) as proposed by the city. However, some regulations have prevented the plan from being implemented. For projects to upgrade and expand roads in the city, the Department has advised them to be included in the investment list for the 2021 - 2025 period in order of investment priority.

Mr. Ngo Quang Su - Director of the Department of Natural Resources and Environment responds to the city's recommendations at the meeting

Addressing the city's land resources, Mr. Ngo Quang Su - Director of the Department of Natural Resources and Environment said that over the past time, land management in the city has been carried out quite effectively, without any violations. The city needs to adjust its land use plan accordingly to synchronize with the province's planning, review each project and urban development project, especially health and education infrastructure projects, etc., which must be planned synchronously. The city must study and review land plots needed for auction to create capital resources for the city. He emphasized that if the 16 land plots are successfully auctioned in the 2021-2025 period, it will generate revenue of over 10,000 billion VND for the city.

Regarding the Smart Village construction project in Bach Dang commune, Mr. Pham Van Bong - Director of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development said that currently, the funding to invest in local roads that basically meet new-style rural criteria is very tight. Facing the above situation, the Department has coordinated with relevant departments and branches to propose capital support plans to implement the Project.

Sharing solutions to mobilize resources for investment in upgrading Tan Uyen urban area, Mr. Vo Hoang Ngan - Director of the Department of Construction said that Tan Uyen needed to prioritize synchronous infrastructure investment resources, calling for socialization of projects and works to reduce capital pressure for the city.

Provincial Party Secretary Nguyen Van Loi speaks to conclude the meeting.

Through opinions of departments, branches, and localities, Provincial Party Secretary Nguyen Van Loi highly appreciated the achievements in socio-economic development, security, and defense of Tan Uyen City, notably leadership, administration, State budget collection, and disbursement of public investment capital, etc. This is the foundation for the city to achieve and exceed the set targets by 2024.

Facing the difficulties and obstacles, the Provincial Party Secretary asked the city to determine the spirit of "self-reflection, self-correction, self-review, self-correction, self-overcoming difficulties". In particular, the city must review the low criteria to strive to achieve and exceed them and update the city's land use planning to be consistent with the province's planning. Moreover, it should focus on site clearance and construction of central and provincial projects and roads passing through the city such as Bach Dang 2 Bridge, DT746 Road, Ho Chi Minh City - Chon Thanh Expressway section passing through Tan Uyen City.

The Secretary assigned the Department of Transport to review roads in the city that have toll stations as recommended by the city, and work with investors to propose plans to stop toll collection in the near future; coordinate with departments and branches to advise and propose adjustments in capital allocation to complete the investment in the extended road DT746. For new investment projects, it is necessary to consider resources from land auctions to determine project implementation.

He also agreed with the opinions of departments and branches to consider the effectiveness of Thanh Phuoc Port Phase 2 to propose a solution.

He assigned the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development to advise on organizing a preliminary review and summary of 03 years of implementing the Smart Village Project in Bach Dang commune to assess difficulties and obstacles and learn from experience in allocating capital sources to implement the Project.

The Secretary also suggested that Tan Uyen focus on urban beautification, concreting rural roads, and mobilizing the state and people to work together; investing in building urban wastewater treatment systems. The city must relocate factories outside industrial parks and clusters into industrial parks and clusters to carry out urban beautification and environmental protection. It should also pay attention to building social housing and housing for workers. "In the coming time, the province will work with the Bank for Social Policies to create the best conditions for workers to buy social housing." said the Secretary.

​​Accordingly, in the second week (May 6 – 10, 2024), the PPC will approve 03 draft Proposals and Resolutions, including the Regulation on spending tasks on environmental protection in the province; the Stipulation of the criteria for establishing a security and order protection team and the number of members of the security and order protection team at the grassroots level, support and training regime for people participating in the security and order protection team at the grassroots, the expenses for security and order protection team at the grassroots in the province; the Policies in drug addiction treatment, post-drug addiction management and support specialized forces who directly work in drug crime prevention and combat under agencies specialized in drug crime prevention and control in the area.

In the fourth week (May 20 – 24, 2024), the PPC will approve the Report on the management direction of the PPC and the socio-economic, defense, and security situation in May 2024.

At the same time, it will also approve 05 drafts, including the Decision promulgating regulations on economic and technical norms in the operation of the waste source monitoring system in the province; the Decision to promulgate the Plan to implement the Resolution on urban embellishment and development in the province for the period 2023 - 2025 and the period 2026 – 2030; the Decision to promulgate Regulations on coordination in preparing documents to apply measures to handle administrative violations and send them to compulsory detoxification facilities in the province; the Decision to amend and supplement Decision No. 25/2022/QD-UBND dated September 9, 2022, of the PPC regulating the decentralization of organizational management, payroll and cadres, civil servants, and employees above province; the Decision to amend and supplement Decision No. 37/2022/QD-UBND dated November 24, 2022 of the PPC promulgating Regulations on recruitment of civil servants in communes, wards and towns in the province.

Announcement.

​Many departments, branches, and localities have made a breakthrough

At the conference, Mr. Ly Van Dep – Deputy Director of the Home Affairs Department reported the results of the administrative reform index in 2023. At the departmental level, the average index result reached 85.41%, which increased by 1.1% in 2022 and up to 1.86% in 2021. There were 07/19 units with excellent scores of 90% or higher. With 93.75 points, the Information and Communication Department ranked first, followed by the Culture, Sports and Tourism Department, the Home Affairs Department, the Construction Department, the Health Department, the Agriculture and Rural Development Department …

The district-level administrative reform index has an average value of 91.98%, up 4.09% compared to 2022, of which 06 units achieved excellent; and 03 good rating units. This is the first year that 100% of district-level units achieved good results, with scores above 80%. Thu Dau Mot City scored 97.68 points, leading the district-level administrative reform Index in 2023; Tan Uyen City rose to second place, followed by Di An City, Ben Cat Town, and Thuan An City.

Overview of the conference

The administrative reform index of communes, wards, and townships in the province has an average value of 92.12%, an increase of 2.48% compared to 2022 and 69/91 units achieved excellent scores. Hiep Thanh Ward (Thu Dau Mot City) leads with a score of 99.09 points, followed by Phu Tho, Chanh My, Phu Hoa, Phu My, Phu Loi, Hoa Phu, Phu Cuong, Dinh Hoa, Phu Tan, Hiep An, Tan An, Tuong Binh Hiep, Chanh Nghia, etc.

Delegates attend the conference

Through the results of the administrative reform index in 2023, many departments, branches, and localities have made efforts to perform well the administrative reform work, the roles and responsibilities of the leader are promoted, directly monitoring and directing the administrative reform work. The units have made outstanding achievements in directing and implementing administrative reform tasks such as the Department of Finance (up 9 places), Department of Information and Communications (up 7 places), Di An City (up 4 places), Thuan An City (up 4 places), People's Committee of Thoi Hoa ward – Ben Cat (up 63 places), An Binh ward – Di An (up 55 places), Tan Dong Hiep ward – Di An (up 53 places), Chanh My ward – Thu Dau Mot (up 47 places). In particular, Thu Dau Mot City has been the unit leading the district administrative reform index ranking for 10 consecutive years with results always reaching over 90% and increasing gradually over the years. At the same time, this year, 14/14 wards of Thu Dau Mot City achieved high achievements, leading the commune level.

Having these positive results, the provincial administrative reform index reached 87.64/100 points, ranked 24/63 provinces and cities, up 2.86 points, up 11 places (in 2022, ranked 35/63 provinces and cities); in which, 6/8 component indexes increased, 2/8 component indexes decreased.

Solutions to maintain and improve the Administrative Reform Index

The conference focused on analyzing and evaluating the achieved results, shortcomings, limitations, and lessons learned in the process of organizing the implementation of administrative reform tasks of departments, branches, and localities in 2023, based on that, it continued to set out specific tasks to improve the results of the index in 2024.

In 2023, the Department of Information and Communications made many administrative reform efforts associated with digital transformation, creating favorable conditions for people to carry out administrative procedures. Mr. Nguyen Huu Yen - Deputy Director of the Department of Information and Communications said that the Department has focused on innovating working practices, changing modern management methods, based on promoting the application of information technology in the agency's operations; building digital government and e-government by the provincial roadmap.

Mr. Nguyen Huu Yen - Deputy Director of the Department of Information and Communications discussed at the conference

The technical infrastructure for IT applications and digital transformation at agencies is invested in synchronous upgrades, meeting the requirements of ensuring information security, ensuring technical conditions, and providing applications to serve people and businesses. Having built a centralized database connecting data of ministries and branches through the Information Center for direction and administration of the Government and the Prime Minister; data connection between 18/18 departments, committees, and branches, and 4/6 verticals of the province. Integrating at the Center for Smart Monitoring and Administration more than 1,000 directing indicators and data of 18/18 departments, committees, and branches; 9/9 IOC soft districts, towns, and cities; decentralization of 91/91 communes, wards, and townships.

The Department regularly reviews and announces administrative procedures promptly. Developing internal processes to deal with administrative procedures for the field of the Department. Reviewing and simplifying 02/37 administrative procedures, contributing to reducing the number of working days, and saving legal compliance costs for people when carrying out administrative procedures.

From November 2022, Binh Duong has implemented the consolidation of the Online Public Service Portal with the Provincial Electronic One-Stop Information System into the Information System for Administrative Procedure Settlement of Binh Duong Province. As the standing agency for digital transformation, the Department has pioneered in piloting the use of the Information System for handling administrative procedures in Binh Duong province. 100% of the public administration procedures of the Department are provided online, full degree, and online payment.

Administrative procedures are reviewed, interactive electronic forms are built to support automatic information filling; integrated notification channels on the status of application processing such as messages, Binh Duong Digital application, Zalo of Binh Duong SmartCity; integrated the connection of the national database on population to support identification; dossiers are digitized results of handling administrative procedures into electronic data warehouses of individuals, organizations, etc.

Standing Vice Chairman of the PPC Mai Hung Dung gave a directive speech at the conference

Speaking at the conference, Mr. Mai Hung Dung - Standing Vice Chairman of the PPC assessed that in 2023, with the efforts of departments, committees, branches, districts, towns, cities, communes, wards, and townships in administrative reform work, it has contributed to creating a driving force for socio-economic development.

The Standing Vice Chairman of the PPC asked departments, committees, branches, districts, towns, cities, communes, wards, and townships to focus on effectively implementing solutions to maintain and improve the component indicators with high scores; review and accurately evaluate limitations and weaknesses to have solutions to overcome the content of decreasing points, achieving low scores for indicators.

Strengthening the examination and reviewing of legal documents, promptly detecting and proposing competent authorities to handle overlapping, contradictory, illegal, expired, or no longer suitable regulations of the province's socio-economic development conditions and situation.

Focusing on digitizing records and results of the administrative center settlement, integrating data at agencies and units on the provincial data warehouse to serve and share with agencies and units in the management and settlement of the administrative center. Organizing digital transformation training for officials and civil servants and the Community Digital Technology Team.

Continuing to pay attention to the good implementation of the one-stop, one-stop mechanism at all 3 levels, improving the operational efficiency of the provincial-level Public Administration Center, the district-level Public Administration Service Center, and the commune-level one-stop in a modern and professional direction.

On this occasion, 27 collectives and 37 individuals with achievements in administrative reform work in 2023 received the Certificate of Merit from the Chairman of the PPC.

Standing Vice Chairman of the PPC Mai Hung Dung awarded the Certificate of Merit from the PPC to collectives with excellent achievements in the implementation of the administrative reform index in 2023

Leader of the Department of Home Affairs awarded Certificates of Merit from the PPC to individuals with outstanding achievements in implementing and scoring the administrative reform index in 2023

​The reception was attended by Ms. Nguyen Truong Nhat Phuong – Vice Chairwoman of the Provincial People's Council, Mr. Nguyen Van Danh - Vice Chairman of the PPC, and leaders of departments, and branches.

At the meeting, Provincial Party Secretary Nguyen Van Loi said that Binh Duong Province and Daejeon Metropolitan City had signed a Memorandum of Agreement on developing friendly relations and investment cooperation between the two localities in 2005. Over the past 19 years, the two localities have promoted many exchange and cooperation activities in many fields, promoting investment by Korean businesses in Binh Duong province.

Provincial Party Secretary Nguyen Van Loi receives Mr. Lee Jang Woo - Mayor of Daejeon Metropolitan City.

The Secretary introduced an overview of the socio-economic situation and development orientations and strategies of the province in the coming time, which opened up many opportunities for investment cooperation with foreign partners, especially Korean businesses.

He hoped that with the friendly relationship between Binh Duong province and Daejeon Metropolitan City, Mr. Lee Jang Woo would support Binh Duong in attracting businesses to develop the field of science - technology and new-generation industries.

Provincial Party Secretary Nguyen Van Loi presents a souvenir to Mr. Lee Jang Woo - Mayor of Daejeon Metropolitan City.

Mr. Lee Jang Woo thanked the provincial leaders for the warm welcome and expressed his impression of the development of Binh Duong province and its future development orientation. He said that Daejeon Metropolitan City was South Korea's science and technology capital, which was always ready to share experiences and cooperate with Binh Duong province towards a high value-added economy, applying advanced scientific and technical achievements. He believed that in the coming time, Binh Duong province would attract more foreign investors, including many new potential businesses from South Korea.

The two sides exchanged plans to prepare for the upcoming Meet Korea as well as activities to celebrate 20 years of friendship and investment cooperation between Daejeon Metropolitan City and Binh Duong Province in 2025.

The delegates take a group photo.

*On the same afternoon, the Chairman of the PPC Vo Van Minh also received the Delegation of Daejeon Metropolitan City (South Korea).

At the meeting with the delegation, the Chairman of the PPC said that Binh Duong was currently focusing on investing in infrastructure development, especially transportation infrastructure with key inter-regional routes. In addition, Binh Duong has oriented and put into planning the Ho Chi Minh City Ring Road 5 connecting Tay Ninh, Binh Duong, Binh Phuoc, and Central Highlands provinces. The province has invested in railway lines and logistics terminals, connecting across Asia through Cambodia to Thi Vai - Cai Mep seaport and Long Thanh International Airport. This will be a new corridor, playing a key role in the development of the Northern sub-region, while connecting with important economic corridors of the region and the region, and being an important international gateway to the region and Viet Nam.

Chairman of the PPC Vo Van Minh discusses upcoming cooperation opportunities with Mr. Lee Jang Woo - Mayor of Daejeon Metropolitan City.

In addition, the province has proactively worked with the Ministry of Information and Communications on establishing a centralized information technology park with an area of about 50 hectares to attract investors in high technology, semiconductor chip technology, and electronic circuits. At the same time, it agreed on the policy with FPT Group to invest in a Software Park, associated with a multi-level school system with a scale of 100 hectares in Tan Uyen City to train workforces in science and information technology for the whole region.

Chairman of the PPC Vo Van Minh presents a souvenir to Mr. Lee Jang Woo - Mayor of Daejeon Metropolitan City.

With the province's existing advantages, Mr. Vo Van Minh believed that Binh Duong would be an ideal destination for investors, especially Korean investors with strengths in high-tech industries, semiconductor chips, green energy, green economy, circular economy, etc., which are in accordance with the province's investment attraction criteria.

Through upcoming specific activities, Binh Duong Province hopes to continue to further tighten the relationship with Daejeon Metropolitan City and work together for more sustainable development.

The delegates take a group photo.

​Attending the meeting were Ms. Nguyen Truong Nhat Phuong – Vice Chairwoman of the Provincial People's Council, Mr. Nguyen Van Danh – Vice Chairman of the PPC, members of the Provincial People's Committee, as well as leaders of the departments and localities.

The meeting approved the draft report on the direction and administration of the PPC and the social-economic, defense, and security situation in April 2024.

Accordingly, the social-economic situation of the province developed stably in April; industrial production, trade - services, and exports all increased; budget revenues and expenditures in accordance with estimates; ensuring social security; unraveling the difficulties, and obstacles of citizens, enterprises, and key projects and works; foreign affairs and international cooperation are effectively promoted; political security and social order and safety are maintained. 

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Overview of the meeting.

In particular, the index of industrial production (IIP) in April 2024 was estimated to increase by 2.56% over the previous month; accumulating 4 months, the industrial production index increased by 4.29% compared to the same period.

Export turnover was predicted to reach over 3 billion dollars, and accumulated 4 months reached nearly 10,1 billion dollars, an increase of 15.6% compared to the same period. Import turnover was estimated at more than 2 billion dollars; and accumulated 4 months reached more than 7,5 billion dollars, with 10.5% in the same period.

As of April 22, 2024, the total value of disbursement of public investment capital was 1,958 billion VND, reaching 8.9% of the Provincial People's Council's plan, and 12.8% of the plan assigned by the Prime Minister.

By April 15, 2024, domestic investment was 5,775 billion VND of registered business capital; accumulating 4 months, it had attracted 19,838 billion VND of registered business capital (up 0.7% over the same period). Attracting foreign investment was about 79,1 million dollars. Accumulating 4 months attracted 272,4 million dollars (reaching 33% compared to the same period).

New budget revenue was 22,072 billion VND, with 31% of the prediction of The Provincial People's Council, an increase of 2% in the same period.

Leaders of the Construction Department presented the draft Decision approving the project on the development of social housing and workers' housing term 2021-2025, with an orientation to 2030

The meeting also considered the following contents: decision on internal adjustment of the State budget capital investment plan in 2024; internal transfer of the 2024 public investment capital plan from component 1 project: Clearance of Ring Road 4 in Ho Chi Minh City, section from Thu Bien bridge - Saigon River to the project of site clearance of Bac Tan Uyen - Phu Dao - Bau Bang power generation road; draft Decision approving the scheme on development of social housing and workers' housing from 2021 to 2025, with orientation to 2030; draft Decision on promulgation of the list of centralized procurement and centralized procurement units in the province, etc.

Binh Duong is expected to invest about 160,325 social housing units in the period of 2021-2030

For the draft Decision approving the Project on the development of social housing and workers' housing in the period of 2021-2025, orientation to 2030 (the Project), it was expected that in the whole period of 2021-2030, the province will invest about 160,325 social housing units (155,289 apartments and 5,036 townhouses, of which the number of rental units is about 32,065 units). The total land area is about 470.4 hectares, the construction floor area is estimated at 9,253,924 m2, meeting about 552,458 population with a total investment of about 84,756 billion VND, higher than the target assigned by the Government. In particular, from 2021 to 2025, it is expected to arrange about 136.1 hectares of investment land to complete about 42,445 social housing units, with a construction floor area of 2,612,721 square meters, meeting about 138,326 population with a total investment of about 23,817 billion VND.

From 2026 to 2030, it is expected to allocate about 334.3 hectares of land area, invest in completing about 117,880 social housing units, with a construction floor area of 6,641,203 square meters, meeting about 414,132 population with a total investment of about VND 60,939 billion.

Mr. Vo Van Minh - Chairman of the PPC concludes the meeting.

In conclusion, Mr. Vo Van Minh – Chairman of the PPC basically agreed with the contents submitted at the meeting. Particularly, the project on the development of social housing and workers' housing in the period of 2021-2025, orientation to 2030 is elaborately prepared by the Construction Department and highly agreed upon by the Standing Committee of the Provincial Party Committee. He asked departments, branches, and localities to focus on implementing groups of land solutions associated with the provincial housing development plan, which should be updated in the district-level planning; accordingly, solve relevant procedures for investors, and at the same time, it is necessary to resolutely withdraw for projects that are slow to implement, etc.

Facing urgent requirements for the procurement of equipment and supplies in the field of Health and Education, the Chairman of the PPC noted that departments and branches should consider, study and proactively decentralize assignments to localities to promptly procure to meet the requirements of tasks at the facility. For the remaining contents, he suggested that departments and branches continue to supplement and complete to submit to the PPC.

The ceremony was attended by Mr. Nguyen Minh Triet – Former member of Politburo, and Former President of the Socialist Republic of Viet Nam, Mr. Tran Quang Phuong - Member of the Party Central Committee, Vice Chairman of the National Assembly, Mr. Hoang Thanh Tung - Member of the Party Central Committee, Chairman of the National Assembly's Legal Committee, Mr. Vu Chien Thang - Deputy Minister of Home Affairs, Mr. Vu Minh Tuan - Vice Chairman of the National Assembly Office and Vietnamese Heroic Mothers.

Delegates attend the ceremony

Mr. Nguyen Minh Triet – Former President of the Socialist Republic of Viet Nam presents flowers to Vietnamese Heroic Mothers

On the side of Binh Duong province, the ceremony was attended by Mr. Nguyen Van Loi - Member of the Party Central Committee, Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee, Head of the Provincial National Assembly Delegation, Mr. Nguyen Hoang Thao - Standing 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 (PPC), Mr. Nguyen Van Loc - Member of the Provincial Party Standing Committee, Chairman of the Provincial People's Council, Ms. Nguyen Thi My Hang - Chairwoman of the Provincial Viet Nam Fatherland Front Committee and leaders and former leaders of the Provincial Party Committee, People's Council, People's Committee, Viet Nam Fatherland Front Committee of the province and Ben Cat Town through periods.

Mr. Nguyen Minh Triet – Former President of the Socialist Republic of Viet Nam presents flowers to congratulate the ceremony

Mr. Tran Quang Phuong - Vice Chairman of the National Assembly presents flowers from the National Assembly Standing Committee to congratulate the ceremony

The leader of Binh Duong province presents flowers from the Provincial Party Committee, People's Council, People's Committee, and Viet Nam Fatherland Front Committee of the province to congratulate the ceremony

At the ceremony, Mr. Hoang Thanh Tung - Member of the Party Central Committee and Chairman of the National Assembly's Legal Committee announced the Resolution of the National Assembly Standing Committee on the establishment of An Dien ward and An Tay ward in Ben Town and the establishment of Ben Cat city in Binh Duong province. The Resolution takes effect from May 1^st, 2024.

Accordingly, An Dien ward was established based on the entire natural area of 31.22 km2 and a population of 25.363 people of An Dien commune. An Dien ward borders wards of An Tay, My Phuoc, and Thoi Hoa, Phu An commune, Ben Cat town, Bau Bang district, and Dau Tieng district.

Mr. Tran Quang Phuong - Vice Chairman of the National Assembly hands over the Resolution of the National Assembly Standing Committee on the establishment of An Dien ward, An Tay ward in Ben Cat town, and establishment of Ben Cat city in Binh Duong province to the Party Committee, government and the people of Ben Cat town

Delegates perform a ceremony of pressing the button to congratulate the establishment of Ben Cat City in Binh Duong province

An Tay ward was established based on the entire natural area of 44.01 km2 and a population of 41.917 people of An Tay commune. An Tay ward borders An Dien ward, Phu An commune, Ben Cat town, Dau Tieng district, and Ho Chi Minh City.

Ben Cat City was established based on the entire natural area of 234.35 km2 and a population of 364.578 people of Ben Cat town in Binh Duong province. Ben Cat City borders Tan Uyen City, Thu Dau Mot City, Bau Bang District, Bac Tan Uyen District, Dau Tieng District, and Ho Chi Minh City.

After the establishment of An Dien ward and An Tay ward, Ben Cat City has 08 commune-level administrative units including 07 wards: An Dien, An Tay, Chanh Phu Hoa, Hoa Loi, My Phuoc, Tan Dinh, Thoi Hoa and Phu An commune. Thus, Binh Duong province has 04 districts and 05 cities, 91 commune-level administrative units including 39 communes, 47 wards, and 05 towns.

Speaking at the ceremony, Mr. Tran Quang Phuong - Vice Chairman of the National Assembly acknowledged and praised the achievements and results that the Party Committee, government, and people of Binh Duong province have achieved in recent times. Especially, Mr. Tran Quang Phuong highly appreciated the efforts of the party-level government, generations of party members, civil servants, armed forces, and the people of Ben Cat on the journey of building and developing from a town to a city after 10 years of separation.

At the same time, it is emphasized that 03 groups of extremely important and urgent tasks that the Party Committee, authorities, and people of Binh Duong province in general, and Ben Cat city in particular need to focus on implementing in the coming time. First of all, there are the tasks of arranging the organizational structure, building a team of officials, urban embellishment and development, and ensuring social security associated with maintaining stability in national defense and security in the new situation.

Mr. Vo Van Minh – Chairman of the PPC delivers a speech at the ceremony

On behalf of the provincial leaders, Mr. Vo Van Minh - Chairman of the PPC received the comments and directions of the Vice Chairman of the National Assembly and promised to organize and implement with high determination, great efforts, aggressive actions, dynamism, creativity, and positivity to achieve the best results. It is necessary to join hands and unanimously build the Provincial Party Committee to always be a united, clean, and strong group. Besides, it needs to build Binh Duong to soon become a first-class urban area, a smart, civilized, rich, beautiful, and modern city, and contribute to the work of building, protecting, and developing the country.

The Chairman of the PPC proposed that the entire political system, business community, and people in the city continue to be a united, positive, and proactive group in seizing opportunities and focusing on building Ben Cat to be increasingly rich, beautiful, civilized and modern so that people can have a prosperous and happy life.

Under the authorization of the President, Mr. Tran Quang Phuong - Vice Chairman of the National Assembly awards the First-Class Labor Medal, and Mr. Vo Van Minh - Chairman of the PPC presents flowers to congratulate the Party Committee, government, and the people of Ben Cat Town

At the ceremony, under the authorization of the President, Mr. Tran Quang Phuong - Vice Chairman of the National Assembly awarded the First-Class Labor Medal, and Mr. Vo Van Minh - Chairman of the PPC presented flowers to the Party Committee, government, and people of Ben Cat town for the outstanding achievements in work from 2018 to 2022. That contributed to the cause of socialism building and nation defense. The Organizing Committee of the Provincial Party Committee announced the Decision to establish Ben Cat City's Party Committee.

Provincial leaders issue the Decision on the establishment and give flowers to congratulate the Party Committee of Ben Cat City

On this occasion, the Provincial Red Cross Society awarded 50 scholarships to studious students with difficult circumstances in Ben Cat town, each scholarship worth 3 million VND and a gift worth 500.000 VND.

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Leaders of the Province and Ben Cat town award scholarships to students with difficult circumstances in Ben Cat town

​Chanh My Ecological Urban Area project is invested by the Housing and Urban Development Holdings Corporation Limited (HUD), with a scale of more than 340 hectares. To date, the project has disbursed investment capital of more than 2,070 billion VND.

The Social Welfare Housing Project is being implemented on schedule

Located in the Chanh My Ecological Urban Area project, the social welfare housing project has an area of more than 27 hectares, including 06 12-story apartment buildings with 978 apartments, and an area of 38.5 m² to 63.5 m². After completing procedures for publicizing social housing product information, HUD has received about 1,200 registration dossiers wishing to purchase and has reviewed eligible subjects according to current regulations and submitted them to the Binh Duong Department of Construction for appraisal. The project implementation progress is expected to complete acceptance and put into use 03 towers phase 1 with 456 apartments in the third quarter of 2025.

Mr. Ta Dung - Deputy General Director of HUD states difficulties and problems related to project implementation

Reporting to the Delegation, Mr. Ta Dung - Deputy General Director of HUD stated difficulties and problems related to project implementation. For example, some regulations on conditions for social housing support policies are inappropriate, leading to people in need not receiving access to products; the handover of the site is still facing difficulties, affecting the project progress, etc.

Leaders of departments and branches present solutions to remove difficulties and obstacles in project implementation

Through the opinions of units and localities, Provincial Party Secretary Nguyen Van Loi understood the difficulties of the investors during project implementation and highly appreciated the progress of the project, which has now basically completed all legal procedures. Regarding site clearance, the Secretary said that there were not many households that have not yet cleared and reclaimed their land, so he requested localities to continue to propagate, mobilize, and explain to people the benefits of the project in the overall development of the province, and apply policies to compensate, resettlement, and ensure the rights of people in the cleared area.

Provincial Party Secretary Nguyen Van Loi speaks at the meeting

The Secretary requested the Trade Union levels to reach workers who need to buy social housing and act as a bridge to help them access and buy social housing, ensuring the appropriate people. Relevant departments and branches must work with the investor to remove difficulties and obstacles so that the project can be completed soon and operate effectively.

Provincial Party Secretary Nguyen Van Loi discusses with the investor of the social housing project in Chanh My Ecological Urban Area

Provincial leaders take a group photo with HUD leaders at the Welfare Housing Area