Decision No. 142/QD-TTg dated January 28, 2015 of the Government approving the adjustment of the master plan on socio-economic development of Tien Giang province through 2020, with a vision toward 2030

THE PRIME MINISTER

Decision No.142/QD-TTg dated January 28, 2015 of the Government approving the adjustment of the master plan on socio-economic development of Tien Giang province through 2020, with a vision toward 2030

Pursuant to the December 25, 2001 Law on Organization of the Government;

Pursuant to the Government’s Decree No. 92/2006/ND-CP of September 7, 2006, on the formulation, approval and management of socio-economic development master plans, and Decree No. 04/2008/ND-CP of January 11, 2008 amending and supplementing a number of articles of Decree No. 92/2006/ND-CP;

At the proposal of the People’s Committee of Tien Giang province,

DECIDES:

Article 1.To approve the adjustment of the master plan on socio-economic development of TienGiangprovince through 2020, with a vision toward 2030, with the following principal contents:

I. DEVELOPMENT VIEWPOINTS

1. TienGiangprovince’s socio-economic development must be in line with the development orientations of the country, Mekong River delta and southern key economic region; and ensure the consistency and harmony with the regions’ socio-economic development master plans and sectoral master plans in the overall relationship and linkage with provinces in an open economic space with foreign countries.

2. To speed up infrastructure construction toward synchrony and step-by-step modernity, especially urban infrastructure of My Tho city, Go Cong and Cai Lay towns, strategic areas and district centers, in order to create a breakthrough in socio-economic development and accelerate the industrialization-modernization process; to create opportunities for the strong development of foreign trade; and to attract external resources for provincial socio-economic development.

3. To quickly develop economic sectors to create a breakthrough in the economic and production restructuring in each sector or field to facilitate the early formation of strategic territories; to quickly develop industries, tourism and services and make tourism one of the province’s spearhead economic sectors and a breakthrough in the province’s economic development; to attach importance to agricultural development toward hi-tech agriculture and mass production; to strongly and comprehensively develop marine and coastal economy; to put TienGiangprovince in an overall relationship with other provinces in the region and urban centers of the Mekong River delta, southern key economic region and greater Mekong sub-region for development of industries and tourism services.

4. To build My Tho city as an economic, cultural, scientific and technical center into a provincially run grade-I urban center by 2020; to build Go Cong and Cai Lay towns into grade-III urban centers. At the same time, to restore, upgrade and develop the urban system and townships into developed economic centers functioning as nuclei to promote the development of, and create a spillover effect on, rural areas in the province.

5. To improve the quality of human resources, adopt policies to attract high-quality human resources from developed provinces and cities at home and abroad to build the homeland, and encourage people to get rich lawfully for themselves and the society; to adopt mechanisms for building social justice in development of education and training, particularly training the contingents of civil servants, workers, technicians, technical experts, managers and entrepreneurs.

6. To combine economic growth targets with social justice targets so as to create jobs, alleviate poverty and improve people’s spiritual and material lives; to actively and proactively promote domestic, regional and international economic integration and make full use of opportunities for development; to combine socio-economic development with consolidation of national defense and security, protection of the ecological environment and the maintenance of political stability and social order and safety. To take the initiative in preventing impacts of global climate change and sea level rise.

II. DEVELOPMENT OBJECTIVES

1. General objectives

To develop TienGiang’s economy at a fast rate and in a sustainable manner to create big changes in the economic and labor structures. By 2020, to strive to build TienGianginto one of the strong socio-economic development provinces in the Mekong River delta, a development pole of the southern key economic region and a transport and tourism service development hub of the Mekong river delta with a synchronous and modem infrastructure system; to constantly improve people’s material, cultural and spiritual lives with a healthy culture imbued with national identity; to maintain a firm national defense, security and social order and safety.

2. Specific objectives

a/ Economic objectives

- The average economic growth rate will reach around 9-10%/year in the 2016-2020 period (at the 2010 comparative price).

- By 2020, the industry-construction sector will make up 35-35.5%; services, 36.1-37%; and agriculture-forestry-fisheries, 27.5-28.9%, of the economic structure.

- The average per-capita GDP (at real prices) will reach around VND 74-78 million by 2020, narrowing the gap with the country’s per-capita GDP.

- Export revenues will reach around USD 3,400 million by 2020.

- To strive to attain a total budget revenue of over VND 9,000 billion by 2020.

b/ Socio-cultural objectives

- The average annual population growth rate will be around 0.8% and the average annual birth rate will be slashed by 0.1 %0 in the 2016-2020 period. The average population will be 1,800,000 by 2020.

- The urbanization rate will reach 30-35% by 2020.

- To create new jobs for 18,000-19,000 laborers per year in the 2016-2020 period.

- The rate of trained laborers will be 51 % by 2020, including the rate of vocationally trained laborers being 40 percent.

- To reduce the poor household rate to below 3% by 2020 with an average annual reduction rate of around 0.5% in the 2016-2020 period (according to the poverty line applied under thecurrentregulations).

- The rate of communes satisfying the national criteria for new countryside building will be 50% by 2020.

- By 2020, all commune health stations will be staffed with medical doctors, reaching the rate of 8-9 doctors/10,000 people; to increase the number of hospital beds per 10,000 people to 25; to reduce the malnutrition rate among under-five children to below 12%; and all commune will satisfy the communal health criteria.

- By 2020, the rate of school goers among children of eligible age groups will be 20% for kindergartens, 85% for preschool establishments, 99% for primary schools, 98% for lower secondary schools and 60% for upper secondary schools.

- By 2015, all households will have access to electricity and the quality will be further improved in the following years.

- By 2020, there will be 7 internet subscribers per 100 people.

- By 2020, each district will have one cultural and sports center, 95% of households and 95% of street quarters will satisfy the cultural criteria and all communes will build their cultural institutions.

c/ Environmental protection objectives

- By 2020, over 90% of rural population will have access to water from the centralized water supply system; 95% of solid waste will be collected and treated; 90% of production and business establishments and waste treatment services will reach environmental standards.

- To prevent and minimize the exhaustion and pollution of natural resources; to take solutions to actively respond to climate change and sea level rise.

d/ National defense, security and social order and safety objectives

- To perfect the defensive system, continue building all-people defense posture and people’s security posture, assuring people’s security, social order and safety and heighten the socialist legislation.

- To maintain political security and social order at grassroots level and prevent and control social evils; to launch the movement all people defend homeland security and turn the locality into a civilized and courteous one with a healthy socio-cultural lifestyle.

- To step up communication, education and mobilization of people to strictly observe the law so as to prevent and repel social evils and traffic accidents.

- To maintain political stability and social order and safety in the locality and promote national defense and security potential associated with socio-economic development.

3. Five strategic breakthroughs

a/ To form development poles and strategic areas: to build industrial parks in southeastern Tan Phuong and GoCọngareas; to combine the development of rice milling industry and farm produce processing in Cai Be-Cai Lay areas with the system of industrial parks in the southern key economic region and investment in effectively developing industrial clusters, generating jobs and restructuring the labor force. This is an important breakthrough in the province’s socio-economic development in the planning period.

b/ To develop the synchronous and modem infrastructure system in both urban and rural areas: To invest in infrastructure systems of industrial parks and clusters to attract investment projects; to upgrade transport network including road, waterway and rural road network; to modernize the information and communication system, complete the electricity supply and water supply and drainage networks, treat environmental pollution to meet the requirements of a regional economic center.

c/ To concentrate investment on creating a system of major products in sectors and fields with comparative advantages (particularly agricultural and tourist products) so as to create impetus and force for the province’s long-term development. To zone off specialized farming and raw material zones for farm produce processing industry, export and consumption, especially food, foodstuff and commodity fruit and vegetable belts for the southern key economic region, particularly Ho Chi Minh City; to upgrade and build centers of plant varieties and animal breeds and hi-tech, clean and safe production agricultural models to create a spillover effect on the northern Tien River region in hi-tech agricultural development.

d/ To speed up the urbanization rate, develop urban centers, outlying urban areas and rural residential quarters in order to make a new picture of population distribution. To upgrade the infrastructure of My Tho city to suit the grade-I urban center - a socio-economic center of the northern Tien River region; to embellish, upgrade and develop Go Cong and Cai Lay towns into grade-III urban centers and townships; to establish residential areas and urban- service areas associated with industrial parks in southeastern Tan Phuoc and Go Cong areas; to completely build residential clusters in flooded areas;

dd/ To develop high-quality human resources and build the province’s scientific and technological potential to meet socio-economic development requirements toward industrialization and modernization and international economic integration. To develop vocational training institutions to meet the training demand of the province and other localities.

III. ORIENTATIONS FOR DEVELOPMENT OF SECTORS AND FIELDS

1. Agriculture-forestry-fisheries:

a/ Agriculture: To focus on building areas specializing in the production of key plant varieties and animal breeds with competitive advantages; to effectively mobilize resources and accelerate the application of science and technology to build breeding and farming standards and increase the technological content in products, gradually building and developing hi-tech agricultural zones. To develop agricultural products in the value chain from cultivation, processing to consumption. In the immediate future, to zone off, invest and attract investment in exploiting and developing the infrastructure of a hi-tech agricultural zone covering around 100 ha.

- Cultivation: By 2020, the area planned for rice cultivation will be around 78,000 ha and the rice-farming area will reach a maximum of201,500 ha with a yield of 5.8 tons/hectare/ crop and a rice output of 1,170,000 tons.

To establish safe vegetable production areas up to VietGAP standards with an estimated cultivation area of45,200 ha by 2020 with a yield of around 17 tons per hectare and an output of around 768,400 tons.

To support and encourage the increase in yield and quality of key plants with the province’s advantages. By 2020, there will be around 74,000 ha of fruit trees, around 13,500 ha of coconut trees and around 3,000 ha of cacao; to develop pot trees (Go Cong), yellow apricot trees (Tan Phuoc, Chau Thanh and Cai Lay...) to supply to domestic and overseas markets; to actively boost the development of horticulture in association with ecological and leisure tourism.

- Breeding: To develop cattle and poultry breeding in concentrated zones on a farm or industrial scale up to VietGap standards to prevent epidemics and ensure food hygiene and environmental protection; to increase production efficiency and value, thus contributing to sustainable agricultural development. By 2020, all husbandry products will be turned out with the application of cutting-edge technologies, and food safety and hygiene, to satisfy domestic consumption and export demands. To zone off concentrated breeding areas in Tan Phuoc district.

b/ Forestry:

- To effectively manage and use the coastal protection forest system covering 3,146 ha, Dong Thap Muoi (the Plain of Reeds) ecological protection forests covering 549 ha and production forests covering 6,012 ha. To carry out an alluvial ground development project in the tidal flats to expand protection forest land areas. To plant 1,530 ha of new forests in the 2016-2020 period.

- To plant an average of 2.3-2.4 million scattered trees per year. To increase income from the value of the forest environment under the mechanism of clean growth, ecological tourism and prevention of coastal erosion.

c/ Fisheries

- To focus on building zones for rearing tra catfish, saline and brackish water shrimp with an appropriate intensive rearing rate, and exploiting clams and oysters; to increase the efficiency of aquatic product and marine resource exploitation toward raising off-shore fishing proportion and the quality of netted aquatic products and marine resources together with the protection of national security at sea; to actively protect inland and coastal aquatic resources.

- To build and develop zones under saline and brackish water shrimp - one rice crop farming so as to gradually shift agricultural production structure adaptable to climate change and saltwater intrusion, thus ensuring efficiency and sustainability.

- Aquaculture: By 2020, the water surface area planned for aquaculture is expected to reach 15,000 ha, an average annual increase of 1.3%, including 7,000 ha of fresh water aquaculture and 8,000 ha of brackish water aquaculture and mariculture.

Fishing: For marine fishing, to exploit and protect marine resources and fishing grounds; to fully exploit fish potential, including surface and substrate fish, shrimp and sea specialties, in both quality and quantity. Concurrently, to rationally and sustainably develop offshore fishing based on converting and improving fishing equipment and gradually apply cutting-edge technologies and equipment in fishing and reduce on-shore fishing to facilitate the reproduction of marine resources.

For inland fishing, to closely combine the rational exploitation of potential of aquatic products and the protection of aquatic resources and environment.

2. Industries, handicrafts and cottage industries

- To further develop industries and create breakthroughs in the province’s socio-economic development with focus on agro-forestry processing sector and generating more jobs for laborers. To restructure the province’s economy toward quickly raising the proportion of industries.

- By 2020, the province will have 7 industrial parks and 27 industrial clusters on a total area of 3,085 ha. In the coming period, to continue completing infrastructure and attract investment to fill up the land area of 4 industrial parks; and at the same time additionally build 3 industrial parks and 23 industrial clusters in districts and towns.

3. Trade-services

- To concentrate on developing a number of services with provincial strengths such as tourism, wholesale and retail of agricultural, aquatic and marine products. To further expand commodity market and service provision to rural areas.

- To continue promoting the development of post and telecommunications services to support socio-economic development and better satisfy people’s information needs; to bring telecommunications services to rural areas. To promote credit and banking services to satisfy the demand for development investment capital.

- To develop 4 trade centers in My Tho city, Go Cong, Cai Lay and Cai Be, particularly gradually develop and establish the Trung Luong urban-resident-trade-service-scientific and technical center serving the northern Mekong River delta and associated with the province’s major industrial parks and clusters.

- To restore, upgrade and build the network of central markets, wholesale markets and cargo wharves and boat landings to facilitate the development of commodity economy, increase income and budget revenue sources. To prioritize the development of markets in suburban areas and newly-established urban areas associated with the construction and establishment of administrative, economic, cultural and social centers.

- To develop production support services such as seaport services, logistics, international telecommunications, consultancy information, finance and banking services.

- To develop tourism in the general tourism system in the Mekong River delta, southeastern region and whole country, first of all in association with the southern tourism triangle and the southern key economic region (Ho Chi Minh City- Ba Ria Vung Tau-Da Lat). By 2020, the number of tourists visiting the province will be around 2-2.2 million, including around 1 million of international tourists.

To further invest in developing sites with great tourist potential into tourist and recreation sites (Tien river landscape, beaches, islets, Dong Thap Muoi (the Plain of Reeds), orchards and cultural and historical relics); to develop tourism infrastructure and necessary tourist services.

To develop a marketing plan and intensify the dissemination and advertising to attract foreign holiday makers. To develop domestic and foreign tourism cooperation programs to organize intra-provincial and inter-provincial tours.

To promote domestic and foreign investment in upgrading the province’s hotel system and developing recreation sites. To support production, diversify and improve the quality of tourist products, particularly traditional handicrafts and cottage products and specialties.

- To promote the development of the following services:

+ Transport and logistics services, finance, banking, and insurance.

+ Other services, to bring into play the province’s position adjacent to Ho Chi Minh City to strongly develop types of services such as technical innovation services, legal service, information service, technology transfer, weekend culture-entertainment services. To work with Ho Chi Minh City to strongly develop insurance, trade and science-technology services. To further increase the quality of services to meet the requirements of production, urbanization and people’s life, contributing to provincial economic growth.

4. Socio-cultural fields

- To invest in upgrading institutions, attach importance to long-term vocational training and improve vocational training quality; to generate jobs and boost the sending of guest workers abroad. To develop the province’s major training institutions such as the Tien Giang University, the Medical College, the Vocational Training College, and vocational intermediate schools in the western and eastern areas of the province.

- To promote socialization in cultural fields; to invest in building material foundations, to improve the quality of teaching and education administering staff and teaching and learning quality; to effectively implement the universalization of primary and lower secondary education.

- To invest and attract investment in synchronously building and developing medical examination and treatment establishments; to raise staff quality; to take the initiative in preventing and controlling epidemics, ensuring food safety and hygiene; to provide healthcare for people.

- To protect and care for children and the elderly: To communicate and raise the awareness about the position, role and responsibility of family members and the entire society for protection of, care for, and education of, children, respect and ensure children’s rights and obligations toward family and society, and ensure that children are entitled to protection, education and healthcare for their comprehensive physical and mental development. To ensure gender equality, raise women’s position and youth development.

- To further step up the gratitude-showing movement, hunger eradication and poverty reduction, care for the life of policy beneficiaries by contributing to gratitude funds, building gratitude houses and improving the living standards of policy beneficiaries.

5. Science, technology and environmental protection

a/ Science and technology:

- To research and apply science and technology in new rice and fruit tree varieties with quality advantages and suitable to each ecological zone; to set up models of intensive farming of fruit trees. To apply technical methods to increase productivity and quality of agricultural products from cultivation to harvest.

- To support the development of industrial products, renovate technologies in processing fruits and vegetables, cattle feed, cattle and poultry meat to increase output and quality of products.

- To support enterprises in technological renewal, gradually increase the mechanization rate in agricultural production, handicraft and cottage industries, processing industry for small- and medium-sized enterprises and cooperatives, contributing to seeking outlets for agricultural products and rural economic restructuring.

- To research the economical and efficient use of energy,concuưentlyutilize clean and renewable energies so as to rationally exploit natural resources and protect the environment.

- To improve quality and reduce costs of infrastructure projects in agricultural and rural development. To solve urban water drainage problems, wastewater treatment, urban management and planning.

b/ Environmental protection

- To ensure the harmony between economic development and environmental protection, rational and efficient use of natural resources (especially land, surface-water and groundwater resources), natural landscapes and urban, cultural, tourism, industrial, and ecological agricultural spaces and coastal strips in the direction of sustainable development.

- To build a complete garbage and waste treatment system (including solid waste, wastewater and exhaust). To lure investment in building 2 centralized garbage treatment facilities in Tan Phuoc district and Go Cong area.

- To continue implementing a national program in response to climate change and adopt solutions to actively prevent and cope with climate change and sea level rise.

6. Technical infrastructure development

a/ Transport

- Road network: To further invest in and complete the province’s road transport system with a synchronous load capacity on provincial and district roads and the waterway-road transport system for industrial parks and clusters and tourist zones. To study solutions to invest in bridges in replacement of ferry landings to islets, especially urban areas and developing areas; to synchronously upgrade and connect the bridge system to link to provincial roads; to invest in building the sewage system along provincial roads through urban areas, build roads leading to industrial parks and clusters and bypasses connected with the system of national highways, expressways and provincial roads; bypasses on national highways through urban centers.

- Waterways: To complete the upgrading of main inland waterways up to the prescribed technical grade; to transform and upgrade a number of important sections and routes; to lengthen river sections and routes subject to operation management. To intensively invest in, upgrade and build, new major ports, cargo and passenger wharves (with eradication of small, unsafe and unnecessary wharves taken into account). Local port clusters will be arranged with transport industrial establishments in order to raise ports’ production and business efficiency. To dredge and clear fairways of major canals that are important for navigation and complete the system of cargo wharves and storing yards and boats for districts, intensively invest in and upgrade My Tho port into a regional port with a throughput capacity of over 500,000 tons/year. To call for investment in TienGianggeneral seaport and logistic service area project in eastern Go Cong, Le Thach port, the farm produce and food port, and My Tho passenger port; to support the implementation of the southern Sai Gon international port project.

- Railways: To closely coordinate with ministries and central sectors in studying and building the Ho Chi Minh City-My Tho-Can Tho railway according to the railway sector master plan under the Prime Minister’s Decision No. 1686/QD-TTg of November 20, 2008, approving the railway transport development strategy through 2020, with a vision toward 2050, in association with orientations for provincial socio-economic development.

b/ Post and telecommunications

- To develop a modem post and telecommunications infrastructure with a wide service coverage, large capacity, high speed and quality, ensuring information security and safety to meet socio-economic development needs.

- To further complete and improve the quality of modem communications operations, especially in remote and deep-lying areas, concurrently develop more new operations to better satisfy customers’ demand and socio-economic development.

- To lay optical cable lines for the transmission network from HOST switchboard to third-grade post offices; to gradually shift from integrated digital network (IDN) to integrated services digital network (ISDN).

c/ Electricity network

To further invest in the development and upgrading of the medium and low voltage networks and transformer stations to serve production, business and consumption demands. Electricity output for consumption is forecast to be 5,213 million kWh by 2020 and commercial electricity output will reach 2,894 kWh/person.

d/ Water supply and drainage and garbage treatment

- To further invest in the water supply and drainage and wastewater and garbage treatment systems in association with the planning of upgrading and developing towns and townships and concentrated residential areas. To concentrate on water supply and drainage and treatment of wastewater and garbage of industrial parks and clusters, hospitals and schools. To zone off, make and attract investment in wastewater and garbage treatment facilities in urban centers, industrial and service development areas.

- To review the master plan on rural water supply system together with the management of exploitation, protection and efficient use of groundwater sources.

- To further support and promote investment in the development of the water supply system and improve water quality for rural areas. By 2020, all rural residents will have access to hygienic water.

dd/ Irrigation planning

- To build a complete irrigation system to totally control flood so as to expand the acreage subject to proactive flood control in areas zoned off for fruit trees and pineapple cultivation in the province’s flood-prone areas. To gradually control flood in rice cultivation zones in the north of National Highway 1A.

- To raise the level of assurance of irrigation, drainage, water supply and salination prevention. To step by step complete the irrigation system to ensure water supply for daily life and production in areas far from key projects, especially freshened areas in Go Cong,BaoDinh and Tan Phu Dong district. To raise the proactive capacity in flood prevention and salination control so as to increase the acreage free from the risk of inundation and salination due to unexpected weather and hydrological circumstances and impacts of climate change and sea level rise.

- To take the initiative in preventing, controlling and mitigating impacts of natural disasters. To raise the safe level of disaster prevention and control, take the initiative in prevention or avoidance of and adaption to natural disasters in order to ensure safety of life and property of people and the State. To gradually upgrade the sea and estuary dike system suitable to the significance of protected areas. To prevent erosion and raise the safety level of protection and stabilization of river banks and canals under the sector’s management.

- To gradually raise the efficiency of management and operation of irrigation projects and system to make the best use of their designed capacity.

7. National defense, security, social order and safety

- To further strengthen and build the all-people defense associated with people’s security posture, and build defensive areas; to closely combine socio-economic development with national defense and security consolidation. To concentrate border guard forces to effectively perform the functions of managing and safeguarding sovereignty, security and order along the province’s coastal border.

- To effectively implement the Party’s and the State’s guidelines and policies on the national security strategy in the new situation, the assurance of national security and defense in the southwestern region, raising the quality and efficiency of public security work in the new situation, satisfying the requirements of safeguarding security and order, contributing to provincial socio-economic development.

8. Orientations for organization of development space

a/ Development zones

- The central urban economic area encompasses My Tho city and Cho Gao and Chau Thanh districts in which My Tho city is a central urban area of TienGiangprovince and a satellite urban center and a southwestern development pole of Ho Chi Minh City and a northern development pole of the Mekong River delta region. To study the establishment of Tan Hiep town from splitting from Chau Thanh district.

Orientations for development: To develop urban centers, residential areas, education, training and healthcare in the southwestern sub-region of Ho Chi Minh City’s region, the north of the Mekong River delta and the provincial region; to develop agricultural and aquatic product processing industry, trade-service, ecological tourism on islets of Tien River, and national cultural and historical tourism; to develop hi-tech agriculture for growing flowers, pot trees and safe vegetables.

- The eastern urban economic area embraces Go Cong town, eastern Go Cong district, western Go Cong district and eastern Tan Phu district and is the second dynamic development area of TienGiangprovince in which Go Cong town is a nucleus urban center. Orientations for development: to develop marine economy, mechanical engineering, port services and logistics, fishing and aquaculture, marine ecological tourism, and protect submerged forests. A marine economic zone will be established after 2020.

- The western urban economic area encompasses Cai Lay town and Cai Lay, Cai Be and Tan Phuoc districts, in which Cai Lay town will be a nucleus urban center. Orientations for development: To develop agricultural product processing industry (rice and fruits) and hi-tech agriculture; to develop trade and services, farm produce wholesale markets, ecological tourism in orchards and the Plain of Reeds.

b/ Orientations for urban development

- Central urban centers of areas: To concentrate and attract investment in developing three urban centers of the province’s three areas: My Tho city as a grade-I urban center; Go Cong and Cai Lay towns as grade-III urban centers.

- Central urban centers of districts: To upgrade, embellish and attract investment in developing two grade-IV urban centers (Cai Be, Tan Hiep); six grade-V urban centers (Cho Gao, My Phuoc, TanHoa, VinhBinh and newly-established eastern Tan Phu and Binh Phu towns); to study the planning and invest in developing Long Dinh town into the center of Chau Thanh district and gradually establish Tan Hiep townships.

- Central towns of areas include one grade-IV urban center (Vam Lang town to serve industry-service development associated with marine economy and Go Cong industrial area), five newly-established grade-V urban centers (Vinh Kim, LongDinh,BenTranh,An Huu and Thien Ho urban centers).

- Townships: To develop 30-40 townships with the population of around 2,000-4,000 per township in the new rural countryside building process.

c/ Orientations for development and distribution of rural population

- The distribution of rural population in TienGiangprovince will mainly be in the form of residential quarters in townships and centers of districts and communes, the form of residential quarters along roads and major rivers and canals, and the form of scattered population distribution in specialized rice farming zones and orchards and in combination with community-based tourism.

- TienGiangprovince’s rural population distribution model is the delta one based on villages and communes. To plan the construction of communes after the new countryside model to ensure social and technical infrastructure facilities and establish large specialized farming zones, mechanize agricultural production to be suitable to industrialization and modernization process and economic restructuring in rural areas.

d/ Orientations for housing development

To further implement the Government-approved key housing programs and projects in the 2011-2020 period: investment programs on social housing construction, investment programs on construction of dormitories for university and college students; housing development programs for workers of industrial parks; programs on building residential quarters and houses in flood-prone areas in the Mekong River delta (second phase); programs to support rural poor households in renovating their houses; programs to renovate and upgrade old houses for urban facelift under planning.

9. Marine and coastal economy development

- To further confirm sea and coastal areas a strategic location with large economic potential and an extremely important defense position for socio-economic development and maintenance of national defense and security of TienGiangprovince in which fisheries, tourism and seaport development will be spearhead economic sectors, creating a strong motive force for the province’s economic restructuring and development.

- Based on potential and advantages of sea and coastal areas, to build a dynamic economic development zone to attract provincial, domestic and foreign investment sources and create a premise and conditions for the establishment of Go Cong coastal economic zone.

- To develop marine and coastal economic sectors, tourism and fisheries to ensure requirements, high efficiency and sustainability in association with security and defense assurance, ecological environment protection and regeneration of aquatic resources.

- To prepare the elaboration of the Go Cong economic zone construction project for submission to the Prime Minister for consideration and addition to the master plan on development of the country’s coastal economic zones.

10. Orientations for socio-economic development through 2030

a/ Vision toward 2030

- To build and develop TienGianginto a province with a modernity-oriented economic restructuring and a large urban cluster (comprising central, western and eastern areas) having a synchronous and modem technical infrastructure system and sustainable environment; a system of cultural, education-training, science-technology, healthcare, and sports-physical training establishments at a level higher than the average level of the country; to develop a dynamic and efficient economy with a structure of industry-service and hi-tech agriculture; and a harmoniously developed society.

- TienGiangwill become a province of “Green, clean - Rich cultural identity - Good quality of life”. Its economy will be based on sustainable development foundations, focusing on the development of a green economy associated with the efficiency of environmental protection based on fundamental pillars, namely hi-tech commodity and clean agriculture; ecological tourism-transshipment service linking the southeastern region and the Mekong River delta through the corridor of National Highways 1 and 60; and clean, environment-friendly hi-tech industries. The urban system will develop toward modernity in which My Tho city is a central urban center in the west of the southern key economic region with a green, modem and civilized space along the Tien River bank and a transshipment urban center of the waterway route linked with regional and international routes. The civilized, hospitable and friendly TienGiangpeople will enjoy a good life with relatively high income, high-quality services and good living and working environment. The investment environment will reach national and regional standards (transparency, friendliness, security and safety) with the assurance of political security, defense and social order and safety. To multilateralize and diversify its relationship with cities and provinces in the country and abroad, raise the province’s socio-economic position in the overall economy of the southern key economic region and the Mekong River delta.

b/ Specific objectives

- The gross regional domestic product (GRDP) will grow at an average rate of around 9.5-10.5%/year in the 2021 -2030 period. GRDP in 2030 (at the comparative prices of 2010) will grow around 2.6 times over 2020. Tien Giang’s economy will hold a relatively high position compared with other Mekong River delta provinces and cities and rank above the average of 63 provinces and cities nationwide. The average per-capita income will reach around 10,300- 11,900 USD by 2030.

- Its economic structure will shift towards modernity, efficiency and gradual establishment and development of an intellectual economy. The proportion of non-agricultural sectors will make up around 86% of the province’s total GRDP by 2030.

- Tien Giang’s population will be around 1,911,000 by 2030. The percentage of framed laborers will be around 65-70% by 2030. The urban unemployment rate will be around 3.0- 3.5% and the poverty rate will be 1-2% by 2030.

- People’s health, physical strength and stature will be further improved and the average life expectancy will be over 76 years by 2030.

c/ Orientations for sectoral development

- On agriculture and rural areas: to build a clean and environment-friendly agriculture, build brands for commodity farm produce with firm footholds in the market associated with the province’s advantages in natural conditions, especially brands of a number of fruit trees exported to the region and the world. The infrastructure network for agricultural production will be synchronously built (rural transport, irrigation and electricity supply) in association with an effective agricultural service network (centers of plant varieties or animal breeds, application transfer services, agricultural machinery, agricultural credit and agricultural insurance).

- On industries and urban centers: Tien Giang’s industries and urban centers will be closely combined in the province’s overall spatial distribution in which My Tho city will play the role of a nucleus urban center of the region and TienGiangprovince and concurrently a satellite urban center of the nucleus urban area for development in the southwest of Ho Chi Minh City. My Tho city will be a gateway urban center linking two major cities of Ho Chi Minh and Can Tho and a locomotive in technical development and advanced science and technology application in the northern Tien river provinces. Industries will be based on the country’s overall development foundations, but mainly agricultural and forest product processing industries, hi-tech clean agriculture and industries serving agriculture, forestry, fisheries and tourism.

- On services and tourism: To establish a synchronous service network functioning as the province’s focal service center on the tourism route along National Highway 1 with such services as logistics, finance-banking, agricultural product trading floor, scientific and technological application in agriculture. River, marine and coastal tourism will become a spearhead sector for sustainable development.

- All people will have access to education in a comprehensive manner, benefit from community healthcare services; local cultural life will be preserved and developed toward progress with culture being the foundation and civilization being the goal.

- To protect the natural environment, preserve biodiversity in the locality associated with sustainable ecological tourism.

- Security and national defense will be maintained to facilitate socio-economic development.

IV. LIST OF INVESTMENT STUDY PROGRAMS, SCHEMES AND PROJECTS; PROJECTS PRIORITIZED FOR INVESTMENT

V. A NUMBER OF MAJOR SOLUTIONS TO IMPLEMENT THE MASTER PLAN

1. Capital mobilization solutions

The total social investment capital demand is estimated at around VND 180 trillion in the 2016-2020 period and around VND 1,200 trillion (at current prices) in the 2021-2030 period. To attract and mobilize sufficient capital to meet such requirements, it is necessary to implement the following solutions:

- To effectively mobilize and use investment capital sources from the state budget. Based on the capability to balance budgets according to medium-term and annual plans, to proactively elaborate plans and appropriately phase out investment for key works and projects. To make the best use of capital from the central budget via development programs and preferential mechanisms and policies. To formulate feasible, detailed and appropriate projects for production development based on efficiency calculation to attract the State’s credit loans.

- To mobilize and effectively utilize capital sources from the central budget, domestic and foreign resources, especially ODA and FDI capital. To take advantage of investment and support of domestic and foreign organizations for key programs and projects, with priority given to transport and irrigation works, projects in economic zones, industrial parks and tourism zones, services and rural infrastructure, and investment projects in poor communes and extremely difficult areas.

- To encourage and create favorable conditions for mobilizing all economic sectors in the province to invest in production development and practice thrift. To mobilize resources among the people, agencies, units and enterprises in the locality for production and business development.

- To speed up the improvement of the investment environment and environment for production and business development; to boost investment promotion to attract foreign capital; to effectively implement administrative reform and facilitate investors in production and business sectors in the locality.

2. Human resources solutions

- To effectively implement the socialization of vocational training to improve human resource quality. To lure investment in building modem training schools and establishments; to enhance cooperation and coordination with training establishments in Ho Chi Minh City, central sectors and other localities in order to qualitatively and quantitatively develop the contingents of cadres and skilled laborers.

- To expand cooperation with quality universities, research institutes and training establishments for training the contingents of science workers, technicians and skilled laborers. To encourage enterprises having labor demands to align through capital contribution and equipment supply with universities and training establishments in training, supplying and employing human resources in the most efficient manner.

- To renew training methods to bring into play activeness, proactiveness and creativeness of learners and renew training programs to meet the society’s needs. To assess the capacity of trained human resources and survey how trained workers can meet work demands so as to lay foundations for renewing the training process.

- To rationally ramify students at the end of their grades, establish centralized vocational training schools and establishments equipped with modem machinery and equipment to enable students to work immediately after graduation.

- To concentrate investment on physical foundations and cutting-edge teaching aids. To build physical foundations to well serve teaching with sufficient classrooms, practice rooms, labs and teaching and learning aids.

- To properly implement preferential regulations and policies to attract talents and highly qualified laborers to work for a long term in TienGiang,serving the province’s socio-economic development.

3. Planning and investment solutions for the province’s key programs and works

- To speed up and improve the quality of the planning and management work under planning.

- To concentrate investment in developing the province’s key programs and works.

- To fully implement and apply mechanisms and policies promulgated by the central agencies on investment attraction to bring the best benefits to investors, especially investors in large-sized investment projects and sectors and fields in which investment is promoted by the province.

- To promote investment and attract direct foreign investment capital.

4. Science and technology, and environmental protection solutions

- To accelerate the application of science and technology and renovate technologies in sectors; to develop and apply bio-technology in production and daily-life activities.

- To effectively bring into play scientific research in various forms under the program to support the comprehensive development of plant varieties and animal breeds with provincial advantages. In agriculture and fisheries, to encourage the use of high-yield and high-quality plant varieties and animal breeds, the use of integrated pest management (IPM) and chemicalization and mechanization in production. In industries, to prioritize the selection of appropriate technologies for agricultural and aquatic product processing industries, focusing on the refining stage to raise the quality and competitiveness of industrial products to satisfy domestic and export demands.

- To build and develop technology transfer models for rural socio-economic development, giving priority to communes selected for new countryside construction; to determine the value chain and the linkage among the “four parties”, promote agricultural production toward intensive farming to increase output and quality of farm commodities for sustainable development according to GAP.

- To enhance research cooperation with institutes and research centers at the central level and in Ho Chi Minh City and Can Tho city to solve scientific and technological difficulties for enterprises in service of sectoral development.

- To synchronously invest in equipment and modem information network of technology application, consultancy and transfer centers for cooperation and alignment with domestic and foreign scientific and technological research and application centers. To encourage the development of non-state science and technology organizations.

- To renew training and retraining mechanisms and policies, employ and adopt plans to rejuvenate the contingent of scientific and technological workers. To expand international cooperation and make the best use of the assistance of foreign countries and international organizations to attract foreign experts in training and re-training cadres and skilled workers for the province and technology transfer.

- To support cooperatives, farm owners and farmer households in the application of scientific advances and technological innovations, encourage enterprises and farmer households to use clean technologies. To prevent and strictly handle cases of import and use of polluting technologies.

- To protect the environment more effectively: to well treat waste sources and minimize impacts of natural disasters; to manage and protect ground water environment; to increase the efficiency of clean water supply and improve rural environmental sanitation; to apply scientific and technological advances and bio-technology in agricultural production in a sustainable manner; to prevent and mitigate the degradation of water resources; to raise the efficiency and sustainability of land resources used for agriculture and aquaculture; to control pollution caused by agricultural chemicals and breeding; to rationally, effectively and sustainably use biological resources; to upgrade water drainage and wastewater treatment systems; to thoroughly consider environmental issues when granting investment license; to increase the dissemination of legal documents on environmental protection; to effectively implement and closely supervise the implementation of regulations on environmental protection; to further consolidate the state management apparatus in charge of environmental protection to meet the requirements of industrialization and modernization.

5. Solutions to enhance inter-provincial and inter-regional cooperation and expanding the market with foreign countries

- To promote the coordination between the province and ministries and central agencies in studying and formulating projects in conformity with sectoral and territorial development master plans; to coordinate among provincial sectors and between the province and other provinces in the Mekong River delta and the southern key economic region dining the development process to ensure an appropriate direction for each sector and province and avoid thinned-out and overlapping investment, determine the balance between demand and supply to increase investment efficiency.

- To enhance commercial activities in urban centers with stronger focus on rural markets, developing an urban system to promote the market and building the system of rural markets. To boost cooperation and alignment with economic sectors’ trading network to ensure timely goods and service supply, meeting the requirements of production, consumption and sale of agricultural products for farmers.

- To support and create conditions for enterprises to explore foreign markets, introduce products and cooperate with foreign companies in production and consumption.

- To encourage enterprises to export their products and seek new markets; to consolidate and expand traditional markets.

- To facilitate the development of the real estate market, gradually set up the capital market. To speed up administrative reform in the housing and land sector. To create a favorable legal corridor for the establishment and operation of real estate centers, brokerage centers, lending services and professional auctioning and public sale.

- To multilateralize and diversify the development of labor export market. To further renovate and develop the network of labor export enterprises and units. To set up a labor export support fond.

6. Enhancement and maintenance of national defense and security

- To raise the efficiency of state management by all-level administrations in combining socio-economic development and the maintenance of national defense and security in the new situation; to consolidate and uphold the advisory role of specialized national defense and security agencies at all levels.

Article 2.Organization of the master plan implementation

The master plan on socio-economic development of TienGiangprovince through 2020, with a vision toward 2030 will be the foundation for formulating, submitting for approval and implementing sectoral plannings (construction plans, land use plannings and plans and other relevant master plans) and investment projects in TienGiangprovince.

1. To assign TienGiangprovince People’s Committee to:

- Make public and disseminate the master plan on socio-economic development of TienGiangprovince through 2020, with a vision toward 2030 to Party Committees and authorities, sectors, mass organizations, enterprises and people in the province after its promulgation is signed by the Prime Minister. Based on the contents of the master plan, formulate a specific action program for effective implementation.

- Accelerate investment promotion activities, introduce the locality’s potential and advantages to investors, introduce programs and projects prioritized for investment, attaching importance to calling investment for major projects manufacturing key products.

- Concretize the contents of the master plan with five-year and annual plans for implementation and assessment of implementation results so as to review the master plan and propose competent authorities to promptly adjust and supplement these plans to suit the local socio-economic development tasks in each period.

- All levels, sectors, socio-political organizations and people in the province shall examine and supervise the implementation of the master plan.

Based on the contents of the approved master plan, to guide the formulation, approval and implementation of the following contents according to regulations:

+ District-level socio-economic development master plans, construction master plans, land use master plans and plans, sectoral development master plans to suit socio-economic development tasks associated with the maintenance of national defense and security.

+ To formulate long-, medium- and short-term plans associated with specific projects so as to work out plans on appropriate allocation of investment capital.

+ To study, formulate, promulgate or submit to competent authorities for promulgation (if falling beyond the competence) a number of mechanisms and policies suitable to the province’s socio-economic development requirements.

2. Relevant ministries and sectors shall:

- Guide and assist the TienGiangprovince People’s Committee in the implementation of the master plan.

- Coordinate with TienGiangprovince in reviewing, adjusting and supplementing sectoral master plans to ensure the master plan’s synchronicity and consistency; support the province in mobilizing investment capital sources at home and abroad for the implementation of the master plan.

Article 3.This Decision replaces Prime Minister’s Decision No. 17/2009/QD-TTg of January 22, 2009, approving the master plan on socio-economic development of TienGiangprovince through 2020. This decision takes effect on the date of its signing.

Article 4.The chairperson of the People’s Committee of TienGiangprovince, ministers, heads of ministerial-level agencies and heads of government-attached agencies shall implement this Decision.-

Prime Minister
NGUYEN TAN DUNG