Decision No. 795/QD-TTg dated May 23, 2013 of the Prime Minister approving a master plan on socio-economic development in the Red River delta through 2020

THE PRIME MINISTER

Decision No. 795/QD-TTg of May 23, 2013, approving a master plan on socio-economic development in the Red River delta through 2020

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 Ministry of Planning and Investment,

DECIDES:

Article 1: To approve the master plan on socio-economic development in the Red River delta through 2020, with the following principal contents:

I. POSITION AND ROLE

The Red River delta region embraces 11 provinces and centrally run cities, namely Hanoi, Hai Phong, Hai Duong, Bac Ninh, Vinh Phuc, Hung Yen, Thai Binh, Nam Dinh, Ha Nam, Ninh Binh and Quang Ninh, and is the East Sea gateway to the world and a bridge directly linking Southeast Asia and Northeast Asia, the two dynamic development regions.

The Red River delta region has a high population density and a long-standing development history associated with national construction and defense. In addition, Hanoi Capital and important provinces and cities such as Hai Phong city and Quang Ninh province have earned the region an important position and role and made it a major political, economic, cultural and scientific-technological center of the country. Accommodating central agencies, executive centers of many major economic groups, and training, research and application institutions and centers of the nation, the Red River delta region has been and will continue playing a particularly important role and position in the national development cause.

II. DEVELOPMENT VIEWPOINTS

- To boost the region’s socio-economic development in conformity with the national socio-economic development strategy and sectoral development master plans in an open manner toward deeper and wider international integration and closer connection with other regions in the country.

- To make the best use of the region’s advantages to boost growth and competitiveness together with sustainable development. To prioritize and focus on the development of a number of spearhead sectors which are capable of driving and leading other sectors’ development and creating specific brand names for the region’s products.

- To be the country’s leading region in economic restructuring toward green growth and low emission in accordance with the condition of climate change and sea level rise.

- To quickly develop all economic sectors, markedly increase workers’ income and improve residents’ life quality; to closely combine economic development with ensuring defense and security and safeguarding the nation’s sovereignty.

- To ensure the harmony between economic development, conservation and embellishment and upholding of traditional cultural values and natural heritages, and assurance of welfare demands and social order and safety.

III. DEVELOPMENT OBJECTIVES

1. Overall objectives

To build the Red River delta region into the country’s leading region in making “strategic breakthroughs”, economic restructuring, successfully renovating growth models so as to become the country’s locomotive of economic development, play a pivotal role in the national cause of industrialization and modernization and help enhance Vietnam’s position in the international arena; to ensure the close combination of economic development and social welfare, firmly maintaining all-people defense posture, people’s security and social order and safety.

2. Specific objectives

a/ Economic objectives:

- To increase the region’s contribution to the country’s GDP from 24.7% in 2010 to 26.6% by 2015 and 28.7% by 2020, and to the country's exports from 32.5% by 2015 to 35.0% by 2020. All localities in the region will contribute to the central budget by 2020.

- To increase the average per-capita income to USD 2,500 by 2015 and around USD 4,180 by 2020 (1.3 times of the national average). Labor productivity by 2020 will increase at least 2.3 times against 2010.

- The proportion of agriculture will make up 7-7.5% of the region’s GDP; industry and construction, 45-47%; and servicesr-46-48%.

- The export value will increase 16-18% per year during the planning period. To  step by step balance imports and exports and achieve an average trade surplus of USD 3- 4 billion per year.

- The technological renovation rate will be around 20% per year.

b/ Socio-cultural objectives:

- The region’s population will be around 20.8 million by 2015 and more than 21.7 million by 2020 (the region’s average population growth will be around 0.93% in the SOI 1 -2020 period).

- To generate jobs for 300,000-350,000 people per year. To strive to raise the rate of trained workers in the region to 80% and the proportion of workers holding professional technical qualifications to more than 40% by 2020.

- To cut the rate of poor households by around 2% per year and raise the poor household’s average per capita income to 3.5 folds.

- To build a number of typical cultural works of national scale in Hanoi Capital and major cities in the region, with 100% of provinces and centrally run cities having adequate cultural institutions by 2015; and by 2020,95-100% of districts and towns having cultural houses and libraries; 85-90% of communes and townships having cultural houses; and 65-70% of villages having cultural houses.

- To restore and embellish 100% of special national relics and 80% of national relics in the region by 2015, and 88% of national relics in the region by 2020.

c/ Environmental promotion objectives: To basically eliminate environmental pollution in both rural and urban areas to ensure sustainability throughout the development process. By 2020, more than 95% of urban solid waste and more than 95% of medical waste will be treated; more than 85% operating industrial parks and export processing zones will have centralized waste water treatment systems meeting environmental standards.

d/ Security and defense objectives:

- To firmly ensure all-people defense posture and people’s security in all fronts. To complete defense and security infrastructure to meet battle requirements when necessary.

- To intensify the propaganda, education and mobilization of people to strictly abide by the State’s laws to control and reduce traffic accidents and labor accidents; to educate about and build new cultural lifestyles in residential communities.

IV. ORIENTATIONS FOR SECTORAL DEVELOPMENT

1. Services, trade and tourism development

- To prioritize the development of high- quality services in transport, consultation, design, invention, finance-banking, telecommunications, education-training, high-quality medical treatment, trade, tourism and science-technology. The service sector will strive to record an annual growth of 10% in the 2011 -2020 period.

- To develop the warehouse systems meeting international standards together with highways, coastal roads, and border-gate routes and port systems in order to form a warehousing service network and promote international trade.

- By 2020, the rate of passengers using modern and smart railway and road transport will be 25-30%.

- To develop a modem telecom infrastructure and expand the high-quality broadband coverage on a large scale. By 2020, the rate of fixed telephone lines will be 35-40 per 100 people, 80- 85 % of households will have fixed telephones, the broadband Internet subscription rate will be 35-40 subscribers per 100 people, over 65% of households and more than 70% of the population will have access to the Internet.

- To expand the network of trade centers and supermarkets in regional urban areas and invest in upgrading the infrastructure of agricultural and fisheries wholesale markets in centralized production zones, trade centers, and exhibition and fair centers in large urban centers. To perfect the e-commerce system and the system of information on trade transactions to serve international integration.

- To develop sound banking-finance services toward modernizing and diversifying service providers and services. To develop Hanoi into a prestigious finance-banking center in the region.

- To develop tourism into the region’s spearhead industry with investment in building a number of key national tourism zones of international structure. To strive to attract around 17-18 million domestic tourists by 2015 and 3.2-3.5 million international tourists by 2015. The figures will be 24-25 million and 4.5-5 million, respectively, by 2020.

2. Industrial development

- To focus on developing industries with competitive edges, comparative advantages, a high value of local content and possibility of deeply integrating into the global value chain such as electronics, information technology, telecommunications, machinery manufacturing; ship repair and building; high-quality steel and new construction materials; chemicals, pharmaceuticals, food processing, garments- textiles, and footwear.

- To raise the proportion of hi-tech products’ value in processing industries to more than 35% by 2015 and more than 60% by 2020 and the proportion of local content in major industrial products to 50% by 2020.

- To prioritize the intensive development of electronics industry and information technology, mechanical engineering and ship building and repair, and high-quality and specialized steel manufacture. To expand the scale of pharmaceutical industry, and agricultural, forestry, fisheries and food processing industries associated with material zones.

- To develop garments-textiles and footwear for export and domestic consumption and promote the development of supporting industries such as yam, thread making, dyeing and product design for shifting from processing to localization of products by 2020.

- To prioritize large-scale and less labor- intensive investment projects that manufacture hi-tech, clean-tech, high-added value and environmentally friendly products.

- To focus on mobilizing and attracting investors to develop existing industrial parks and clusters, especially those repairing and building ships and other marine craft to meet domestic demand in Hai Phong, Quang Ninh and Nam Dinh.

3. Rural and agricultural development

- To focus on developing agriculture to turn out clean and environmentally friendly products with high yield and high value and exportability while stabilizing the land fund to serve national food security.

- To focus on intensive cult{v2rtion of specialty rice, vegetables, flowers and winter crops; to develop poultry and pig farming on an industrial scale; freshwater, brackish water and marine aquaculture. To apply technical standards and cutting-edge technologies and modernize managerial work in order to raise the industrial production value to over VND 100 million per hectare by 2020.

-To invest in protecting and developing forests, especially protective forests. To plant scattered trees, and protect the environment in large urban centers and coastal mangrove forests so as to combine tourism development and convalescence.

-To continue effectively implementing the new countryside building program with focus on developing traditional craft villages and eco-tourism with typical local agricultural and handicraft products for export.

4. Socio-cultural development

- Education-training: To invest in building a number of high-quality universities meeting international standards in Hanoi; to strive to increase the number of tertiary students to 5 per 100 people by 2020. To focus on high-level training and retraining for electronics, machinery manufacturing, electricity, material production, banking, tourism, telecommunications, and supporting industries.

- Health - people’s health care: To step up the socialization of medical and healthcare services to curb the overload at central hospitals and to synchronously develop the system of preventive medicine establishments. To prioritize the upgrade of the Hanoi Medical University, the Hanoi University of Pharmacy and major medical research institutes in the region.

- Culture, sports and physical training: By 2020, to complete the construction of a number of cultural and sports facilities of national and regional scale imbued with the region’s culture, thus meeting the conditions for the organization of regional and international tournaments. To synchronously invest in the system of cultural and sports institutions and entertainment sites for children in Hanoi and other localities in the region.

- Poverty reduction, job generation and social welfare: To attach special importance to creating jobs, improving jobs’ quality and increasing income for laborers. To develop the social welfare system, and diversify forms of social support and relief. To implement social housing programs for low and middle income earners, first of all in Hanoi and major cities in the region.

5. Infrastructure development

- To synchronously develop the system of economic and social infrastructure to create momentums for the region’s socio­economic development. To closely combine the investment in irrigation infrastructure with transport and the development of urban centers and rural residential spots.

a/ Transport development

- Roads: To complete the construction of the system of expressways so as to connect the economic, commercial and service centers in the region with the whole country; axes linking regions, roads linking localities and coastal roads linking sea dikes and sea ports. To invest in completing national highway sections in the region; axes linking with Ho Chi Minh road; main roads to and from Hanoi; radial axes, intersections on national highways, bypasses, belt roads and big bridges in Hanoi.

- Airports: To renovate terminal T1 of Noi Bai Airport, complete the construction of terminal T2 with a capacity to serve 25 million passengers and 0.5 million tons of cargo per year before 2015 and 50 million passengers and 2 million tons of cargo by 2020. To upgrade and develop the Cat Bi and Gia Lam Airports.

- Seaports: To build a synchronous and modem regional seaport system with the Hai Phong and Quang Ninh port cluster being the center. To focus on developing the Hai Phong seaport (Lach Huyen) into an international gateway port to satify international and regional shipping demands.

- Railways: To prioritize the upgrade and modernization of the existing railway system and develop elevated railways in Hanoi Capital. To study investment plans to build express railway lines from Hanoi to Ho Chi Minh City, Lao Cai, Hai Phong and Lang Son. By 2020, Hanoi’s public transport is expected to serve 35% of passengers, while Hai Phong and other urban areas, 15-20%.

- Waterways: To upgrade and build a number of major ports and passenger and cargo wharves along the Red river and Thai Binh river and other inland waterway routes in the region while upgrading inland waterway ports.

b/ Power supply infrastructure: To invest in building power supply projects and networks in conformity with the electricity master plan 7. To prioritize investment in plants of 1,000 MW or more each and develop a synchronous power transmission network in line with the schedule of power plants’ operation. To study the application of a smart power network with modem technologies in connecting with national and regional countries’ power grids.

c/ Water supply and drainage system and environmental sanitation

To step by step make investment to ensure the water supply to urban centers and industries in the whole region. Ninety percent of urban centers of grade III or higher and 70% of urban centers of grade IV will have access to clean water by 2015; and 90% of urban centers of grade IV or higher and 70% of urban centers of grade V will have access to clean water by 2020;

To invest in building a number of hazardous and toxic solid waste treatment facilities for the entire region and in localities. To build garbage classification and treatment facilities in cities, towns, industrial parks and craft villages as well as solid and medical waste treatment facilities in all localities.

To deal with regular inundation in the rainy season in urban centers of grade II or higher, collect and treat around 85% of total urban domestic solid waste quantity by 2015 and 90% by 2020; and to ensure that urban centers of grade IV or higher will not be regularly flooded in the rainy season.

d/ Irrigation infrastructure

To reinforce and repair the river and sea dike system, pump stations, and salinity intrusion prevention, flood water discharge, fresh water retention and drainage projects suitable to the conditions of climate change and sea level rise. To focus on upgrading a number of key irrigation projects such as Bac Hung Hai, Nhue River, Bac Nam Ha, northern Duong River; to upgrade irrigation projects to serve irrigation and the agricultural sector’s restructuring; and to combine investment in building small irrigation works in island and mountainous areas to supply water for people’s daily life and production with hunger eradication and poverty reduction, population stabilization and security and defense assurance.

To formulate plans to ensure the safety of people’s lives and property in areas zoned off for hydropower reservoirs’ flood water discharge when necessary for the safety of Hanoi Capital and other provinces and cities in the region.

6. Environmental protection

- To prioritize the development of sectors applying the clean production mechanism and cutting-edge technologies with low-energy consumption and low emission; and to promote the socialization of environmental protection services.

- To enhance the inspection and supervision of the implementation of environmental protection commitments by industrial and tourism establishments, and implement environmental audit and apply economic and administrative tools in environmental protection management to projects.

- To implement environmental zoning and the integrated management of river basins and coastal areas to prevent shipping-related problems such as oil spill, toxic chemical leaks, etc.

7. Combination of socio-economic development and defense and security

- To zone off and build defense economic zones, closely combine the two strategic tasks of socio-economic development and defense- security consolidation, to strengthen defense potential such as building all-people defense and people’s security posture, and to be ready to frustrate hostile forces’ plots and schemes.

- To ensure close coordination among ministries, sectors and localities in implementing socio-economic development tasks and building key defense-economic zones, defense works and solid provincial and municipal defense areas.

V. ORIENTATIONS FOR ORGANIZATION OF SPACE DEVELOPMENT

1. Orientations for land use

To boost land administration under the motto of effective exploitation and economical use of land, to minimize the conversion of agricultural land into non-agricultural land. To properly implement the allocation of land to organizations, households and individuals for stable and permanent use in accordance with the State’s regulations on the principles of publicity and strict legality for organizations and individuals’ land use rights.

2. Urban system development

- To build urban systems and new urban centers towards modernity and civilization associated with the development of industry and services on the basis of ensuring the harmonious development of the northern and southern sub-regions of the Red River delta.

- To attach importance to the reasonable development of industrial parks and new urban centers to save land and preserve the eco-environment. To closely combine urban development, especially in coastal locality like Hai Phong and Quang Ninh, with the assurance of security, defense and social safety.

- To develop Hanoi with a population of around 7.9-8.0 million by 2020 into a wealthy, beautiful, civilized, modem and typical regional center of the country, ensure the performance of its function as a political, cultural, scientific, technological, commercial and economic center of the country, tin the basis of assignment and cooperation to form a reasonable system of urban centers, industrial parks and economic corridors to be the “backbone” for the whole region’s development.

- To develop the Hanoi Capital region with around 13.5 million people by 2020 together with the development of a number of satellite urban centers from the west and south of the region to belt road 4; from the north to Me Linh and Dong Anh areas; and from the east to Gia Lam and Long Bien areas.

- To develop Hai Phong city with a population of around 2.2 million by 2020, including around 1.5 million inner city residents into a gateway for economic integration of the whole northern region with priorities given to investment in completing infrastructure, including seaport, airport and road and railway lines and axes connecting with Hanoi capital and major economic centers in the region.

- To develop Ha Long city into the region’s unique sea city with a population of around 630,000 people by 2020, which is closely linked with other coastal urban centers of the region by the Ha Long-Van Don-Hai Ha-Mong Cai dynamic economic belt.

- To develop Hai Duong city with more than 350,000 people by 2020 into a central urban center with the main function of developing industry along with assuming some of the region’s scientific research and technological transfer services.

- To develop Nam Dinh city with a population of around 518,000 people by 2020 into a central urban center of the Red River delta’s southern region with priorities given to the development of industries serving agriculture, training and medical treatment for the Red river delta’s southern sub-region, Ninh Binh and Thai Binh urban clusters and coastal urban centers.

3. Development of economic sub-regions

To focus on the development of industrial parks and industrial production establishments in Vinh Phuc, Bac Ninh, Hai Duong and Quang Ninh provinces and Hai Phong city and limit the development of industries and industrial parks in provinces with rice cultivation advantages to contribute to ensuring national food security. To make the best use of midland areas (infertile land) and coastal areas (poor land) to arrange industrial and service projects. To complete the construction of new residential areas that are underway and gradually adjust the development and arrangement of rural residential areas toward having centralized and modern socio­economic infrastructure.

a/ The Red River delta’s northern sub-region (or the northern key economic region) covers Hanoi, Vinh Phuc, Bac Ninh, Hai Duong, Hung Yen and Quang Ninh provinces and Hai Phong city.

To develop the Hanoi Capital region into the country’s political, cultural, economic and scientific and technological center. To focus on developing a number of industries and services that are the region’s strengths into major economic sectors to promote growth.

To become the country’s leading sub-region in raising the efficiency of using resources and to speed up its quality and sustainable growth. To closely combine economic development with raising people’s material and spiritual lives, ensuring social justice and progress, reasonably using natural resources and environment and firmly safeguarding defense and security.

b/ The Red River delta’s southern sub-region (covering Ha Nam, Thai Binh, Ninh Binh and Nam Dinh provinces):

- To prioritize the development of high- quality rice zones, large-scale cattle and poultry breeding and aquaculture; to focus on developing supporting industries for farm produce processing and post-harvest management of agricultural produce. To develop Nam Dinh city into a science and technology transfer center with focus on bio-technologies such as cross-breeding and production of high-yield and high-quality plant varieties and animal breeds.

- To promote the preservation and upholding of the region’s cultural and historic#! values, develop types of eco-tours, craft village tours, seminar and conference tours; and to develop fair, exhibition and trade promotion centers; and sports and physical training.

c/ Developing major economic corridors to create a development frame:

To build and develop major economic corridors linked with urban centers and industrial parks into combined economic c orridors that play the role of a momentum for economic development of the entire region, including the Hanoi-Hai Phong economic corridor, the inner city areas of Hanoi-Noi Bai- Ha Long; the Hanoi-Viet Tri through Vinh Yen city; the Mong Cai-Quang Ninh-Hai Phong- Kim Son-Ninh Binh coastal economic corridor; and the Hanoi-Lang Son economic corridor, i 53

VI. LIST OF PROGRAMS AND PROJECTS PRIORITIZED FOR INVESTMENT STUDY

(see enclosed Appendix)

VII. SOLUTIONS TO IMPLEMENT THE MASTER PLAN

1. Fields prioritized for development

- To complete the policy and mechanism system to promote the regional economic development; to create a transparent and fair competitive environment; and to reform administrative procedures.

- To synchronously develop the infrastructure system, particularly the transport network to create linkages among localities in the region and adjacent areas, the irrigation network to serve rice cultivation and aquaculture as well as projects to prevent and mitigate the impacts of global climate change.

- To focus on raising the quality of education- training and vocational training and quickly developing highly skilled human resources to meet social demands. To promote the application of high technology to production to increase productivity and products’ quality and value.

2. Investment capital solutions

- To effectively mobilize resources, especially bring into play internal strength to invest in socio-economic development.

- To focus on raising state budget collections, increasing the prevention of revenue losses, and strictly handling tax evasions and trade frauds to ensure the correct, adequate and timely collection of state budget.

- To prioritize investment capital from the state budget in works and projects of regional strategic significance and those that are unable to retrieve capital, environmental pollution treatment, essential social infrastructure and rural and agricultural development projects; to arrange the budget for implementing social welfare policies, particularly for poor people and policy beneficiaries; and to strengthen expenditure control and ensure the effective use of budget capital for socio-economic development in the region.

- To formulate and promulgate a list of programs and projects calling for investment until 2020; to step up public information work and promote investment to attract capital from all economic sectors; and to make the best use of ODA capital sources to invest in developing a large-scale, synchronous and modem technical- economic infrastructure.

- To organize land use right auctions in order to mobilize capital from domestic and foreign investors for development investment, effectively exploit resources from land; to promulgate investment incentive policies while creating an open investment environment; to develop the financial market; and to accelerate the socialization of investment in healthcare, education, culture and sports.

- To expand BOT, BT, BTO, and PPP investment forms to facilitate the development of capital markets; and to develop investment joint ventures and capital contributions with assets.

3. Mechanism and policy solutions

- Support policies for rice cultivation zones to ensure national food security (coordinating with localities in providing preferential credits to buy and store rice for price stabilization and to invest in infrastructure and warehouse. system to create momentums for development); to support the development of clean and hi-tech agricultural products, particularly export products, and build brand names for agricultural products.

- Incentive policies for the development of agricultural, forestry and fisheries processing and manufacturing industries in remote and disadvantaged areas. Specific investment, finance and credits policies for sub-regions with lots of rivers and canals, including investment rate and quota mechanisms for development projects funded with budget capital and credits originated from the budget.

4. Human resource solutions

- To formulate and promulgate policies to attract talents and highly-skilled technical workers to permanently work in localities in the region while speeding up on-the-spot human resources training in line with the pace of the region’s socio-economic restructuring.

- To increase investment in education and training, healthcare and culture to increase people’s knowledge, raise the rate of trained employees and people’s health, and increase the qualifications of economic managers and state administrative staff. To expand vocational training, support and introduce jobs in various suitable forms; and to adopt vocational training policies for workers who change to non- agricultural occupations.

- To accelerate the formulation and publication of the plan on the entire school network (general schools, vocational training schools, colleges and universities); to prioritize land funds for non-public schools in order to boost the education-training socialization policy. To improve plans on healthcare development and training of health workers with focus on developing hi-tech medical zones; and to increase investment in specialized medical centers, training human resources for the grassroots healthcare network and preventive medicine activities.

5. Science and technology solutions

- To focus investment on scientific researches (especially in gene, energy and information) and application of technologies, particularly creative research activities together with the renovation of production technologies in the region, and concurrently promoting the provision of information on policies, administrative activities, socioeconomic and environmental issues to organizations, enterprises and people in the region.

- To formulate a national quality assessment system based on association with capable foreign scientific institutions in assessing and examining the quality of development activities like a social critical system for mechanisms, policies and major products.

- To focus on research and application to create new and effective development steps in researching and applying scientific and technological achievements in production, business and state management. To encourage creative research stemming from local and regional socio-economic development demands.

- To bring into play internal resources together with the development of international co operation, and socialization of scientific and technological activities, and combine the establishment of a science and technology market with eco-environmental protection and sustainable development.

6. Administrative reform solutions

- To continue raising the effectiveness of administrative reform in an open and transparent manner, and to increase the quality of the contingent of cadres and civil servants so as to create a favorable environment for attracting investment and well settling administrative procedures.

-To formulate and sufficiently and promptly promulgate mechanisms and policies to ensure the promotion of democracy, initiatives and creativeness, and the good operation of the entire administration system, thus meeting the development requirements.

- To raise the efficiency of management by authorities at all levels; to clearly delineate the competence and responsibilities among agencies to avoid overlaps in implementing assigned functions and tasks, and concurrently enhance the prevention and control of bureaucracy, corruption and wastefulness in the operations of state agencies.

7. Solutions to promoting cooperation and developing markets

- To expand cooperation in developing industries, training, healthcare, tourism, scientific research and technology transfer, and supplying workers among localities in the region so as to effectively bring into play the region’s potentials.

- To boost cooperation among localities in the region in promoting investment, building material zones and processing industry, expanding consumption markets for products; to share the region’s infrastructure in industries, solid waste treatment, water supply and wholesale markets, etc...; to coordinate in tourism promotion activities and organizing tours; to sustainable exploit, use and preserve water resources, and protect the environment.

- To bring into play the special strengths of the Red River delta region which has Hanoi Capital, a hub of key domestic and international roads, railways and airways to expand inter­regional cooperation, primarily with the northern midland and mountainous region and northern central region, in developing and sharing infrastructure, trade, cultural exchange, scientific research and technology transfer, human resource training and utilization, tourism development and international cooperation.

Article 2. Organization and supervision of the master plan implementation

1. After approved by the Prime Minister, the master plan on socio-economic development in the Red River delta region will be the foundation for formulating, submitting for approval and implementing the region’s sectoral master plans; and master plans on socio-economic development of localities in the region.

2. The Ministry of Planning and Investment shall assume the prime responsibility for, and coordinate with ministries, sectors and localities in the region in:

- Making public the master plan and organizing investment promotion activities and conducting public information work to attract the participation of domestic and foreign investors and all economic sectors in the master plan implementation;

- Monitoring, urging, supervising and examining the implementation of master plans of the region and of ministries, sectors and localities in the region; supervising the implementation of the region’s major investment programs and projects.

- Studying and proposing mechanisms and policies for coordination among localities in the region and with other regions. The Ministry of Planning and Investment shall assume the prime responsibility for, and coordinate with related ministries and sectors in, calling for investment in the region’s key priority projects.

3. Related ministries and sectors shall:

- Adjust and submit for approval master plans on sectors and major products in the region in line with the targets, tasks and development orientations that are approved in Article 1 of this Decision.

- Study, formulate and submit to competent state agencies for promulgation specific mechanisms and policies so as to successfully implement the targets and tasks set by the master plan.

- Coordinate with the Ministry of Planning and Investment in implementing and supervising the implementation of the master plan, and supervising the implementation of regional key investment programs and projects in priority order under their respective management so as to speed up the region’s socio-economic development.

- Ministries, sectors, and localities in the region shall work out budgetary plans and programs to promote investment at home and abroad for raising capital for the master plan implementation. In the immediate future, to include this master plan in their plans to be implemented every year and in subsequent periods.

Below are specific tasks of ministries and sectors:

a/ The Ministry of Transport: To direct the construction and completion of important transport works in the region as mentioned in this Decision; to propose a mechanism for raising capital for large-scale transport development projects in the region.

b/ The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development: To complete the formulation and organize the implementation master plans on irrigation and major agricultural and fishery products in the region. To propose mechanisms and policies to be applied to, and support localities in the region in building, hi- tech agricultural zones.

c/ The Ministry of Education and Training:

- To guide and create appropriate mechanisms for a number of universities and training institutions in modernizing their-physical foundations and developing their lecturing staffs and training programs with a view to improving the quality of human resources.

- To coordinate with related agencies in formulating incentive mechanisms and policies to turn the Red River delta into a key high-quality education-training region up to international standards.

d/ The Ministry of Industry and Trade: To direct on-schedule construction of projects on power sources and grids in the region strictly according to Electricity Master Plan VII. To direct and coordinate with related localities in building networks of regional-level wholesale marketplaces and trade centers.

e/ The Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment: To direct and coordinate the response to climate change and sea level rise; to direct and coordinate the protection and reasonable use of water sources in localities in the region; to direct and coordinate with localities in the protection of national parks and nature reserves and biodiversity conservation.

g/ The Ministry of Construction: To assume the prime responsibility for, and coordinate with related agencies in, formulating a master plan on construction in the region; to examine and supervise the construction of regional-level hazardous waste treatment zones, cemeteries and with supply systems; and to coordinate with localities in building water drainage and wastewater treatment systems so as to gradually deal with inundation in urban centers.

h / The Ministry of Science and Technology: To direct and coordinate with related agencies in building scientific-technological capacity of institutes, schools, and technical and technology application centers in the region; and to coordinate in building hi-tech parks in the region.

i/ The Ministry of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs: To direct and coordinate with related localities in building vocational.

training centers, especially regional-level high- qualification training centers.

k/ The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism: To assume the prime responsibility for, and coordinate with related agencies in, formulating a master plan on tourism and sports development in the Red River delta region, and submit it to the Prime Minister for approval, which will serve as a legal basis for tourism development and better management of tourist product development plans, and construction of national tourist zones and sites through 2020, in order to link tours and tourist routes in the region with other regions.

1/ The Ministry of Health: To direct the implementation of the program on development of a complete system of preventive health establishments and key medicine and pharmacy schools in the region.

4. The People’s Committees of the provinces and centrally run cities in the region:

- To take the initiative in reviewing, modifying, supplementing and submitting to competent authorities for approval their adjusted master plans on local socio-economic development through 2020 to comply with the objectives and tasks approved under this Decision.

- To coordinate with ministries and sectors in organizing investment promotion activities and conducting public information work to attract domestic and foreign investors as well as different economic sectors to participate in the master plan implementation.

- To supervise and examine the implementation of development investment projects in their localities according to their assigned functions and report implementation results to the Prime Minister.

Article 3. This Decision takes effect on the date of its signing.

Article 4. The chairpersons of the People’s Committees of the provinces and centrally run cities in the region, ministers, heads of ministerial-level agencies and heads of government-attached agencies shall implement this Decision.-

Prime Minister

NGUYEN TAN DUNG

Appendix

LIST OF PROGRAMS AND PROJECTS PRIORITIZED FOR INVESTMENT STUDY IN THE RED RIVER DELTA REGION THROUGH 2020

(To the Prime Minister s Decision No. 795/QD-TTg of May 23, 2013)

Note: The locations, sizes, land areas and total investment amounts for the above works and projects will be calculated, selected and specified in the stages of formulation and submission of investment projects, depending on the capacity of balancing and raising investment capital in each period.-