Directive 19/CT-TTg on growth and development of the Southern Key Economic Zone

DIRECTIVE 
Providing solutions to promote sustainable growth and development 
of the Southern Key Economic Zone
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The Southern Key Economic Zone (SKEZ) is a dynamic and developing economic zone with largest national contribution (in 2018, it contributed 45.4% of national GDP and its budget revenue accounted for 42.6% of total revenues of the whole country).Itseconomy shifted towards a positive direction, focusing on services that create high added value. The SKEZ is the hub attracting the largest foreign investment of the whole country, with more than 15,000 valid FDI projects, 140 operating industrial parks and export processing zones,… Along with the system of large seaports and international airports, the SKEZ has become the largest tourist center of the country, while developing various types of information technology, telecommunications and logistics services. Moreover, the SKEZ, with Ho Chi Minh City as its center, is also the largest commercial, financial, banking and securities hub of the country. The SKEZ has an attractive investment and business environment to domestic and foreign investors. Besides, social issues, environmental protection, science and technology development, job creation, healthcare, education and poverty reduction always received great attention from the SKEZ’s provinces and cities.

However, the economic growth of the SKEZ tends to slow down, in which the average growth rate in the period of 2016-2018 is only equal to the national average. Despite being the largest KEZ of the country, the potentials of the SKEZ have not been fully promoted to create new incentives for growth, infrastructure has been inadequately developed and its connectivity is not sufficient. The quality of urban development is low. The SKEZ has been heavily affected by climate change and sea-level rise. Many areas still have serious environmental pollution. The needs of social security and the demands for human resources are not met. Development mechanisms and policies of the SKEZ remain incomplete with the lack of breakthroughs. The awareness of concerned parties is inadequate with varying levels and lack of close Regional connectivity. Besides, coordination mechanisms among the provinces and cities in the SKEZ was spontaneous, while the forms and programs of economic development coordination are still localized, not promoting effective comparative potentials of the SKEZ.

In order to create favorable conditions to the SKEZ to promote its potentials and advantages, make rapid yet sustainable development, the Prime Minister asks the ministers, heads of ministerial-level agencies, heads of Government-attached agencies, chairpersons of the People s Committees of the provinces and cities in the SKEZ (hereinafter referred to as ministries, branches and localities) to pay sufficient attention to instruct the implementation of objectives and solutions as follows:

I. OBJECTIVES

1. Sustainable economic development shall match with justice assurance, socio-political stability and the harmony between the economic and social development objectives, the harmony between environmental protection and forestation, the harmony betweenindustrial development and urban environmental protection, as well as water and air protection. Efforts shall be given to realize the objectives set out in Decision No. 252/QD-TTg dated February 13, 2014 of the Prime Minister approving the Master Plan on socio-economic development of the SKEZ by 2020, with orientations towards 2030.

2. Innovating, strongly applying advanced technologies, making good use of the opportunities of the fourth industrial revolution and the Free Trade Agreements and Protection of investment incentives such as CPTPP, EVFTA, EVIPA,...; Renovating ways of thinking, promoting self-reliance and identifying breakthrough factors to strive for, to develop quickly and sustainably and to contribute practically to the realization of development strategy of the SKEZ and the whole country.

3. The SKEZ is the driving dynamic economic zone, the high-quality economic, commercial, cultural, training, medical and scientific research hub of the whole country and the SKEZ, and the educational and training center for human resources, especially high-quality personnel. It also plays the leading role in scientific and technological transfer and application in the country; acting as a bridge with the Mekong Delta and the Central Highlands, with Ho Chi Minh City as its center.

4.7 over 8 provinces and cities in the SKEZ shall make efforts to accommodatethe central budget by 2025.

II. TASKS AND SOLUTIONS

1. Mechanisms and policies

a) Ministry of Planning and Investment shall:

- Develop the Law on Investment in the forms of public-private partners and report it to the Government to submit to the National Assembly for discussions at the 8th session of the 14th National Assembly; Supplement,  study and improve policies and law provisions on public investment, serving as a basis to advance the implementation of public investment projects and encourage the mobilization of social capital for investment in traffic infrastructure.

- Propose plans to complete mechanisms of monitoring KEZ to promote the pro-activity and creativity of the Regional Assembly members - in which the responsibilities shall be clearly defined and the coordination among the Steering Committee, the Regional Assemblies, ministries, branches and localities shall be strengthened-Then report them to the Prime Minister in the fourth quarter of 2019.

- Expeditiously request the Government, the Prime Minister for approval of the task of planning the national and regional plans for deployment, serving as a basis for planning national and regional plans for the period of 2021 – 2030, with vision to 2050 in accordance with the provisions of the Law on Planning before the fourth quarter of 2019.

b) The Ministry of Finance shall:

- Study and complete regulations on exploitation of infrastructure assets; public asset lease, transfer of the right to exploit the assets; infrastructure use fees, post-investment fees, and the State s regulation comply with market principles, ensuring publicity and transparency, reporting to the Prime Minister in 2020.

c) People s Committees of provinces and cities in the SKEZ shall:

- Expeditiously assess the situation of implementation and propose solutions for the next period, then submit them to the Ministry of Planning and Investment in July 2019 for the Resolution No.53-NQ/TW dated August 29, 2005 of the 14th Politburo on promoting socio-economic development and ensuring national defense and security in the SKEZ by 2020 and Conclusion No.27-KL/TW dated August 2, 2012 of the Politburo on continuing implementing the Resolution No.53-NQ/TW, the Prime Minister s Decision No.275/QD-TTg dated February 18, 2014 promulgating the Plan on implementation of Conclusion No.27-KL/TW of the Politburo; Decision No.252/QD-TTg dated February 13, 2014 of the Prime Minister approving the Master Plan on socio-economic development in the SKEZ by 2020, with orientations towards 2030; Decision No.941/QD-TTg dated June 25, 2015, Decision No.2059/QD-TTg dated November 24, 2015 and Decision No. 2360/QD-TTg dated December 22, 2015 of the Prime Minister on the establishment of the Steering Committee, the Monitoring Team and Coordination Regulation for key economic zones.

- ThePeople s Committees of Ho Chi Minh City shall continue to instruct the relevant agencies to take resolve to effectively implement Resolution No.16-NQ/TW of the Politburo on orientations and tasks of developing Ho Chi Minh City by 2020; Resolution No.54/2017/QH14 of the National Assembly on piloting a number of specific mechanisms and policies for urban development; perform the assigned tasks as the chair of the SKEZ Regional Assembly prescribed in Decision No.941/QD-TTg, Decision No.2059/QD-TTg and Decision No. 2360/QD-TTg.

- Comprehensively and effectively implement Poverty Reduction Programs and Projects; create opportunities for poor households to access preferential policies on land, credit and vocational training; support and create favorable conditions for poor households to enhance production and increase income towards sustainable poverty escapes; effectively implement policies to attract investment of enterprises in agriculture and rural areas as well as policies on agricultural insurance and agricultural extension.

2. Connectivity of branches and fields

a) The Ministry of Transportation shall:

- Accelerate the progress of key projects and connective projects in the SKEZ, especially Ben Luc - Long Thanh highway, with expectation to start the Long Thanh International Airport Project in the fourth quarter of 2020.

- Instruct the technical open of Trung Luong - My Thuan and My Thuan - Can Tho expressways by 2021.

- Focus on inland waterway transport connected with water transportation from Mekong Delta to Ho Chi Minh City and the provinces of the Southeast; promote the development of water transportation cooperation with Cambodia.

- Coordinate with localities to call for investors to pay attention to invest in the form of PPP, take advantage of ODA capital and other legal capital sources to develop infrastructure; integrate traffic infrastructure investment with urban developments, ensuring publicity and transparency to attract investors.

b) Ministry of Industry and Trade, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development shall:

- Give priority to developing the SKEZ’s network of logistics hubs in areas with geographical advantages and locating near consumers or goods supplies such as industrial parks and ports. Ho Chi Minh City, particularly the Tan Son Nhat-Long Thanh axis, shall be considered the development center to spread to neighboring areas.

- Expeditiously organize the elaboration of electricity development master plan according to the Law on Planning, considering and creating conditions for potential localities like Binh Phuoc, Long An and Tay Ninh to develop renewable energy (wind power, solar power).

- Assume the prime responsibility and coordinate with the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development to connect the production and consumption of advantage products of localities in the SKEZ, helping businesses orienting their development strategies, improving product quality and searching for potential markets; encouragereputable Vietnamese goods manufacturing enterprises to open various stores and distribution centers in rural areas; cooperate and exchange experiences in forming and linking the chain of production - processing - consumption of advantage agricultural products of localities in the SKEZ.

c) The Ministry ofScience and Technology shall:

- Support the construction of development centers of Technologies as well as science and technology enterprises in universities, enterprises, industrial parks and high-tech zones in the provinces and cities of the SKEZ, serving as the basis to conduct application of innovates, science and technologies.

- Promote the development of innovative entrepreneurship environment in the SKEZ, continue to improve mechanisms and policies related to the development of innovative entrepreneurship environment associated with features of SKEZ; develop a scheme to develop the National Start-up Center in Ho Chi Minh City, then report the scheme to the Prime Minister in October 2019.

- Strengthen international cooperation in terms of science and technology; promote connectivity among Institutes - Schools - Enterprises in the SKEZ to promote the transfer and application of scientific and technological results; promote the development of science and technology enterprises as well as innovative entrepreneurship in the SKEZ.

d) theMinistry of Education and Training, Ministry of Labor - Invalids and Social Affairs shall

- Support provinces and cities in the SKEZ in innovating and enhancing the quality of higher education and vocational education, the development of human resources, especially high-quality personnel to meet the requirements of socio-economic development of the SKEZ.

- Study and adjust the training programs of colleges and intermediate schools in the direction of enhancing professional skills training; open training courses and subjects according to the needs of the labor market of the SKEZ.

- Develop the labor market and strengthen the supply-demand connection of human resources between the SKEZ and the whole country, regionally and internationally; comprehensively and effectively implement policies and programs on job creation; reformpolicies on salary and social security; improve policies on labor, employment and social security, in which attention shall be paid to improvement of social welfare for workers, especially migrant workers.

-Plan to develop and train scientific and technological human resources in the direction of ensuring quality, comprehensiveness and adequacy of professional quality and structure, meeting the requirements of economic development, socio-economic situation and international integration; review and arrange the network of vocational training institutions to ensure efficiency and quality to meet the Regional socio-economic development requirements; develop connective policies and training cooperation between vocational training institutions, especially public institutions, with enterprises of all economic sectors to take advantage of the equipment and machinery and ensure the output of trained workers; attach importance to training high-quality workers, raising labor productivity, meeting the requirements of international integration for the SKEZ and the whole country.

e) TheMinistry of Natural Resources and Environment shall:

Expeditiously develop and promulgate regulations to require local authorities taking responsibilities for wastewater treatment in river basins, while effectively manage, use and save natural resources (land, water and mineral resources) in accordance with environmental protection and climate change response towards sustainable development.

g) The People s Committees of provinces and cities in the SKEZ shall:

- Complete a shared database of provinces and cities in the SKEZ on economic sectors, social fields, progress of regional major projects, which shall serve the establishment and monitoring of regional connectivity, forecasting, environmental protection, climate change response in the third quarter of 2020.

- Promote coordination and integration within and outside the SKEZ in the process of promoting investment, mobilizing and allocating resources, building socio-economic infrastructures; trainingand job creation; scientific research and technology transfer; development ofinter-provincial and inter-regional tourist routes and programs.

- Closely coordinate with ministries and branches to well implement and monitor the connectivity among provinces and cities in the SKEZ; while promptly proposing to the Government appropriate mechanisms and policies to remove difficulties and obstacles in the implementation process.

3. Solutions of resources

a) TheMinistry of Planning and Investment shall

- Expeditiously complete the Prime Minister s Directive on the medium-term public investment plan in the period of 2021 – 2025 - in which the criteria for prioritizing the allocation of capital for key projects of key economic zones, including the SKEZ, shall be proposed to complete infrastructure, especially transport and social infrastructure - then report the results to the Prime Minister in August 2019.

- Take priority on using the State resources to invest and develop inter-regional transport infrastructure in order to basically solve the traffic congestion and flooding situation in Ho Chi Minh City and some major cities in the SKEZ, especially key areas with high population density in urban centers.

b) The Ministry of Finance shall:

- Propose mechanisms and policies to create the left revenue and regulatory proportion in the period of 2021-2025 for the provinces and cities in the SKEZ, which accommodate central budget, to boost investment in developing economic infrastructure and technical infrastructure, especially transport and social infrastructure, then report the results to the Prime Minister in the fourth quarter of 2019.

- Continue to improve the revenue estimation for key localities based on actual socio-economic data; promote the application of electronic invoices, especially in the Ho Chi Minh city and other cities in the SKEZs; enhance anti-erosion of tax bases to ensure the revenue source meeting the needs of socio-economic development.

c) The Ministry of Transportation shall:

Take priority on using State resources to invest and synchronize socio-economic infrastructure, especially key transport infrastructure which spreading and creating regional connectivity such as: works on the center-oriented axis, perimeters, routes connecting seaports and international transport corridors...

d) ThePeople s Committees of provinces and cities in the SKEZ shall:

- Accelerate the progress of the site clearance and resettlement of residents and items of key and regional connective projects, especially the Long Thanh International Airport Project expected to start at the end of 2020.

- Actively mobilize a variety of resources, integrate capital sources between the Government and local authorities, take advantage of ODA, private capital sources and other legitimate capital sources to deploy key projects that make breakthroughs and regional connectivity.

-Take priority on investing in important infrastructure development projects with difficulties in attracting external investors; promote investment attraction in the form of PPP, socialization... especially in the transport sector to promote the advantages of waterway transport in the SKEZ.

- Effectively implement the scheme to restructure the economy associated with the transformation of growth model in all sectors towards improving the quality, efficiency and competence.

- Strictly implement the auction of land use rights, especially in urban areas, to create resources for infrastructure investment, serving as the basis to promote regional connectivity, socio-economic development and to create the most favorable conditions for the citizens.

- Study and develop industrial parks, especially high-value processing and manufacturing industrial parks and ecological industrial parks.

- Continue the implementation of solutions to promote business and investment environment as prescribed in Resolution No.02/NQ-CP; promote administrative reform and improve the business and investment environment; improve the PCI and PAPI; make the most favorable conditions on space, resources and opportunities for the private sector to develop; ensure the legitimate fairness for private economy to other economic sectors in business competition and resources allocation.

-Train human resources ensuring reasonable quality and professional structure; attach importance to training high-quality human resources to meet the requirements of receiving modern technologies; develop human resource training associated with the development of production, businesses and services.

- Sustainably develop agriculture and rural areas; raise the added value, efficiency and competitiveness associated with new rural development in the direction of restructuring the fields and products according to local advantages and market demands; focus on developing cooperatives and linking production with consumption of agricultural products.

- Take priority on using resources and expeditiously set up provincial plans in the period of 2021 - 2030 in accordance with the Law on Planning, Decree No.37/2019/ND-CP dated May 7, 2019 of the Government, and submit them to the Government for approval according to current law provisions on planning

III. ORGANIZATION OF IMPLEMENTATION

1. The ministries, central agencies and the People s Committees of the provinces and cities in the SKEZ shall instruct agencies and units to perform the tasks mentioned in this Directive and take accountabilities before the Government and the Prime Minister for the results of implementation; annually evaluate the implementation and report the results to the Ministry of Planning and Investment (before June 15 and December 15) to submit to the Government and the Prime Minister at regular Government meetings in June and December annually.

2. Ministers, heads of ministerial-level agencies, heads of Government-attached agencies and other central agencies and chairpersons of People s Committees of provinces and cities in the SKEZ shall organize the implementation of this Directive./.

The Prime Minister

Nguyen Xuan Phuc