Building Vinh City to be the central urban area of the North Central region is not only the political mission of Vinh City but also the central political mission of Nghe An province. However, in order to successfully implement the central resolutions and decisions on the development of Nghe An and Vinh City, there should be more determination of local government leaders and active participation of local residents.

Remarkable results

Resolution 26 of the Politburo identifies Vinh City as a class I city, the nucleus of the urbanization process and the driving force for socio-economic development of Nghe An and the North Central region. It can be seen that Resolution 26 of the Politburo is considered as a factor that opens up opportunities to change vision and create new motivation when identifying Vinh as the central urban area - the capital of the North Central region; and identify the development functions of a regional center that Vinh needs and undertakes. Developing Vinh City to a new level is to create a development center that plays the role of the locomotive of regional development, the focal point of convergence and development of the whole region and Nghe An.

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Needs more effort to construct Vinh City as the center of the North Central region

Nghe An in general and Vinh City have recently made new qualitative changes in the development process. A number of large-scale projects have chosen Nghe An as a "stopover" to implement, operate and build brand. That is a good point after the diligent efforts of leaders at all levels in implementing the strategy to attract investors, gradually improving the technical infrastructure system. ODA capital from major donors such as the World Bank, Asian Development Bank, German Bank for Reconstruction, investors such as Becamex Binh Duong, Hemaraj Group, Thailand has had a widespread influence in infrastructure as well as socio-economic development. Industry sector has also gradually developed more sustainably.

In addition to labor-intensive industries, it has shifted to developing high technology and techniques industries, and developing more interested in environmental protection such as electronic components, information technology field, ect... The total scale of medical and educational institutions system expanded and changed qualitatively. The changes in living standards of Vinh urban residents also prove that the "shirt" that the Central Government gave for Vinh City has initially been clearly shaped.

After 3 years of implementing Decision No. 2239 of the Prime Minister, Vinh City has expanded its administrative boundaries by 1.56 times (from 67.5 km2 to 105 km2), with a population of 315,000 people. Vinh is also one of the first two cities - the class I city in the country (recognized in 2008). The completion of the National Target Program on building new rural areas for 9 out of 9 suburban communes in 2016 has created momentum for urban-rural areas to develop economy and support the promotion of production, business, and social security. Vinh airport was upgraded to an international airport, a number of high-class hotels were built in Vinh city, Cua Lo beach Tourism Urban Complex flourished, new industrial parks were built. The business and trade network has developed rapidly, and the science - technology structure has been increasingly strengthened. Overall, Vinh City has constituted regional center elements in certain industries and fields.

Must innovate, change mindset

However, that is just the initial start, not systematic and has not made a strong breakthrough. Vinh City has just been the capital of Nghe An province, but has not yet reached the peak of regional center development. Vinh is not much different from other provincial cities. The economic growth rate was fast in the period 2006 - 2010, achieved quite well in the period 2011 - 2015 but was not sustainable, the size of the economy increased but was not commensurate with the position of the city and did not reach the targeted goals. The scope of influence, the level of impact of some fields is still insignificant and has not spread widely. Vinh is still not really attractive to potential investors, especially FDI due to limited opportunities for association and effective business/investment results of active enterprises. While the local business sector is still weak, there is still an absence of an effective FDI enterprise sector. That is not to mention, the city still does not have a typical product with a popular brand, identified by tourists.

It can be seen that the development of Vinh City in recent years is mainly compared to itself. While other cities in the North Central region have also undergone drastic changes in all aspects. Because in the overall growth rate, Vinh still has many barriers, limitations, and lack of outstanding.

At the Workshop "Vinh City in the New Stage: Vision, Strategic Orientation and Development", delegates gave opinions that: Located too close to the Northern development area and the development of two economic zones Vung Ang and Nghi Son make Vinh not have much potential in developing traditional industrial zones. Not to mention the financial centers at the two ends of the bridge Hanoi - Ho Chi Minh City can meet most of the financial needs for investors in other provinces.

Therefore, to promote its central role, Vinh City should prioritize towards becoming a center for research, human resource training and providing high-class services (intensive medical, commercial, financial, etc.) for the North Central region; it is necessary to encourage training institutions to develop international joint programs to improve the training of high-quality human resources.

Besides, in order to reduce the geo-economic disadvantage and increase the attractiveness of Vinh, it is advisable to focus on producing goods with low or negligible transportation costs; improve the business and investment environment and the business and technology incubation ecological environment to make Vinh more attractive.

Vinh City take an important responsibility in the overall development strategy of Nghe An. This puts considerable pressure on local authorities in defining visions, renovating mechanisms and drastically implementing policies to promote business development. Even changing the mindset to match the development trend.

The qoutation of an opinion of Dr. Tran Kim Hao, Senior Researcher of the Central Institute for Economic Management about the development orientation of Vinh City in the new vision substitutes the conclusion: Any project or topic , whether big or small, it is necessary to have the courage and responsibility of the leaders to succeed. Developing Vinh City into the central urban area of the North Central region is not a small project, so it needs the participation of the whole political system. The local head who came up with the main ideas, deciding the appearance of Vinh City in the future is plays a very important role to fullfill the mission. Certainly, the development planning must be based on the content and unified planning, including long-term and short-term goals. Currently, Nghe An has a lot of residents working across the country and abroad, including many successful scientists and entrepreneurs. This is an important and potential resource. If it is exploited well, it will be a very favorable factor for the successful construction and implementation of the project to develop Vinh City into a central urban area of the North Central region.