| THE PRIME MINISTER OF GOVERNMENT ------- | SOCIALIST REPUBLIC OF VIET NAM Independence - Freedom - Happiness ---------- |
| No. 27/2008/QD-TTg | Hanoi, February 05, 2008 |
DECISION
PROMULGATING A NUMBER OF MECHANISMS AND POLICIES TO SUPPORT SOCIO-ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT IN NORTHERN MIDLAND AND MOUNTAINOUS PROVINCES TILL 2010
THE PRIME MINISTER
Pursuant to the December 25, 2001 Law on Organization of the Government,
At the proposal of the Minister of planning and investment in Report No. 8409/TTr-BKH dated November 15, 2007,
At the proposal of the Minister of planning and investment in Report No. 8409/TTr-BKH dated November 15, 2007,
DECIDES:
Article1. - To promulgate a number of mechanisms and policies to support the socio-economic development in northern midland and mountainous provinces to 2010 (including Lai Chau, Dien Bien, Son La, Hoa Binh, Lao Cai, Yen Bai, Ha Giang, Cao Bang, Bac Kan, Lang Son, Tuyen Quang, Thai Nguyen, Bac Giang, and Phu Tho provinces and western districts of Thanh Hoa province (consisting of Quan Hoa, Quan Son, Muong Lat, Ba Thuoc, Lang Chanh, Cam Thuy Ngoc Lac, Thach Thanh, Thuong Xuan, Nhu Xuan and Nhu Thanh) and western districts of Nghe An province (comprising Ky Son, Tuong Duong, Con Cuong, Anh Son, Tan Ky, Que Phong, Quy Chau, Quy Hop, Nghia Dan and Thanh Chuong) for the achievement of key socio-economic development targets and tasks set for the region.
1.Targets:
a/ To achieve an economic growth (GDP) rate of over 12% in the region.
b/ To give priority to development of economic infrastructure; improve the provision of social services for economic development, contributing to improving people’s living standards and gradually narrowing the gap with other regions across the country; to strive by 2010 for all communes to have access to telephone in commune centers, 70 - 75% of rural dwellers to clean water, 90-95% of communes to the national power grid, 80- 90% of households to electricity, and most households to broadcasts of the Voice of Vietnam and Vietnam Television.
c/ To eliminate soon the incidence of clinically or seasonally hungry households; to reduce percentage of poor households (according to the new poverty line) by more than 3% a year on average; to bring this percentage down to 20% by 2010.
d/ To complete by 2010 the universalization of lower secondary education across the region; to raise the percentage of school-age children going lo school to 85 - 90% at kindergarten level, 97 - 99% at primary level, 85 - 90% at lower secondary level, and 45 - 50% at upper secondary level; to improve the learning and accommodation conditions of boarding schools for ethnic minority pupils and semi-boarding schools for home-stay pupils.
e/ To create a positive change in the labor structure and human resources quality; to strengthen vocational training, striving for the trained labor percentage of 25 - 30% and all commune cadres to be given technical and professional training by 2010.
f/ To better tackle social problems, increase general knowledge levels of the population, markedly improve the spiritual life of the people, especially ethnic minorities.
g/ To protect forests, water resources and eco-system; to use and protect natural resources and the environment for ensuring economic growth, poverty reduction and life quality improvement.
2. Principal tasks:
a/ Regarding agriculture, forestry and fisheries
- To make and implement plans on food production for more efficient and exhaustive use of land and climate and other advantages of each region and sub region; to expand the water rice acreage, reduce sloping-land farming.
- To continue to form consolidated specialized farming areas for commercial production (of tea, coffee, mulberry, sugarcane, fruit, medical herb, aromatic plant, flower and vegetable, etc.) on an appropriate scope and in association with processing industries using advanced and modern technology for higher quality of produce and better competitiveness of goods for export and domestic consumption.
- To develop husbandry, especially cattle raising, associated with processing industries and market outlets, improve the value and competitiveness of products.
- To restructure three types of forest, identify a reasonable area of protection forests to be strictly protected through classification; accelerate the growing of production forests; to maintain good care and protection of existing forests, develop new forests including watershed protection forest, economic forest and raw-material forest for processing industries as planned; to develop watershed protection forests upstream theDa River for stable water supply for major hydropower projects in the region.
- To complete the allocation of land and forests in association of sedentarization; to arrange residential and production land for long-term stability, stop the slash-and-burn farming practice; to properly combine the expansion of fixed farmland with sedentanrization and provide people with access to clean water.
- To develop new plant and animal species, new farming techniques, practice intensive farming, increase crop cycles, promote the use and conservation of land resources; to develop services of agriculture, forestry and fisheries extension and plant and animal breeding establishments to suit local conditions for commercial production and hunger elimination and poverty reduction; to properly organize processing and post-harvest preservation work; to increase the training of farmers to make them change back ward habits of production and properly employ farming techniques transferred to them.
- To develop fresh-water aquaculture in reservoirs and lakes, and the rearing of fishes in cages in rivers and streams.
- To develop irrigation systems for agricultural production.
- To properly implement investment projects on agriculture, forestry and fisheries in the People's Democratic Republic of Laos in areas bordering Vietnam.
b/ Regarding industry and construction
- To elaborate and implement master plans on development of industries in the northern midland and mountainous region to 2010; on development of the system of power transmission and distribution grids; on development of small and medium hydropower plants; on development of new and renewable energies in northern midland and mountainous provinces; on development of key products in mechanical engineering, metallurgy, chemical and other key industrial products for northern midland and mountainous provinces to 2020.
- To elaborate and implement a scheme to boost industrial extension activities and develop industrial extension centers in the northern midland and mountainous region.
- To focus resources on building hydropower plants, first of all, Son La and Tuyen Quang, at the same time raising capital from all economic sectors for the development of small and medium hydropower plants and coal-fueled thermal power plants
- To combine the effective production and processing of minerals under centrally managed programs and projects in the region with the development of building materials and chemicals factories of appropriate sizes based on available regional natural resources and market demand.
- To study, explore and assess mineral deposits in the northern midland and mountainous provinces and delegate the power of management of mineral exploitation; to exploit minerals in to-be-submerged areas of hydropower plants. To develop the exploitation and processing of minerals as planned and in an efficient manner.
- To build anew and improve processing facilities of tea, milk and other agricultural produce in association with material supply zones; develop export processing facilities.
- To keep expanding the cultivation of material forest for processing industries, provide sufficient raw materials for the Bai Bang Paper Industrial Park; to build more plants of paper, pulp and wooden furniture for export.
- To focus resources on developing handicraft and cottage industries such as metal working electrical mechanical engineering, cold and mechanical repairing, to meet requirements of people's production and life as well as requirements of people's warfare when necessary; to focus on developing traditional craft villages.
- To keep expanding, and improving the quality and effectiveness of, industrial parks and industrial clusters in the region; to build infrastructure of industrial parks along the Yunnan (China) - Lao Cai - Hanoi - Hai Phong economic corridor, the Lang Son - Bac Giang – Hanoi route and the Hoa Binh - Son La - Dien Bien - Lai Chau route for better tapping the potential of the fanned out roads in the region; to promote international trade; boost socio-economic development of difficulty-ridden areas of the midland and mountainous North.
- To increase cooperation with and in the People's Democratic Republic of Lao in industrial development, mineral exploitation and job generation, especially in areas bordering Vietnam.
c/ Regarding trade and services
- To elaborate and implement a plan on development of tourism in the region to 2020.
- To priontize the development of the following tourism attractions: Dien Bien Phu, the Pac Bo historical site, Tan Trao, Dinh Hoa, the King Hungs Temples, Sa Pa, Mau Son, Ba Be Lake, Nui Coc Lake, Thac Ba Lake and the Hoa Binh hydropower plant; to promote the provision of tourism services particular to the region such as eco-tourism, history tourism, culture tourism, adventurous sport tourism and resort tourism in order to make use of these tourism attractions in various and appropriate forms.
