Hai Phong wants to establish a coastal economic zone in the south.

At the conference, Mr. Le Tien Chau, Secretary of the Hai Phong City Party Committee, recalled that the late General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong had suggested that instead of summarizing the five-year implementation of the Politburo's Conclusion 72, Hai Phong City could consider proposing that the Politburo issue a new resolution to align with future trends, orientations, and aspirations.

Based on the above suggestion, Resolution No. 45 of the Politburo was issued, and this serves as a "guiding principle" for the development of Hai Phong, with clear and specific directions, and strong mechanisms and policies that have enabled the city to fully utilize its potential and advantages, achieving significant breakthroughs in recent times.

After 5 years of implementing the resolution, Hai Phong has achieved many important results and is gradually affirming its position and role as a major socio-economic center of the Red River Delta region as well as the whole country.

However, Mr. Chau also frankly acknowledged that Hai Phong still faces many difficulties and challenges, including both internal difficulties and issues related to the overall mechanism.

Specifically, Resolution 45 sets the goal of Hai Phong leading the country in industrialization and modernization, but in reality, the Dinh Vu - Cat Hai economic zone is currently more than 80% occupied by industrial land, and the development of new industrial zones and clusters is progressing slower than planned.

Hai Phong is considered one of the fastest-growing localities in the country, but its system of specific policies and mechanisms to promote development is still modest and insufficient to create a strong impetus for the city's development, commensurate with the potential and position of this region.

In particular, Resolution 45 also sets the goal of making Hai Phong an international center for education and training, but investment in the education sector is still not commensurate with the needs. The city lacks centers for training high-quality human resources to serve the development of advanced and modern industries.

"Hai Phong hopes to receive more specific opinions and solutions to focus on implementing and accelerating the progress of a number of key breakthrough tasks in the coming period," Mr. Chau expressed.

Accordingly, Hai Phong hopes to soon establish and implement investment in the southern coastal economic zone to create new growth drivers in the coming period. At the same time, it aims to complete the system of specific policies and mechanisms, and pilot the model of a free trade zone in Hai Phong city.

Focus on improving the quality of human resources and promoting the attraction of high-quality personnel; especially prioritize the transportation infrastructure connecting with seaports in the city to maximize the efficiency and capacity of the seaport system in the area.

Research on piloting the implementation of a free trade zone in Hai Phong.

Proposing solutions for Hai Phong to continue its rapid development in the coming period, Deputy Minister of Planning and Investment Tran Quoc Phuong suggested that the city should focus on eight groups of tasks and solutions, such as: piloting some new, breakthrough, and unique mechanisms and policies for the city, placed in a reasonable context with other provinces and cities nationwide.

Implement decentralization and delegation of power coupled with the responsibilities of local governments; focus on researching and evaluating mechanisms, policies, and best practices both domestically and internationally. In particular, study mechanisms and policies currently applied in successful free trade zones worldwide to adapt them to the city's development conditions.

The Politburo has approved in principle several new, groundbreaking, and specific mechanisms and policies for Hai Phong, such as the establishment of a free trade zone and the pilot implementation of a one-tier and two-tier administrative model for urban governance.

Concluding the conference, Deputy Head of the Central Economic Committee Nguyen Hong Son emphasized that immediately after this preliminary review conference, the Steering Committee for the preliminary review of Resolution 45 will propose to the competent authority to issue a conclusion on continuing to implement Resolution 45 dated January 24, 2019, of the XII Politburo on building and developing Hai Phong until 2023, with a vision to 2045.

At the same time, it is necessary to supplement and improve specific mechanisms and policies for the development of Hai Phong city, especially regarding financial and budgetary management; land management; planning management; improving the income of officials and civil servants; training, applied research and development of science and technology, especially for sectors such as maritime affairs, oceanography, and marine economy…

The leaders of Hai Phong City also requested that the competent authorities promptly approve and implement a model of urban governance in Hai Phong similar to that of Ho Chi Minh City and Da Nang.

Simultaneously, research should be conducted to promptly issue a pilot project for establishing a free trade zone in Hai Phong; and the project for the southern coastal economic zone of Hai Phong should be approved to realize the tasks set out in Resolution 45 of the Politburo.