Maximizing motivation, paving the way for GRDP growth (Part 1): Solid foundation

Export production at SAB Vietnam Industrial Factory (Bim Son Industrial Park).

Pillar of growth

In the context of many fluctuations and challenges, Thanh Hoa's gross regional domestic product (GRDP) growth rate in the first 6 months of the year still reached 7.88%, ranking 18th out of 34 provinces and cities after the merger. This figure has not "touched" the scenario of 10.64%, but still demonstrates the province's great efforts in economic management and the steadfast support of the business community and the people.

The most prominent economic picture in the first 6 months of the year is that the industrial sector continues to maintain its role as the main driving force, with a growth rate of 9.39% - the highest among economic sectors. According to the Department of Industry and Trade, although it has not met expectations, this is still a remarkable increase in the context of industrial production and consumption activities facing many fluctuations in the domestic and international markets.

This result mainly comes from the stable operation of key industries, especially petrochemical refining and electricity production - fundamental fields, playing the role of "backbone" for industrial growth over the past years. In addition, the presence of new projects coming into operation in 2025 such as VAS Nghi Son Steel Rolling Mill No. 2, Nghi Son High-Tech Mechanical Factory, Automobile Wiring Harness Manufacturing and Installation Factory... has added production capacity, created jobs and created momentum for supporting industries.

In the first 6 months of the year, Nghi Son Refinery and Petrochemical Plant operated safely and continuously at a capacity of 100% to 120%, averaging 117.4% of its design capacity, continuing to affirm its role as a "pillar" of the industry. Total output reached more than 5 million tons, of which more than 4.2 million tons were refined products such as RON 92, RON 95 gasoline, Diesel, Jet A1 fuel and FO oil; the remaining more than 800,000 tons were petrochemical products such as Polypropylene, Benzene, Para-xylene and sulfur. The plant's revenue reached more than VND 93,000 billion, contributing more than VND 12,000 billion to the budget - figures that continue to consolidate the plant's leading position in the structure of the processing and manufacturing industry.

Nghi Son Thermal Power Center and hydropower plants also played an important role, with a total electricity output of nearly 4.2 billion kWh, an increase of more than 10% over the same period. Ensuring stable power generation capacity not only contributes to providing a sustainable energy source for production in the province, but also serves as a driving force for industrial growth and budget revenue.

The industrial picture is even brighter when new projects operate stably, create added value and spread positively. A typical example is the SAB Vietnam Industrial Factory in Bim Son Industrial Park. Coming into operation in the first quarter of 2024, the factory has applied a green, lean production model, integrating smart management in all stages of operation. The company achieved revenue of VND 240 billion in the first 7 months of this year, 8 times higher than the same period; paid VND 26.2 billion to the budget. Mr. Cui Gang, General Director of the Company said: "Not only focusing on producing high-quality garment accessories for export to the group's traditional markets, recently we have been actively participating in international exhibitions, expanding distribution channels and improving the quality of human resources to adapt to the trend of modern production, higher added value".

The service sector also achieved a growth rate of 9.06% in the first 6 months of the year - a high and relatively sustainable growth rate. In particular, export activities continued to maintain a stable pace, despite fluctuations from geopolitical conflicts, protectionist policies in some major markets and pressure from trade defense measures.

Director of the Department of Industry and Trade Tran Anh Chung said: “By the end of July 2025, the province's export turnover reached more than 4.1 billion USD, an increase of 21.8% over the same period and reaching 51.5% of the annual plan. Proactively responding to the reciprocal tax policy from the US, businesses have taken advantage of the 90-day tax deferral period to accelerate production, especially in the garment, footwear, electronics industries...; at the same time, proactively seeking and connecting with new markets".

The tourism industry has recovered significantly, contributing significantly to service growth. Destinations such as Sam Son, Pu Luong, and Hai Tien have all recorded a sharp increase in the number of visitors, contributing to increased budget revenue and promoting the transportation, accommodation, and food and beverage industries. In the first 6 months of the year, Thanh Hoa tourism welcomed nearly 10.5 million visitors, up 7.3% over the same period and reaching 65.6% of the yearly plan. Total revenue from tourism reached more than VND 26,300 billion, up 32.8% over the same period. Notably, sea tourism, cultural - historical - spiritual tourism and community ecology have been identified as three strategic product lines. Many localities and businesses have actively developed new tourism models, from walking streets, cultural festivals to experiential tourism. Along with that, although still a fairly new concept, trekking tourism (hiking, mountain climbing to explore nature) is considered a "new wind", contributing to diversifying the experience for tourists when coming to Thanh Hoa. Not only diversifying the tourist experience and reducing seasonal pressure, the diversity of tourism types has opened up the potential for a comprehensive breakthrough for the province's "smokeless industry".

Resilience from policy and companionship

Along with the stability of the pillars of industry, agriculture and trade - services, Thanh Hoa's growth expectation comes from an important factor: The increasingly improved investment and business environment and the consensus of the business community. This is the foundation that creates the driving force to promote production, consumption and market expansion, helping the province's GRDP maintain its growth momentum in the context of many difficulties and challenges.

Nghi Son Refinery and Petrochemical Plant achieved revenue of more than VND93,000 billion in the first 6 months of the year, continuing to lead the growth of the industrial sector.

In recent years, Thanh Hoa has persistently pursued a strategy of reforming the investment and business environment in a practical and effective manner. Maintaining the momentum of increasing the PCI ranking and effectively implementing the DDCI index has created solid confidence for the business community. In 2024, Thanh Hoa's PCI index continued to increase by 9 levels, which is considered one of the "in-depth reform turning points". This result not only reflects the government's efforts in improving administrative procedures and shortening the time for processing documents, but also shows a clear change in management thinking from management to serving and accompanying businesses.

In particular, the DDCI index set deployed over the past 4 years has become an important tool to help measure the quality of management of departments, branches and localities. Through DDCI, the voices of enterprises are directly heard, practical problems are promptly identified and handled at the grassroots level, creating trust and peace of mind for investors operating in the province.

Thanh Hoa is currently among the three provinces and cities that have made the most efforts in improving the investment and business environment over the past 20 years. According to VCCI Vice President Hoang Quang Phong, it is the participation in scoring, giving comments and feedback that has helped businesses feel confident that their voices have weight, thereby encouraging a spirit of dialogue and improving the quality of service of administrative agencies. Active interaction, dialogue and cooperation between the government and the business community are key factors leading to improvements in the business environment in Thanh Hoa. “With the foundation that has been achieved, Thanh Hoa has the potential to become one of the leading groups in the country in reforming the business environment,” affirmed VCCI Vice President Hoang Quang Phong.

Currently, the Provincial People's Committee has also requested VCCI Thanh Hoa - Ninh Binh to proactively research, continue to innovate, and complete the DDCI Project in accordance with the situation of streamlining the organizational apparatus and the 2-level government model in the locality; at the same time, improve the assessment criteria to meet new development requirements. In particular, it is necessary to proactively absorb changes in PCI implementation; strengthen the application of information technology and digital transformation in surveys and assessments, so that the DDCI results are increasingly substantive, objective, and transparent. This will be a "lever", a new "push" to promote agencies, units, and localities to compete in administrative reform, improve the investment and business environment, and contribute to promoting growth.

In particular, when the two-level local government model officially operated, the requirement of "being close to the people, serving the people" was concretized through practical actions. The commune-level government after the merger quickly got into gear, synchronously implementing solutions to remove difficulties in production and business, especially problems related to land, site clearance and investment procedures for industrial and infrastructure projects. The clear decentralization and authorization mechanism helped shorten and facilitate procedures. In meetings and dialogues with enterprises on issues related to production and business activities, provincial leaders continuously emphasized the spirit of "not leaving enterprises alone" and requested an official "role shift" from management to service, creation and companionship for a smooth production and business environment.

One of the projects that is being “tested” to resolve legal procedures right during the two-level government transfer period is the WHA Smart Technology Industrial Park Infrastructure Investment and Construction Project - Thanh Hoa, invested by WHA Industrial Zone Thanh Hoa Joint Stock Company. The project has a scale of 178.51 hectares, a total investment of 1,320 billion VND, and is expected to start construction this coming September.

Although the investment policy was only approved at the end of November 2024, the project's site clearance work has been carried out with determination and synchronization of authorities at all levels and high consensus of the people. In particular, the process of "transferring" the site clearance task from the district level (Hoang Hoa) to the new communes after implementing the 2-level government (including Hoang Son, Hoang Phu, Hoang Giang communes) has been continuously and uninterruptedly implemented.

To date, the project has completed site clearance of 173.7 hectares, of which the entire area of phase 1 (66.2 hectares) has been handed over. Local authorities, Nghi Son Economic Zone Management Board and provincial industrial parks are urgently supporting enterprises to complete procedures to ensure the construction starts on schedule. Ms. Hoang Thi Huyen, Head of Administration Department of WHA Industrial Zone Thanh Hoa Joint Stock Company said: "Immediately after the groundbreaking, we will deploy investment in synchronous infrastructure construction to be able to welcome secondary investors from the fourth quarter of this year".

With an ecosystem of more than 1,000 global customers, including many large corporations in the fields of logistics, automotive industry, petrochemical industry, electronics industry, consumer goods, healthcare, textiles..., WHA Smart Technology Industrial Park promises to become a "magnet" to attract new generation FDI, opening up great development space in the industrial sector.

Trekking tourism (hiking, mountain climbing to explore nature) is considered a "new wind" of Thanh tourism.

The support from the government in overcoming difficulties has also added confidence to the business community to be ready and proactive in overcoming challenges and unlocking internal capacity. Mr. Le Tien Dung, Deputy General Director of Long Son Company Limited, shared: “The investment and business environment of the province has created conditions for us to promptly resolve many difficulties in our operations. In the first 6 months of the year, the company's revenue increased by 20% and we expect the whole year to achieve a growth rate of 15%. The company has implemented many specific solutions in its distribution strategy to grow the domestic market well, while expanding exports to Africa, Malaysia and continuing to promote the search for new markets."

From the movement in management, reform of the investment environment to the confidence and rise of the business community, the foundation for Thanh Hoa's economic growth in 2025 has been consolidated relatively firmly. Each index, each project, each export shipment is a testament to the spirit of overcoming difficulties, flexible adaptation and aspiration to rise. Frankly acknowledging the limitations and challenges will be a "stepping stone" to maximize all motivations, helping Thanh Hoa accelerate in the remaining journey of the year!

Article and photos: Minh Hang

Lesson 2: Identifying challenges

Source: https://baothanhhoa.vn/kich-hoat-toi-da-dong-luc-mo-duong-cho-tang-truong-grdp-bai-1-nen-tang-vung-chac-257718.htm