On the morning of August 10, the 4th Conference of the Southeast Regional Coordination Council was held in Ho Chi Minh City with the participation of Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh and leaders of ministries and branches.

Speaking at the opening of the conference, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh said that the conference is an important occasion for ministries, provinces and cities in the Southeast region to review regional planning and promptly address difficulties and problems.

Many projects are progressing well.

At the conference, Minister of Planning and Investment Nguyen Chi Dung reported that the Southeast region achieved good growth in the first 7 months of the year, but not as expected.

Specifically, in the first 7 months of 2024, the Southeast region's economy grew by 5.58%, lower than the national average, only higher than the Central Highlands (3.86%).

Total state budget revenue reached 391,000 billion VND, accounting for 38.1% of total state budget revenue, ranking second after the Red River Delta.

In the 7 months, nearly 139,500 enterprises nationwide registered for new establishment and returned to operation. Of which, the Southeast region had the largest number of newly registered and returned to operation enterprises among the 6 economic regions with 58,246 enterprises, up 9.8%.

Currently, ministries and localities in the region are actively and effectively implementing major infrastructure projects such as: Chon Thanh - Duc Hoa, Ben Luc - Long Thanh, Bien Hoa - Vung Tau expressways; Long Thanh international airport, Tan Son Nhat T3 terminal, Ho Chi Minh City Ring Road 3 and expressways and national highways in the area.

Mr. Dung said that some key projects are ahead of schedule and are expected to be put into operation soon, such as the Bien Hoa - Vung Tau expressway, the section through Ba Ria - Vung Tau province; the Ben Luc - Long Thanh expressway or the T3 terminal construction project...

However, some other projects need to be resolved and progress accelerated, such as the Bien Hoa - Vung Tau expressway project through Dong Nai province; the land acquisition, compensation and resettlement support project for Long Thanh international airport; the Ho Chi Minh City Ring Road 4 project through Binh Duong...

Preparing to start many other projects

The Minister of Planning and Investment said that the 6 economic regions across the country have 148 tasks set out, and the regions have completed 93/148 tasks, reaching 63%. Thus, there are still many tasks that have not been completed by ministries and localities on schedule.

Important regional connectivity contents such as connectivity in transport infrastructure; connectivity in investment and development; the ability to connect and integrate provincial and municipal economies into the global value chain is still low.

The Ministry of Planning and Investment recommends that the Prime Minister issue a Directive on regional development work to urge ministries, branches and localities nationwide to promptly complete all assigned tasks on schedule and deploy the next tasks.

Ministries, branches and localities have been assigned to preside over research tasks and implement regional and inter-regional projects such as the International Financial Center Project in Ho Chi Minh City, the Free Trade Center in Ba Ria - Vung Tau, Ring Road 4 in Ho Chi Minh City; the North - South high-speed railway through the Southeast region, urban railway routes in Ho Chi Minh City... need to actively accelerate research progress, propose mechanisms and policies...

Requesting Ho Chi Minh City, Binh Duong, Tay Ninh, Binh Phuoc to urgently complete the next procedures for the Ho Chi Minh City - Moc Bai, Chon Thanh - Gia Nghia, Ho Chi Minh City - Thu Dau Mot - Chon Thanh expressways. Strive to start construction on April 30, 2025.

Promoting disbursement of public investment capital

Concluding the conference, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh basically agreed with the report of the Ministry of Planning and Investment and the opinions of the localities. He said that through the opinions, the responsibility of the localities as well as the quality of work close to reality were demonstrated.

The Prime Minister added that three months ago, the Southeast Regional Coordination Council held its third meeting in Tay Ninh, setting out nine tasks to be implemented.

To date, the region has completed three tasks, including: adding the planning of Can Gio international transit port to the master plan for the development of Vietnam's seaport system; approving the investment policy for the Ho Chi Minh City - Moc Bai expressway project, phase 1; proposing the National Assembly to issue a resolution approving the investment policy for the Chon Thanh - Phan Thiet expressway project.

"It can be said that the way of working is very effective and scientific. We do not talk and then leave it there, do not issue resolutions and then look at them, but implement them immediately and have a quarterly roadmap. Basically, every quarter, we organize a review and implementation once, each time we review the proposed work, what has been done and what has not been done, experiences, solutions close to reality... ", the Prime Minister stated.

However, the Southeast region still has many problems. The Prime Minister requested that in the coming time, ministries and 6 localities, based on their functions, tasks and powers, proactively resolve existing problems; grasp the situation and promptly reflect policies according to the set plan.

In particular, focus on solving issues such as reviewing the 2024 goals and targets of all levels, completing the goal of stabilizing the macro economy. Deploying planning work, approving the plan to implement the planning.

Review legal bottlenecks, public investment laws, budget laws, public-private partnership investment laws, public property laws, etc. from practice, detect problems for amendment. Accelerate disbursement of public investment capital, mobilize all social resources for development investment.

"I propose focusing on promoting disbursement of public investment capital, leading and attracting investment resources into society. Promoting the application of the 4.0 revolution, especially digital transformation, green transformation, circular economy... in developing fields. Promoting training of high-quality human resources, leading experts, creating innovation, contributing to implementing 1 of the 3 proposed strategic breakthroughs", said Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh.