According to the plan, by 2030, with a vision to 2050, Binh Duong will become a modern industrial center and smart urban area, becoming a driving force for development of the region and the whole country. To achieve this goal, experts and researchers say that Binh Duong needs to recognize “bottlenecks” and find solutions.
Transform growth models, invest in connection infrastructure
Over the past 25 years, Binh Duong has transformed from an agricultural and handicraft province to an industrial province. Boldly innovating the economic development model has turned Binh Duong into a leading industrial province in the Southern Key Economic Region and the whole country.Binh Duong’s urbanization is also among the top in the country, reaching 85% and is also one of the two leading localities attracting foreign direct investment (FDI) into Vietnam. The average income per capita is the highest in the country with 170 million VND/person/yearAccording to experts and researchers, although there have been “sweet fruits”, in the coming period, Binh Duong will face many difficulties and challenges such as the “middle income trap”, the shifting economic structure Services account for a low proportion, production is still labor intensive. At the same time, Binh Duong has not attracted strategic investors or “leading cranes”. The province also does not have a regional production chain.
According to the plan, by 2030, with a vision to 2050, Binh Duong will become a modern industrial center and smart urban area, becoming a driving force for development of the region and the whole country (Photo: TL)
Prof. Dr. Tran Tho Dat, Chairman of the Science and Training Council of the National Economics University, said that to maintain growth momentum, Binh Duong needs to transform its economic growth model and break out of the economic growth gap, past developments to reach new heights.
“In the coming time, the transition from a breadth-based development model where the space is almost exhausted must shift to a growth model that combines both breadth and depth. That requires Binh Duong to have a method of mobilizing resources, higher quality foreign investment capital, and a mechanism to attract scientific and technological resources. Thus, we will have new momentum for Binh Duong to continue writing the success story of the past 25 years” – Prof. Dr. Tran Tho Dat commented.
Assessing Binh Duong’s development situation, researchers say that the province’s biggest bottleneck is that it does not have a seaport or airport, making it difficult to attract investment. Therefore, the province’s planning needs to adhere to the planning of the entire Southeast region and the whole country to increase transport infrastructure connections, thereby “getting points” with investors.
Associate Professor, Dr. Nguyen Quoc Dung, Director of the Academy of Public Administration Region II, suggested that Binh Duong’s traffic planning should take two points as the routing targets: Long Thanh airport (Dong Nai) and Cai Mep-Thi port. Lychee Vai (Ba Ria-Vung Tau). These are two very strong highlights and great driving forces of the Southeast Region and the whole country.
“Experience shows that around 100km around large airports and seaports is a huge benefit area, so planning infrastructure must be strongly directed in that direction. Binh Duong needs to pay attention to railway development. In the development of countries, no country develops without railways. Binh Duong has the advantage of a railway system passing through the province, a newly developed railway system that can handle large tonnage in industrial parks and handle passenger traffic” – Associate Professor, Dr. Nguyen Quoc Dung said.
Experts say that Binh Duong needs to pay attention to investing in high-quality human resources (Photo: TL)
Training human resources, improving the environment
Experts are concerned that if Binh Duong does not do a good job of “retaining” and attracting workers, it will not be able to meet the human resource needs of businesses. Because nearly 60% of Binh Duong’s population are people from provinces and cities who come to live and work.
Meanwhile, currently, all provinces have industrial parks, so there is a high possibility that workers will choose to stay in their hometown. Therefore, Binh Duong needs to prioritize more land funds near industrial zones and clusters to build social housing, and pay attention to children’s education so that workers can feel secure in long-term commitment. At the same time, the province needs to have policies to support the training of high-quality human resources to meet the requirements of the digital transformation era.
Prof.Dr. Ta Ngoc Tan, former member of the Party Central Committee, Standing Vice Chairman of the Central Theoretical Council commented: “When talking about digital transformation, don’t start thinking about digital transformation with technology, but digital transformation with people, because that must train people. Training from high-quality leading human resources to solve key issues of digital transformation; at the same time, train staff to understand and participate in digital transformation, and then train people to understand and use digital transformation services.”
Binh Duong is converting existing industrial parks into smart industrial parks (Photo: TL)
According to some experts, if Binh Duong wants to develop sustainably, the province’s planning must pay attention to upgrading infrastructure in urban and rural areas; develop high-quality education, health care, and culture; have a sustainable environmental protection mechanism, adapt to climate change…
Prof. Dr. Nguyen Thi Canh, working at the University of Economics and Law, Vietnam National University, Ho Chi Minh City, said that if urban areas are still flooded and there is continuous traffic congestion, sustainable development will not be possible. For sustainable development, environmental issues must be considered. For the sake of economic development, we cannot ignore the future living environment of millions of people.
“When investing, we must pay attention to drainage infrastructure; new city construction must take into account water circulation, drainage, and environmental issues. Industrial parks pay attention to the issue of industrial waste treatment. Residential areas must educate residents about ensuring environmental hygiene. From small issues, we can evaluate not only the economic aspect but also the environmental impact” – Prof. Dr. Nguyen Thi Canh said.
With comments from experts, leaders of Binh Duong province have requested additional research from branches and units to complete the province’s planning in a sustainable direction.
Accordingly, phase I, by 2030, Binh Duong will form an industrial – urban – service – smart – sustainable model. In which, building and upgrading existing industrial parks to become smart industrial parks, with the ability to provide 4.0 technology platforms such as IoT, BigData… From there, attracting green, environmentally friendly industries.
Phase II, by 2050, Binh Duong has basically formed a model of industry – urban – international services – innovation – science and technology, including the construction of industrial parks associated with science and technology. Science and technology attract institutes, schools, research, development and innovation activities, service industries, and digital services to attract high value-added industries.
