Greater efforts to spur development of northern midland and mountainous region

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh made the statement while chairing a conference outlining various orientations on socio-economic development, as well as ensuring national defence and security in the northern mountainous and midland region by 2030, with a vision towards 2045.

The conference features the participation of various leaders of departments, ministries, branches, and 14 northern mountainous and midland provinces, along with five provinces in the Red River Delta.

The northern mountainous and midland region boasts a particularly important strategic position in terms of politics, economics, culture, society, the environment, national defence, security, and foreign affairs.

Indeed, it is a region that boasts huge potential and advantages in connecting trade with China and ASEAN.

The region consists of 14 provinces with an area of more than 95,000 square kilometres and is home to more than 30 ethnic groups. The population is roughly 13 million people and makes up 8.54% of the country's GDP.

The region boasts significant potential for developing a border economy, whilst being rich in natural resources and minerals. It is also a favourable location for the development of agriculture, forestry, and fishery along with having unique tourism potential as it is a land rich in historical, cultural, and revolutionary traditions.

The Vietnamese Party and State have recently issued and effectively implemented a range of guidelines and policies aimed at promoting the region’s potential and advantages, while simultaneously creating motivation for regional development.

Resolutions and documents put forward by the Party Congress in recent times all set out orientations for the future development of the northern mountainous and midland region, as well as outlining the relationship between the regions and the country as a whole.

After 17 years of implementing Resolution 37, this region has recorded many important achievements in all fields such as gross regional domestic product (GRDP) growth constantly improving, reaching the highest level in the country with an average of roughly 9.3% in the 2005 to 2020 period.

In 2020, despite being negatively impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, it still reached 6.28%, a figure higher than the national average GDP growth rate and the highest among six economic regions.

Therefore, the Politburo has reviewed the implementation of Resolution 37 and issue Resolution No. 11 relating to orientations for boosting socio-economic development and ensuring national defence and security in the northern midlands and mountainous region by 2030 with a vision to 2045.

The main aim of Resolution 11 is to set out a goal to 2030 and a vision to 2045, in which the region will become a green, sustainable, and comprehensive development model for the whole country. In line with this, 50% of the provinces in the region are in the group of well-developed provinces of the nation.

On that basis, the Government has set the main targets to be achieved by 2030 as raising regional GRDP growth by 8% to 9% per year, about 7% for the whole country, getting the urbanisation rate to about 40%, with the figure of the whole country standing at 50%.

Speaking at the conference, PM Chinh urged all sectors and localities to competently carry out the Party's guidelines and policies, as well as State laws on the development of the northern midland and mountainous region, including Resolution 11 of the Politburo.

At the conference, Minister of the Government Office Tran Van Son announced the PM’s Decision No. 999 on August 23 regarding the establishment of the Coordination Council for the northern mountainous and midland region with Deputy Prime Minister Pham Binh Minh being the Chairman.

He also announced the Government's action plan to implement Resolution 11 of the Politburo.

This comes after PM Chinh and leaders of local departments and agencies cut the ribbon to open a photo exhibition that promotes various images, cultural lands, and people of the northern mountainous  and midland region, as well as introducing an investment promotion programme in the region.