Chairman of Bac Giang Provincial People's Committee Le Anh Duong and Governor Kim Tae Heum of Chungcheongnam province (Korea) ink a cooperation agreement, December 2023

In 2023, Bac Giang continued to be an economic bright spot with a GRDP growth of 13.45%, the highest in the country, attracted the fourth largest FDI value and secured top standing in administration in the country. However, in reality, the economic scale remains modest, with the GRDP per capita ranking 23rd out of 63 provinces and cities and the budget revenue reaching just VND17 trillion. How do provincial leaders aim to achieve their higher expectations?

Looking back on 2023, global economic downturn greatly impacted local and national socioeconomic development. Difficulties outweighed advantages, with many new issues emerging beyond forecasts. In that context, Bac Giang was no exception. However, with determination and strong effort, the province still had a successful year in 2023, with positive and comprehensive results in all fields achieved.

Bac Giang synchronously developed all aspects, including economy, culture, society, defense and security as well as Party building and political system building. In economic development, all three sectors of industry, agriculture, and services kept growing, with industry increasingly affirming its role as the main driving force of growth, economic restructuring and labor restructuring.

These achievements were possibly built on the foundation formed for years. In particular, as a late comer in industrial development, Bac Giang advantageously drew experience from other localities, especially in attracting and selecting investors and eco-friendly, high-tech investment projects and cluster investment with higher stability. Therefore, amid difficulties in 2023, with many manufacturing orders canceled, businesses in Bac Giang still maintained production development and employment for workers. Furthermore, many continued to invest in production expansion.

In 2023, Bac Giang attracted an all-time record of over US$3 billion of foreign direct investment (FDI), of which over 50% came from existing projects seeking to expand production and business scale. The revenue of FDI projects in the province ranked fourth in the country. These show that Bac Giang has a good business environment and position; thus, new businesses want to expand investment. These driving forces enabled Bac Giang province to achieve the highest economic growth rates in the country, with 13.45% in 2023 and 14.18% in the first quarter of 2024.

Nonetheless, socioeconomic performance also concerned the provincial government. In particular, the province always had to resolve conflicts and obstacles in institutions and policies. The accountability and responsibility at work of officials remained weak. If they had been more daring and more drastic, Bac Giang would have achieved a better outcome and provided more room for stronger development.

With more determination and effort to achieve higher goals in 2024, Bac Giang is strongly and effectively carrying out its plans as per Directive 26-CT/TU dated June 2, 2023 of the Standing Board of the Provincial Party Committee. How is this expected to create transformational changes in the province's administration in 2024 and beyond?

Humans are the most important factor to achieve socioeconomic development goals. During the recent difficult period, while officials in many localities lacked responsibility and accountability for their work, the Standing Board of the Bac Giang Provincial Party Committee promptly issued Directive 26-CT/TU to correct working attitude and practices and enhance responsibility at work to meet requirements in the new context. Thus, it created a boost to revive the working spirit and raise the sense of responsibility of officials and party members in the province. Notably, the province flexibly applied central and local budget sources to expand national highways.

The bold direction and administration of provincial leaders is also one of valuable lessons for Bac Giang to resolve bottlenecks and work out actionable solutions because the province believes “All difficulties and problems can be solved and must be solved promptly” and “Transform from self-deprecation to self-confidence.” For matters beyond the province’s jurisdiction, provincial leaders boldly go directly to central authorities, the National Assembly and the Government to propose solutions.

In 2024, Bac Giang focuses on security, livelihood and safety as clearly stated in the resolution of the Provincial Party Committee. Security means ensuring security and order and ensuring good social welfare to leave no one behind, and everyone can enjoy the fruits of development. Livelihood refers to both wellbeing and security. Safety signifies a safe living environment, hygiene, food safety and no disease. This is an inclusive index and places people at the heart of development.

With its right decisions in place, Bac Giang hopes to build and develop the province in the coming time as stated in Resolution 11 of the Politburo: Making Bac Giang a growth pole of the northern midland and mountainous region and a key economic region. Bac Giang will harmoniously develop industry, agriculture and services together, especially services. Bac Giang is not only a place to “make money” but also a place to “spend money” and a worthy living place.

Bac Giang Provincial People's Committee engages in a variety of promotional activities aimed at attracting a skilled workforce to the businesses in the province

Bac Giang has become a destination for many large projects thanks to its determination to clear bottlenecks and its ongoing effort to create and strengthen trust with investors. Could you please tell us more about this journey?

Bac Giang always determines that, to retain existing investors for a long time and attract new investors, the first and most important thing is to create a truly attractive investment environment and engage the political system in this work. Indeed, the province has done this well. Investors coming to Bac Giang are cared for and supported by provincial and local authorities. Many investors in Bac Giang recognize and highly appreciate the province for escorting and supporting companies to clear difficulties and obstacles. Hence, companies can feel secure in business investment and development.

For large projects, Bac Giang set up a working group, led by a vice chairman of the Provincial People's Committee and joined by directors of provincial agencies, to provide immediate support for companies when they confront difficulties. The province has also implemented many consistent, timely solutions to remove difficulties for businesses and investors, especially those relating to administrative procedures, employment, merchandise circulation, credit access and market. The province has focused on investing in developing transport infrastructure and industrial park infrastructure and ensuring power sources for production. The legal environment has been increasingly improved, with investment policies made more open and favorable.

To woo investors, Bac Giang has strongly invested in infrastructure development, improved the quality of human resources, ensured good social security in addition to the companionship and support of all-level governments to enhance the confidence that companies will always receive the best investment support in the province. Bac Giang leaders are ready to listen to feedback and recommendations from businesses. The province also launched a hotline system to get information from businesses and investors to promptly direct solutions and provide favorable conditions for businesses. Indeed, businesses and investors highly appreciate the business investment environment in Bac Giang, as shown by its second-place rankings in the Provincial Competitiveness Index (PCI).

Thank you so much!