The southern province of Binh Duong is poised to develop sustainably towards a smart, civilised and modern metropolitan area, helping realise the goal of transforming Vietnam into a developed country.
According to the provincial Party Committee Secretary Nguyen Van Loi, Binh Duong’s Party Committee, administration and people have made constant efforts to create breakthroughs over the past 25 years. The province has focused on building a modern economic development strategy based on taking advantage of its geographic location and resources, while creating an attractive environment to lure domestic and foreign investment.
Binh Duong has transformed from a locality dependent on agricultural production to a developed province with a high rate of industrialisation and urbanisation in the southern key economic region. Over the past 25 years, the province’s population has increased by nearly five times while the scale of its economy has expanded by 104 times. Its budget revenue is also now 75 times higher.
Binh Duong’s per capita income reached 152 million VND (nearly 7,000 USD) per year at the end of 2021, which is the highest among localities in the country.
The province’s economic structure has changed positively. Once heavily relied on agriculture, the agricultural sector now accounts for only 3 percent of the province’s economy, while the industry and service sectors make up 67 percent and 21 percent, respectively.
Binh Duong has become a bright spot for investment, with foreign investment capital reaching over 39 billion USD as of March this year.
Capital has poured into socio-economic and transport infrastructure, creating a harmonised and modern system. The rate of urbanisation has been increasing rapidly in the province, reaching over 82 percent.
For the fourth time in a row, Binh Duong has been named among the top 21 localities worldwide for its outstanding smart city development strategy by Intelligent Community Forum.
Loi attributed the above-mentioned achievements to sharp thinking and breakthrough decisions. Provincial leaders have actively and creatively implemented the policy of “rolling out the red carpet” to attract investment and talented people.
Associate Professor, Dr Tran Dinh Thien, former director of the Vietnam Institute of Economics and a member of the Prime Minister’s Economic Advisory Group (EAG), said that Binh Duong’s development model should be expanded.
From a poor province with extremely difficult condition, it has become a leading province in terms of industrialisation and modernisation, he said, adding that the province is ready for further development to reach out to the world.
The construction of a new, modern and smart Vietnam-Singapore Industrial Park (VSIP) is an important milestone for the province, Thien said. This is an important initiative stemming from the cooperation between Vietnam and Singapore which has been put into practice and confirmed as a successful model, he added.
According to Dr Tran Du Lich, who is also a member of the EAG, there should be a mechanism to set up regional linkage to create a dynamic development community across the country which is capable of competing in the region and internationally because Binh Duong alone cannot develop to a high level.
The province needs to build and connect Belt Roads No 3 and 4 to Ho Chi Minh City, and speed up the construction of the HCM City-Thu Dau Mot-Chon Thanh Expressway to accelerate its development, he said.
The province is determined to flexibly adopt Government guidelines and policies, apply modern scientific and technological advances and collaborate with other provinces, cities as well as countries and territories to take local development to new heights. It will strive to successfully implement the Prime Minister’s direction on building a new-generation industrial ecosystem connected to the Fourth Industrial Revolution; green, smart, sustainable and inclusive development that leaves no one behind.
Binh Duong has set a target of becoming a centre and driving force for the region and continues to stand out as an outstanding model in the effort to overcome the challenges of the middle-income trap and develop sustainably toward a smart, civilised and modern metropolitan area, contributing to fulfilling the goal of turning Vietnam into a developed high-income nation following the socialist direction./.
