At the 4th Conference of the Northern Midlands and Mountainous Region Coordination Council held on December 18, a representative of the Ministry of Planning and Investment said that despite many difficulties and challenges, especially the impact of storm No. 3, thanks to the drastic intervention of local authorities, the efforts of the people and the business community, the region has clearly recovered and achieved many important socio-economic results.
The GRDP growth of the Region in 2024 is estimated at 9.11%, the highest in the country, some localities have quite high growth rates such as: Bac Giang (the highest in the country with a growth rate of 13.85%), Phu Tho (9.53%), Tuyen Quang (9.04%). The scale of GRDP at current prices in 2024 is estimated at more than 1 million billion VND. The average GRDP per capita of the Region is about 76 million VND/person.
The GRDP structure has shifted quite positively, with the industrial and service sectors accounting for 80.9% of the Region's GRDP. The contribution of the two sectors accounts for 8.7% of the Region's GRDP growth in 2024.
The state budget revenue of the whole region in 2024 will reach 89.2 trillion VND (an increase of 13% compared to the central estimate). Of which, 10/14 localities have revenue exceeding the estimate. Thai Nguyen province has balanced budget revenue and expenditure, achieving the target of Resolution 11 of the Politburo.
Export turnover by the end of November 2024 of the whole Region reached over 72 billion USD. Total import-export tax revenue reached 15,398 billion VND, an increase of 25.8% compared to the assigned estimate, focusing on localities with border gates with China such as Ha Giang (up 96.8%), Cao Bang (up 20.7%), Lang Son (up 45%)... showing that cross-border trade is showing signs of improvement.
By 2024, the whole region will have 37 established industrial parks, 26 industrial parks in operation with a occupancy rate of more than 67% of the area. The whole region has more than 44,000 enterprises operating and declaring taxes, an increase of nearly 2,000 enterprises compared to 2023. Attracting 90 new FDI projects with a total registered capital of about 1.8 billion USD (focused on the provinces of Bac Giang, Thai Nguyen, Phu Tho).
Disbursement of public investment capital in the Region in 11 months was quite good, 69% (national average 60%), ranking 2nd in the country after the Mekong Delta; the whole Region had 9/14 localities disbursing public investment capital above the national average.
However, according to Deputy Minister of Planning and Investment Nguyen Duc Tam, the Northern Midlands and Mountains region also faces many difficulties and challenges.
Although the region's economy has grown quite well, the scale of the region's economy is still small, accounting for only 8% of the whole country. 13/14 localities in the region have not yet balanced their budget revenues and expenditures. The growth model is not really sustainable and does not rely on the application of science, technology, and digital transformation...
Transport infrastructure is still a bottleneck of the Region, not yet connected to the Capital Region, to seaports, railways are not yet connected to China and internationally. The progress of implementing some key projects of the Region is still slow, such as the Hoa Binh - Moc Chau route, adjustment of the Ha - Giang Tuyen Quang expressway, Hoang Lien tunnel...
Regional development cooperation is still limited, not in-depth, formal, low efficiency, has not created a production and business chain with regional characteristics, especially in tourism development; Regional database system has not been built.
"In the coming time, it is necessary to identify the coordination of regional and inter-regional projects as a key task to focus on directing, urging, and removing difficulties and obstacles to complete projects on schedule. Ministries, branches, and localities urgently complete the assigned tasks in the 2024 work plan of the Regional Coordination Council and propose topics to deploy regional linkages in 2025" - Deputy Minister Nguyen Duc Tam said.
