Kien Giang and An Giang merger opens up a great opportunity
On June 4, General Secretary To Lam and the Central Working Group had a working session with the Standing Committee of Kien Giang Provincial Party Committee and the Standing Committee of An Giang Provincial Party Committee on the implementation of the Central Committee's resolutions and conclusions, the arrangement of local organizational apparatus, national defense and security work, leadership in implementing economic growth tasks, and social security work.
Attending the meeting were Politburo members, Party Central Committee Secretaries, Party Central Committee members, Deputy Prime Ministers; leaders of central ministries, departments and branches, leaders of Kien Giang and An Giang provinces.
After listening to the report and the opinions exchanged at the meeting, in his concluding remarks, General Secretary To Lam praised and acknowledged the great efforts, high sense of responsibility and important results that the Party Committee, government, armed forces and people of An Giang and Kien Giang provinces have achieved in the past time.
The General Secretary pointed out that the linkage between Kien Giang and An Giang provinces is still loose, not fully promoting the potential for complementarity and comparative advantages. The interconnectivity in planning development space, attracting investment, developing raw material, tourism and service areas is also not commensurate with potential and expectations, limiting market size, reducing investment attraction efficiency, wasting resources, making it difficult to create development breakthroughs.
The General Secretary emphasized that the merger of the two provinces will open up opportunities to restructure the regional infrastructure system, forming closer value chains from production, processing, logistics and export; creating conditions for the formation of new key economic regions, attracting strategic investment, enhancing internal strength and competitiveness for the entire Southwest region.
The General Secretary suggested that from now until the completion of the merger, the two provinces need to strengthen close coordination in leadership and management of common tasks with the spirit of "one province - one vision - one action - one belief", absolutely avoid the discrimination mentality of "one province - one province" causing division and stagnation.
Every plan needs to be developed in detail, and many different scenarios are reserved to ensure that when officially merged, all activities of the new province will take place smoothly, seamlessly, without interruption at any stage.
The General Secretary emphasized that it is necessary to effectively and methodically reorganize the government apparatus according to the model of 2 levels: province - commune; there should be a flexible administrative organization mechanism for special areas such as Phu Quoc, Tho Chau, Kien Hai special areas, in accordance with specific development requirements, especially in the context of building special economic zones, tourism, national defense - security.
After consolidating, An Giang province needs to clearly identify the vision to become a dynamic, comprehensive and sustainable development center of the Mekong Delta region, playing a role in connecting the East - West strategic, border - urban - rural, service - production - tourism. In particular, aiming to become a national marine economic center, of which Phu Quoc is an international -class eco -tourism center, while the Long Xuyen - Chau Doc - Rach Gia - Ha Tien quadrilateral will be the driving force for industrial development, logistics and cultural in the region, contributing to the revealing of the new role of An Giang in the national economic structure and regional value chain.
Focus on preparing for the APEC Summit
Regarding the successful organization of Party congresses at all levels, towards the 14th National Congress of the Party, the General Secretary requested that personnel work must be carefully prepared, in accordance with principles, processes, democracy, fairness, objectivity, ensuring the building of a new collective leadership of the provincial Party Committee and government with quality, courage, solidarity, vision and modern governance capacity.
The arrangement and assignment of personnel needs to be harmonious between regions, avoiding local thinking or showing group interests. Human resources must truly be the center of reform, the leader of innovation, have prestige, a spirit of service and dare to take responsibility before the Party, the State and the people.
Regarding the APEC 2027 Conference held in Phu Quoc City is a high -level external event, which has special significance for not only Kien Giang and An Giang province after consolidating, but also for the whole region of the Mekong Delta and the whole country.The General Secretary noted that the locality needs to focus on the preparation of the APEC Conference, ensuring the progress, quality and absolute safety in all aspects.Focus on speeding up the implementation of key infrastructure works for the conference.The investment is not only directed to the event, but also to create a sustainable development platform for Phu Quoc in the long term, not to let the situation of large investment works and after the conference leave blank, to wild.
The General Secretary emphasized that how to succeed of the APEC 2027 Conference in Phu Quoc is not only the pride of the province, but also the motivation to spread for the comprehensive development of the new province after consolidating, playing an important role in enhancing Vietnam's international role in the era of extensive integration and global competition.
Proposal to soon implement a number of important projects
Speaking at the meeting, Kien Giang Provincial Party Secretary Nguyen Tien Hai said that the work of streamlining the apparatus and organizing Party congresses at all levels is a big and very important issue for the Kien Giang Provincial Party Committee.
Kien Giang Provincial Party Committee Secretary expressed his agreement and joy at the orientation of the Central Government and the General Secretary about the need to think in agricultural development. He expected to be implemented soon to better exploit the agricultural area in the coming time.
However, besides advantages, streamlining the organization and apparatus also poses many difficulties. The two provinces after the merger have up to 102 communes, wards, and special zones; the area is large, with unsynchronized infrastructure. Therefore, the province needs to quickly invest in socio-economic infrastructure projects to serve sustainable development.
Kien Giang province recommends that the Central Government soon implement a number of important projects such as investing in the Chau Doc - Ha Tien expressway; in case it cannot be implemented immediately, it is necessary to consider expanding National Highway N1, which is now degraded and the road surface is too narrow. In addition, it is necessary to invest in a new route connecting Long Xuyen City - Rach Gia City to shorten travel time and promote inter-regional connectivity. National Highway 91 connecting Long Xuyen City and Chau Doc City is currently overloaded, the road surface is narrow and needs to be expanded.
Regarding the issue of special zones, there is still no specific model for the special zone apparatus. Therefore, the province proposes that the Central Government soon have a model of organizing a special zone apparatus suitable for each locality.
For Phu Quoc City (later a special area), the Secretary of Kien Giang Provincial Party Committee emphasized the need for a special mechanism to develop faster, more effectively and sustainably, worthy of the leading role in the development of the region.
