Economic dynamism in Quang Ninh province

Various power ventures have been approved or are in the works for the province, photo Hung Son

Despite social distancing, Quang Ninh could secure its growth momentum. The GRDP in the first nine months reached 8.6 per cent. The total development investment value amounted to $2.78 billion, and non-budget capital surpassed $13.2 billion.

However, 2021’s goal of reaching double-digit growth and $2.21 billion in budget revenues seems a challenge in the last quarter.

Total state budget revenues in the first nine months only reached around $1.43 billion, equal to 64 per cent of the estimate, of which domestic revenues exceeded $1.13 billion, making up 67 per cent of the estimate. The task set for the last quarter is to achieve a GRDP growth rate of 15.3 per cent.

Quang Ninh has prepared to follow up on its growth momentum for the industry and construction sectors to lead the acceleration in economic growth in 2021.

Director of Quang Ninh Department of Planning and Investment Nguyen Hong Duong said that the industry-construction sector must eye a 21.4 per cent jump in the fourth quarter to ensure the growth target for the year.

Proposed solutions are to accelerate the disbursement of public investment capital and complete three pivotal projects, Van Don-Mong Cai Expressway, Cua Luc 1 Bridge, and Halong-Cam Pha coastal ring road, in which the former is particularly important to avail the advantages of local border gates and create a new growth pole.

Quang Ninh kicked off four new projects with a total investment value surpassing $12 billion on October 24, which are expected to boost development and replenish local budget.

Together with major industrial zone developers like Amata, DEEP C, and Texhong, Quang Ninh has been luring in and supporting the construction of the Song Khoai and DEEP C Quang Ninh industrial zones. Quang Ninh province has also created favourable conditions for businesses across the board to boost productivity and output. The tourism and service sectors, meanwhile, are forecast to gradually recover and achieve an increase of 10.5 per cent on-year.

Flexible plans amid the pandemic have shown the efficiency for the industry and construction sectors to make up for the tourism and service industries’ deceleration. However, the current plans are not only temporary solutions but also serve the long-term vision set out at the provincial 15th Party Congress.

The congress decided to restructure the economy from ‘brown’ to ‘green’ towards sustainability, based on nature, people, and culture, in line with the trends of integration and the Fourth Industrial Revolution.

New motivation

Quang Ninh has carried out economic restructuring in several sectors, such as industry and construction, tourism and services, and agriculture.

In addition, Secretary of Quang Ninh Party Committee Nguyen Xuan Ky made clear that the province aims to develop its marine economy and become a marine economic centre along with the neighbouring city of Haiphong.

“Quang Ninh needs to improve its seaport infrastructure, so it’s important to invest in key ports such as Con Ong-Hon Net and Van Ninh. We also need to radically change the port infrastructure to increase port capacity and seaport services, creating a foundation for the marine economy,” emphasised Ky.

Along with this, Quang Ninh launched the construction of four projects with the total investment of more than $12 billion.

The Van Ninh first phase of the general port in Van Ninh commune of Mong Cai city, with the total investment of $97.7 million, will be put into operation in the fourth quarter of 2024.

When the port is up and running, shipping costs for imports and exports to the Mong Cai border gate area could be reduced by a half compared to road transportation, helping to lower logistics costs and boost the attraction of the Mong Cai-Dong Hung border.

The project is an important premise to form a compelling logistics infrastructure network associated with the logistics chain in a multimodal transport model, serving the goal of marine economic development mentioned by Secretary Ky.

Besides this, Quang Ninh’s liquefied natural gas (LNG) power project had previously been approved by the prime minister and added to the National Power Development Plan VIII. Now, Quang Ninh has found a partner in the joint venture between PV Power, Colavi, Tokyo Gas, and Marubeni on October 24.

The project will cover an area of about 60 hectares in Cam Thinh ward of Cam Pha city, with a capacity of 1,500MW and a total investment sum of nearly $2.08 billion. Once put into operation, the plant would provide the national electricity grid with about nine billion kWh of electricity per year.

According to Chairman of Quang Ninh People’s Committee Nguyen Tuong Van, the investment and construction of the LNG power project would create high added value.

Together with seven coal-fired power plants with a total capacity of 5,640MW, the LNG gas-fired power project would determine Quang Ninh’s leading position in the power generation of Vietnam’s north.

Two other projects, the Dong Trieu golf course and the Halong Xanh Megacity worth more than $10 billion are fresh tourism products. With a scale of more than 4,100ha, the Halong Xanh Megacity is considered one of the major projects with coastal urban identity and a large-scale eco-resort tourism model in Southeast Asia, providing for living, working, studying, and relaxing.

The project is expected to swiftly accelerate the urbanisation in Quang Ninh and could provide an impulse to create a modern, synchronous, and compelling urban space with fresh appearance for Quang Yen town and Halong city.

Surplus growth

According to Chairman Van, the four projects would contribute to improving the value of construction investments, creating added value in the industry and promote development in Quang Ninh, as well as gear the local economic structure towards trade and services.

The projects are also expected to reform the economic, cultural, and social life, improving people’s welfare and contributing to realising other political, economic, and social goals not only for Quang Yen town and Halong city but also for the entire province.

As the projects are planned out for the next 3-10 years, they would constitute a large number of jobs for local workers during the construction, as well as after they are put into operation. The projects’ budget contributions will also contribute to Halong Xanh’s annual revenues, reaching an estimated $315.2 million a year; or with Quang Ninh LNG project, the average is about $100 million a year.