At the Southern Key Economic Region development conference. (Photo: VNA)

The Southern Key Economic Region leads the nation in economic development, contributing more than 45% of the GDP last year.

But Nguyen Thanh Phong, Chairman of the People’s Committee of HCMC, says the legal foundation, the regional coordination mechanism, the shared database, and the technical and social infrastructure have not yet met all socio-economic development needs.

Mr. Phong said: “In the long term, the government should improve the legal system and issue a decree developing economic region. In the short term, we hope the government will assign the Steering Committee for the Key Economic Regions to proactively work with ministries, sectors, and provincial administrations to strengthen coordination to efficiently implement inter-region cooperation programs.”

(Photo: VNA)

Chairman of the Dong Nai Provincial People’s Committee Dinh Quoc Thai urged the government to speed up implementation of the Long Thanh International Airport project, improve the region’s transportation infrastructure, and create a mechanism to boost the development of Key Economic Regions.

Tran Dinh Thien, former Director of the Vietnam Institute of Economics, said: “Private businesses have a lot of experience in creating local connectivity. At the recent Vietnam Private Economic Forum, the Prime Minister touched upon ways to encourage the private economic sector to participate in infrastructure construction projects like airports and highways to relieve the financial burden on the state budget. We must prioritize the creation of institutions for private businesses, economic groups, and regional connectivity.”

Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc promised to issue a decree on the development of the Southern Key Economic Region: “The Southern Key Economic Region should continue to drive the Vietnamese economy. To that end, we need a shared effort to develop it. In other works, we need to strengthen link between provinces and cities in the region.”

Prime Minister Phuc stressed the need to design a regional coordination mechanism which is unbound by or divided by administrative borders to avoid duplicated production that could lead to needless competition.