“Modernization of Nghe An: Leading Central Vietnam into a New Era”

The Politburo members in attendance included: Le Minh Hung, Head of the Central Organization Commission; Phan Dinh Trac, Head of the Central Internal Affairs Commission; Nguyen Duy Ngoc, Head of the Central Inspection Commission; Do Van Chien, President of the Vietnam Fatherland Front Central Committee; Phan Van Giang, Minister of National Defense; Luong Tam Quang, Minister of Public Security; and leaders of several central ministries and sectors.

Attracting FDI, Ranking Among the Top in the Country

Reporting to the General Secretary and the Central working group, Nguyen Duc Trung, Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee of Nghe An, made it clear that, following the Central’s instructions, the Provincial Party Committee has led the political system along with the people in unity, overcoming difficulties, and striving to achieve many important and comprehensive results. It is expected that 19 out of 21 socio-economic targets will meet and exceed the goals set by the Resolution of the 19th Provincial Party Congress, and 2 targets will need continued efforts to be achieved.

In the four years from 2021 to 2024, the province’s average growth rate reached 7.89%, higher than in the 2016-2020 period (6.97%). The GRDP in 2024 was estimated at 216.9 trillion VND, 1.5 times higher than in 2020, ranking 10th out of 63 provinces and cities. Per capita GRDP reached 62.5 million VND, an increase of 1.45 times compared to 2020. The economic structure has shifted positively. Total state budget revenue in the province reached 89,427 billion VND, with an average annual increase of 9.4%, and is expected to reach about 26,000 billion VND in 2025, achieving the goal set by the Resolution of the Congress.

Investment attraction has increased significantly in terms of scale, quantity, and quality of projects. In the last three years, Nghe An has consistently been among the top 10 localities in attracting FDI, with a total registered capital of over 4.81 billion USD, 4.5 times higher than the cumulative amount from 2020 and before.

The quality of comprehensive education has made remarkable progress, with the proportion of national and international excellent students always in the leading group in the country. Health care for the people has improved; cultural and spiritual life has been enriched, and the characteristics of Nghe culture have been strongly preserved and promoted.

From the beginning of 2023 to May 10, 2025, the province has completed the support for the construction and repair of 16,202 houses for the poor and those in difficult housing situations, achieving 76.5% of the target for the 2023-2025 period. Political security, social order and safety, national defense, and security have been ensured. Foreign affairs and international integration have been proactively, substantially, and effectively deployed.

Nghe An has strictly implemented the direction of arranging the organizational apparatus and administrative units at the communal level towards being streamlined and operating efficiently, effectively, and actively. The province has 412 communal-level administrative units, and after the arrangement, there will be 130 units left, a reduction of 68.45%. The implementation process is methodical and flexible, creating consensus among officials, party members, and the people. The Provincial Party Committee is focusing on directing the construction of a plan to arrange, consolidate the organizational apparatus, and assign personnel in association with the preparation for party congresses at all levels, ensuring the progress as directed by the Central Committee; reviewing the implementation of the transfer, transfer, division of tasks, and division of authority between levels; handling reasonably and using state assets effectively.

The province of Nghe An also frankly admitted that although the economy has grown quite well, it has not yet reached the set target, and the quality of growth is not high. Some strategic infrastructure projects and essential works have not been implemented as expected. Poverty reduction results are not really sustainable, and the poverty rate is still higher than the national average.

At the meeting, the leaders of the Party, State, and central ministries and sectors expressed their impression and high appreciation for the socio-economic development results, Party building, and key tasks in 2025 of the province. They also pointed out the existing shortcomings and limitations of the province in the fields of agriculture, strategic infrastructure in transportation, energy infrastructure, digital infrastructure, and budget revenue structure…

Using Technology and Knowledge as a Driving Force for Development

Speaking at the conclusion of the working session, General Secretary To Lam emphasized: “It is this deep-rooted and enduring tradition that is a solid spiritual foundation and a precious internal resource that nurtures the will, character, and aspirations of Nghe An people and land.”

Along with the results that the Party Committee, authorities, and people of Nghe An have achieved, General Secretary To Lam also pointed out the “bottlenecks” in the province’s development, such as: Although GRDP ranks 10th, the provincial budget can only balance 50%. Per capita income is still low, only about 50% of the national average. Poverty reduction results are not really sustainable, and the poverty rate is still higher than the national average.

Nghe An has many potentials that have not been tapped, the quality of growth is not high, there are not many large-scale projects with a driving effect, creating a breakthrough in both structural shift and technology spillover. There are many small-scale enterprises that are not strong enough. State management in some areas is still inadequate. The spirit of breakthrough and innovation in directing and executing tasks and objectives needs to be more drastic and stronger…

“These strategic potentials will not become strengths by themselves. Only with a breakthrough mindset, drastic actions, and great aspirations can we turn potential into reality and make Nghe An a national growth pole,” said the General Secretary.

General Secretary To Lam suggested that the province needs to boldly step out of the old development inertia and towards a more modern growth model, taking technology and knowledge as the driving force, institutional reform and governance as the lever, and Nghe An people and culture as the foundation.

“Nghe An needs to take advantage of the historical opportunity when the Politburo issued Resolution No. 39-NQ/TW and was granted a special mechanism so that it can not only ‘strive to become a fairly developed province’ as Uncle Ho once instructed, but also, further, become a model of modern development in the Central region in the new era,” emphasized General Secretary To Lam.

To realize this goal, in the immediate future, the 10.5% growth target in 2025 – no small challenge for the province – the General Secretary clearly pointed out some major orientations that Nghe An needs to focus on.

The next very important task is to continue to arrange and streamline the apparatus in the spirit of Resolution 18-NQ/TW, ensuring that it is “compact, strong, efficient, effective, and effective.” Nghe An needs to deploy a two-level government model (provincial and grassroots) to ensure efficiency and smoothness to promote the principle of “local decision-making, local implementation, and local accountability.”

The General Secretary also emphasized that the province needs to break through in development thinking and institutions. Accordingly, the province needs to boldly shift from “developing in width” to “growing based on innovation, efficiency, and high added value” based on science, technology, and human resources, ensuring harmony and sustainability between the economy, culture-society, and the environment. Change the mindset from “management” to “creation – service”. Nghe An needs to build “satellite driving areas” in mountainous areas, gradually forming a comprehensive development center of commune-level clusters, improving the quality of education, health care, commercial infrastructure, microfinance, and digital public services.

At the same time, Nghe An needs to build a modern growth model with depth and high adaptability, based on four strategic economic pillars: green economy, digital economy, marine economy, and knowledge-based economy. Develop organic agriculture, clean industry, eco-urban areas, and circular economy, as well as high-quality service industries.

The General Secretary especially noted that the province should pay attention to developing the private economy to become “the most important driving force” of the economy. Authorities at all levels must consider the success of enterprises as the success of the locality, proactively remove difficulties, protect property rights, ensure investment safety, and create a transparent, fair, reliable, and low-cost business environment. Along with that, the province needs to take Nghe An people as the center and driving force for development; build a strong, righteous, effective, and efficient Party and government.

“As the hometown of President Ho Chi Minh, Nghe An has a special political and moral responsibility in building the Provincial Party Committee to be really pure and strong, a model in political will, organizational intelligence, public virtue, and leadership method. This is not only a regular task but must also become a strategic development pillar. Especially in the context that the country is stepping into a new era – an era of great aspirations, comprehensive integration, and profound renewal, that spirit must be illuminated by specific actions of the Party Committee, authorities, and the entire political system of Nghe An,” emphasized General Secretary To Lam.