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Some provinces have failed to meet the Prime Minister’s deadline for site clearance for the eastern part of the North – South Highway.

Six out of 11 sections of the eastern part of North-South Highway for the period of 2017-2020, which were converted to public investment, have started. Two other sections that are also invested by the State are expected to start in May.

According to the Ministry of Transport, site clearance has been far from expectations. The Prime Minister requested that it be generally accomplished in 2020. Nevertheless, by mid-Feb 2021, all 11 sections were struggling with site clearance. As many as 624 out of 652 kilometers of the Highway, 95.6%, have been handed over. The site handover in Ninh Binh, Thanh Hoa, Nghe An, Khanh Hoa provinces is much lower, 79.2%, 94.9%, 92%, and 91.5% respectively.

Around 80% of 11 resettlement areas are complete. Technical infrastructure has been slowly carried out. Only 30 – 38% of power, water, and telecommunication networks have been relocated.

The Transport Ministry planned to discuss directly with each province solutions for the required completion of site clearance.

Only 55.64 out of 63.37 kilometers of the Mai Son – NH45 expressway have been cleared and handed over to contractors. The section runs through three districts of Ninh Binh and eight of Thanh Hoa province. More than 8 out of 14.41km in Ninh Binh were handed over. The figure in Thanh Hoa was 47.46 out of 48.96km.

The main cause for delayed clearance in Ninh Binh is that Tam Diep district has failed to finalize the compensation price for different land types, identify persons qualified for job adjustment incentive scheme, and allocate resettlement area to a number of households.

Thanh Hoa has been facing difficulties in site clearance. It has the longest section of the Eastern part of North-South Highway, including Mai Son – NH45, NH45-Nghi Son, and Nghi Son – Dien Chau.

Mr. Nguyen Duc Trung, Deputy Director of Thanh Hoa Transport Department, said that the province has cleared 97% of the site. The slow progress was mainly due to some households’ requirements and demands beyond compensation regulations.

Inspecting the Mai Son – NH45 site with the Transport Minister Nguyen Van The on February 22, Mr. Mai Xuan Liem, Thanh Hoa Vice Chairman, said it would hand over the remaining site to contractors before March 15.

The Cao Bo – Mai Son section of the North – South Highway is expected to complete in 2021

Hard to find material sources

Apart from the slow site clearance, most contractors have faced a shortage of formation level materials (mainly soil).

Specifically, there is a lack of 1.6 million m3 of soil for Cam Lo – La Son section which passes through Quang Tri and Hue. Though there are 17 soil mines for Vinh Hao – Phan Thiet section, the supply is far below demand. The material shortage is also a problem for other sections namely Mai Son – NH45 and Phan Thiet – Dau Giay.

An additional 7 million m3 of soil and 400,000 m3 of crushed stone are needed for Nghi Son – Dien Chau section which is scheduled to launch in May.

According to some contractors, high demand for materials for the North – South Highway and section construction is being carried out simultaneously, which has led to mine owners’ increasing material prices, deepening difficulties for contractors.

Furthermore, provincial leaders have to review soil and stone mines for their approval, licensing and adjustment process. This takes a long time, affecting highway progress and quality.

Speaking about soil mine issues in his trip to inspect Mai Son – NH45 site on 22nd February, Minister Nguyen Van The demanded that provincial leaders review project and design documents to avoid the highway construction setbacks.

Vu Diep

As the plan, the entire site of 11 component projects must be handed over in 2020, but up to now, 13 localities affected by these projects have just handed over around 624.4 out of  652.92 kilometers, accounting for 95.6 percent.

That was due to difficulties in resettlement and removal of technical infrastructures for sub-projects of the North-South Expressway project.

Amidst this situation, Minister of Transport Nguyen Van The requested relevant units to focus on solving difficulties in site clearance for the project. In addition, investors and project management units must report specific proposals along with difficulties of each project to the leaders of the Ministry of Transport and localities to handle.

Out of the six ongoing public investment component projects, three projects namely Mai Son – National Highway 45, Vinh Hao – Phan Thiet and Phan Thiet – Dau Giay have been relatively in good progress. Projects of Cam Lo – La Son, My Thuan 2 Bridge need to speed up the construction progress.

By Minh Duy- Translated by Huyen Huong

* World Trade Organization members agreed on Monday to hold the next major ministerial meeting in Geneva, Switzerland in late 2021, delegates told Reuters. The biennial conference was originally set to be held in Kazakhstan last year but was delayed due to the pandemic.

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* Republic of Korea reported 355 more cases, raising the total number of infections to 90,029. Of the new cases, 92 were Seoul residents and 156 were people residing in Gyeonggi province. Seventeen cases were imported, lifting the combined figure to 7,063.

* The COVID-19 cases in Indonesia rose by 6,680 within one day to 1,341,314, with the death toll adding by 159 to 36,325, the Health Ministry said on Monday. According to the ministry, 9,212 more people were discharged from hospitals, bringing the total number of recovered patients to 1,151,915.

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* Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said he will discuss COVID-19 vaccines and immigration policy when he speaks with his US counterpart Joe Biden later on Monday.

* The European Commission will present a proposal in March on creating an EU-wide digital COVID-19 vaccination passport that may allow Europeans to travel more freely over the peak summer holiday period. Commission president Ursula von der Leyen announced the coming legislative proposal in a speech to German conservative lawmakers on Monday, providing a few more details in subsequent tweets.

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* Iraqi oil exports rose to 2.96 million barrels per day (bpd) in February from 2.868 million bpd the previous month, the Oil Ministry said on Monday.

* Ivory Coast launched the world’s first COVID-19 inoculation drive on Monday with doses imported from the COVAX sharing facility, a milestone in the race to extend vaccine access to poorer countries.

* Nigeria launched on online registration portal for COVID-19 vaccinations, its primary healthcare agency said on Monday, the day before the first doses are expected to arrive for its 200 million people.

Party delegates voted to adopt the Resolution of the 13th National Party Congress at the final session of the Congress held on February 1, 2021.

The goals are part of the Resolution of the 13th National Party Congress held from January 25 to February 1, the entirety of which has just been released by the Office of the Party Central Committee.

The Resolution noted the highlight of the 12th tenure was the successful handling of the COVID-19 pandemic resulting in significant economic achievements – including stable macroeconomics, controlled inflation and high GDP growth, while people’s living standards were improved. The fight against corruption, loss and waste was intensified, while the socio-political situation remained stable, foreign relations deepened and Vietnam’s profile on the international stage grew.

However, numerous shortcomings – including slow modernisation and industrialisation, shifting in the growth model, limited competitiveness and quality and productivity of the economy, inadequate adaptation to climate change and environment protection demands, drawbacks in Party building and rectification, that science and technology has not been the driving engine of socio-economic growth and the lives of certain groups of people remain difficult – of the 12th tenure have been identified in the Resolution.

The achievements of 35 years of implementation of doi moi (Reform), 30 years of implementing the 1991 Party Platform and in the 10 years of implementing the 2011 Revised Party Platform have proved that the country’s path towards socialism is consistent with Vietnam’s practical situation and the times’ development trends, with the Party’s righteous leadership the leading factor in Vietnam’s revolutionary victories, the Resolution reads.

Amid rapidly shifting and complex developments in the global scene, the Party Platform continues to serve as the ideological flag to gather the collective strength of united peoples for the goal of a “prosperous-people, strong-nation, democratic, equitable, and civilised” Vietnam.

Development vision and orientations

In the coming years, the challenges and opportunities of a complicated world demand the entire Party and Vietnamese people to “unite” and continue to have major changes in mindset and make correct and timely forecasts of the situation to prepare and deal with any circumstance, to “bring the country forward on the path of rapid, sustainable development” and the attainment of many orientations, goals, and tasks.

The Resolution lists major guiding orientations of the years forward, including “persistent and innovative” implementation of Marxist-Leninism and Hồ Chí Minh ideology, persistent pursuit of socialism and independence and upholding national interests based on the principles of the United Nations’ Charter and international law and the spirit of equal and win-win co-operation, with national defence and security in mind.

It also aims to enhance patriotism, the spirit of resilience, national unity and people’s aspirations to develop a prosperous and happy nation, promoting socialist democracy, enhancing the quality of human resources and promoting innovation and science and technology – especially the achievements of the Fourth Industrial Revolution – in service of the country’s sustainable and rapid development.

In addition, Party building and governance are goals, working towards a streamlined and effective Party system with quality cadres and civil servants.

The “general objectives” are identified as improving the Party’s leadership and ruling capacity; building a pure, strong and comprehensive Party and political system; consolidating and raising people’s confidence in the Party, the State and the socialist regime; fomenting aspirations to develop a prosperous and happy country; promoting the will and strength of national solidarity; promoting comprehensive and synchronous đổi mới (reforms), industrialisation, and modernisation; building and firmly defending the Fatherland, maintaining a peaceful and stable environment; and striving to become a developed country with socialist orientations by the middle of the 21st century.

The “particular objectives” are set on Vietnam becoming a developed nation with a modern industrial base and leaving the ranks of lower-middle-income countries by 2025 – the year marking the 50th anniversary of the liberation of the south and national reunification. By 2030, when the Party celebrates its 100th founding anniversary, Vietnam is hoped to become a developing country with a modern industrial base and upper-middle incomes. By 2045, the 100th anniversary of the establishment of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam, now the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, Vietnam is hoped to become a developed, industrialised nation with high income.

In 2021-25, the Resolution sets a target for average GDP growth of 6.5-7 per cent, GDP per capita by 2025 reaching $4,700-5,000, the contributions of total factor productivity (TFP) in economic growth reaching 45 per cent, the labour productivity increase hitting 6.5 per cent a year, urbanisation reaching 45 per cent, the ratio of processing and manufacturing industries in the GDP exceeding 25 per cent, and the digital economy accounting for 20 per cent of the country’s GDP.

In this time frame, the Resolution aims for agricultural labour ratio staying at 25 per cent, the ratio of trained labour reaching 70 per cent, urban unemployment kept at below 4 per cent, the rate of multidimensional poverty maintaining a decrease of 1-1.5 per cent year-on-year, aiming for 10 doctors and 30 hospital beds for every 10,000 people, striving towards 95 per cent of the Vietnamese population being covered under the State’s health insurance, life expectancy reaching 74.5 years, and the ratio of communes obtaining new rural standards reaching at least 80 per cent, including 10 per cent meeting the requirements of exemplary new rural standards.

In terms of environment, by 2025, the goals are to have 95-100 per cent of the urban population and 93-95 per cent of rural population having access to clean and hygienic water, 90 per cent of urban waste properly collected and treated, 92 per cent of active industrial-processing zones outfitted with proper wastewater treatment facilities; 100 per cent of all businesses polluting the environment punished; and upholding the national forest coverage at 42 per cent.

The 13th tenure has “six central tasks”, with the first being Party building, building rules-based socialist State, with effective, corruption-free governance. The second task is controlling the COVID-19 pandemic, ensuring COVID-19 vaccination coverage, while engaging in economic recovery, pursuing the transformation of growth model and economic restructuring, implementing national digital transformation strategy, raising labour productivity and innovation, and third is upholding independence, improving the effectiveness of foreign affairs and international integration, building modern and elite armed forces, and maintaining peaceful and stable environment for development.

The fourth central task is inspiring patriotism among the people to develop a prosperous and happy nation, promoting the role of cultural values and the strength of Vietnamese people in nation-building and defence, with detailed policies to develop the culture of ethnic minority groups, carrying out social policies and ensuring social security for the people, raising living standards and happiness indexes of the Vietnamese people. Fifth is perfecting the legal system, institutions, and policies to promote socialist democracy. The final central task is to strictly manage, reasonably and effectively use land and natural resources, protecting the environment, and implementing adaptation measures to cope with climate change and natural disasters.

Breakthrough strategies

To achieve the goals, the Party sets three major breakthrough strategies – completing development institutions, developing human resources, and building modern infrastructure.

Regarding institutions, the Party identifies the need to improve development institutions for a socialist-oriented market economy; reforming State governance towards modernity and competitiveness; improving the legal system and institutions to create a favourable, healthy, and fair business and investment environment for all sectors of the economy where innovation can foster; mobilising, managing and using all resources – especially land, finance, public-private partnership – for development purposes; bolstering reasonable decentralisation, while enhancing inspections and keeping powers in check via the legal system.

For human resources, the Party wants a priority on high-quality human resources for leadership and management and key positions, based on “comprehensive and radical transformation of education and training quality in tandem with recruitment and incentive policies”; promoting research, transfer, application and development of science and technology, innovation; promoting the aspirations for national development, people’s sense of unity and national pride in nation-building and defence efforts.

The Resolution also states the demand for “modern and synchronous” social and economic infrastructure, with a focus on national key transport projects, climate adaptation projects, and information and communications projects to serve national digital transformation and the development of a digital economy and society.

VNS