MoIT helps Lai Chau Province’s growth

The city of Lai Chau of Lai Chau Province

Recommendations

Le Van Luong, Chairman of Lai Chau Provincial People's Committee, said that in the first seven months of this year, despite adverse changes in the global economy, high inflation and bad weather conditions, Lai Chau Province obtained encouraging socioeconomic achievements.

The provincial economy grew an average of 3.91 percent per year from 2021 to 2023, and reached an annual budget revenue of almost VND6.426 trillion in the same period. The infrastructure in Lai Chau, including national highways and provincial roads, has been improved. The social and culture field has changed positively, while administrative reform has been promoted; political security and national border sovereignty have been maintained, and social order and safety have been ensured on a stable basis.

Lai Chau is home to four rare earth fields and has made plans for five rare earth processing factories.

Although it has many advantages, Lai Chau is facing difficulties in the fields of energy planning, trade, mining and mineral processing. Hydroelectricity makes up the vast majority of the provincial industrial structure that remains unsustainable, while the agro-forestry-fishery processing industry remains small-scaled, still applies outdated technology and is affected by the unstable supply and quality of raw materials. Support industries in the province are still less developed.

The Lai Chau Provincial People's Committee has proposed that the Ministry of Industry and Trade issue documents providing guidelines for the implementation of power source projects as soon as possible, encourage large hydropower plants to run at their maximum capacity, facilitate rooftop solar power development at locals’ homes and offices, and industrial cluster infrastructure construction.

Lai Chau also proposed that the Ministry of Industry and Trade authorize the provincial Department of Industry and Trade to grant certificates of origin for exports, further provide guidelines and create conditions for Lai Chau to efficiently form border markets in order to promote import and export activities, consider the province’s suggestion on testing rare earth processing technology in the Vietnam National Coal and Mineral Industries Group’s (VINACOMIN) Dong Pao mine, and adjust the electricity purchase price of small- and medium-sized hydropower plants, in order to harmonize the interests of investors.

Industry and trade development

Minister Nguyen Hong Dien proposed that Lai Chau Province realize the following solutions to resolve problems and develop industrial and trade operations:

1) To further popularize and effectively realize resolutions, conclusions and directions on socioeconomic development, administrative reform and business environment improvement of the Politburo, the National Assembly, the Government and the Prime Minister;

2) To accomplish the province’s plan to submit to the Prime Minister for approval, aiming to create a consistent, comprehensive legal framework for socioeconomic development in the province, including the implementation of investment projects, especially key ones;

3) To strengthen dialogue with businesses and remove difficulties and obstacles faced by ongoing projects in the province; and accelerate public investment projects, administrative procedure simplification and information technology application;

4) To have orientations and plans to attract investment in infrastructure development in order to bring into play the advantages of national and international border crossings, and develop border economy and logistics services;

5) To develop key, potential industries such as mining, farm produce, forest product and seafood processing, and hydropower; promote support industries and logistics services; and strengthen business linkage chains. Rare earth products play a special role in the global high-value industrial production chain, so due attention needs to be paid to the first and only rare earth mining project in Dong Pao, Lai Chau;

6) To make good use of the province’s hydropower development potential and advantages to develop consistent power source and grid infrastructure;

7) To continue developing the domestic market, launch consumption promotion programs pertaining to tourism development; well perform market management; attract investment in trade infrastructure and e-commerce development; and

8) To promote human resource training, especially high-quality workforce development.