DECISION No.988-TTg OF DECEMBER 30, 1996, OF THE PRIME MINISTER APPROVING THE MASTER PLAN FOR SOCIO-ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT OF QUANG NINH PROVINCE IN THE 1996-2010 PERIOD

THE PRIME MINISTER

DECIDES:

Article 1.- To approve the Master Plan for Socio-Economic Development of Quang Ninh province in the 1996-2010 period with the following contents:

I. DEVELOPMENT GOALS:

To tap all potentials, geographic advantages and resources to build Quang Ninh into a province of high, steady and sustainable development in economy, culture, society and national defense and security, achieving the main targets in economic growth and social progress and preserving the ecological environment; to turn the province into an industrial, trade, service and tourist center and a major "open gateway" in the North so as together with a number of other provinces and cities to become a key economic zone to accelerate the development of the region and the country as a whole.

II. MAIN ORIENTATIONS AND TASKS IN SOCIO-ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

1. The main development orientations:

To develop the market economy along the socialist orientation, to link the development of the province with the development of the key economic region of the North and the North as a whole, in line with the strategy for socio-economic development of the whole country.

To build and develop an appropriate export-oriented economic structure, attaching importance to quality and efficiency; to speed up construction and develop industry, trade, service and tourism; to build, enlarge and modernize the existing sea ports and build a number of new sea ports to ensure communication for the entire region and international exchanges. To develop agricultural, forest and aquatic production along the line of intensification and commodity production.

To combine economic development with cultural and social development and strengthening of national defense and security on land, sea and the islands. To raise the living and cultural standard of the people, ensure the provision of human resources for industrialization and modernization; to build new-type rural areas and islands in accordance with the socio-economic conditions of each region and island. To preserve and improve the ecological environment, especially the landscape of the Ha Long Bay.

2. The main tasks:

To develop industry at a high pace to ensure the development of the different economic branches of the province. To promote the local traditions and existing potentials to strongly develop the key industries: coal, mechanical engineering and construction materials (especially cement). To transform and enlarge the existing industrial zones: Hon Gai, Bai Chay, Cam Pha, Uong Bi, etc., as well as to accelerate the pace of construction at a number of new industrial areas such as Cai Lan, Hoanh Bo, Uong Bi, Mao Khe, Chap Khe and the Dong Trieu industrial complex. To develop the coastal economic stretch from Ha Long to Mong Cai, in close combination with promoting the economic potentials of its adjacent jungle area so as to create the development motive force for the whole region. To engage all economic sectors in the expansion of production and the improvement of the quality of consumer goods, processed foods, forest and aquatic products to meet the need of domestic consumption and export.

To develop agriculture along the line of commodity production for home consumption and export; to effectively tap the potentials of agricultural land in areas adjacent to industrial and coastal tourist areas and islands to design appropriate crops and plant and livestock structures and practice intensive farming to increase productivity, production and quality of farm produce, and expand the market sale. To develop livestock breeding along the line of industrialization so as to increase the proportion of this branch in the total output value of agriculture.

To develop forestry by focussing on making it a community-based work, striving to increase the forest cover to 55-60% of total area by 2010.

To develop fisheries (including netting, rearing, processing and service): To invest in technologies and means to raise the productivity of offshore fishing. To expand the area of aquatic rearing; build processing establishments and services for fishery in coastal areas and on islands; and build the Co To Island into one of the service centers for fishery in the Tonkin Gulf. To combine the development of fisheries with the preservation and development of other resources.

To work out policies to make use of the advantages and create favorable environment for investment and business so as to mobilize all resources, attach special importance to developing foreign economic activities along the line of multilateralization and diversification of relations, strongly orienting at export, tourism and investment cooperation with a view to attracting capital, technology and advanced management experience from foreign countries.

To promote advantages and opportunities to strongly develop service industries, especially maritime and tourist services. With the Cai Lan Port in place, to build a strong fleet of sea-going ships for the province.

Soon to form two major trading centers in Ha Long and Mong Cai. In the near future, Mong Cai is to become an important border-gate economic area. To expand the trading and service network with a view to ensuring the supply of goods and services for, and the consumption of produce from, the local population and meeting part of the demand of tourism in the province and a number of neighboring provinces.

Strongly to develop and raise the quality and efficiency of tourism, giving special priority to the development of international tourism. To build a number of large hotels, each with 200-300 rooms so as to attract more foreign tourists, increasing their arrivals to 1.2 - 1.3 million by 2010. Apart from the Ha Long tourist area, efforts should be made to fully tap the tourist potentials of other coastal and island areas.

To modernize operations in finance, banking and insurance in line with State undertakings and policies with a view to creating favorable conditions for economic and tourist activities of the province and the whole region, and of tourists as well as foreign investors. To ensure that the proportions of budget revenue and investment in the GDP increase constantly.

Infrastructure development is considered a measure of decisive significance to the development of Quang Ninh province. To quickly build the Cai Lan Port in a systematic way so as to modernize it and enable it to receive ships on large tonnage; to invest in construction and transformation of the Mui Chua, Van Gia and Mui Ngoc ports. To do research into the possibility of building a port at the Co To Island with an annual loading/unloading capacity of 300,000-500,000 tons.

To fully tap the potentials and advantages in maritime transport and sea ports, to have plans for investment in their facilities and increasing their capacity as well as for modernizing their loading/unloading technologies, storage and port services such as warehouses, storage sites and transport facilities.

To develop the overland traffic network to serve economic development, people�s daily life and work and national defense and security.

To pay attention to the building of the road network to mountainous and border villages and on islands. To upgrade Highway 18A, Route 10 and the Haiphong-Quang Ninh road, extend the Hanoi-Bai Chay road up to Mong Cai, and upgrade Routes 18B and 4 B; to build the Cua Luc Bridge, overhaul the Pha Lai-Cai Lan railway to connect with the Hanoi-Lao Cai railway.

To do research into the possibilities to build an airport in the Ha Long-Bai Chay area.

To build complete systems for water supply and drainage, power supply, urban transport and communication and industrial zones; to build the Cao Van reservoir; and tap the use of the Dong Ho dam and build the Dong Giang dam. To build an electric power grid in service of economic development and people�s life and work. To start building the Hoanh Bo power plant. In the course of socio-economic development, to pay special attention to the protection, preservation and improvement of urban environment and landscapes, especially the preservation and protection of the environment and landscapes of the Ha Long Bay-Bai Chay area.

To continue modernizing the communication system and to bring digital telephones to 100 per cent of the province�s villages (both in land and on islands)

On education, health, culture and social development:

To raise the quality and efficiency of the educational and training system to meet the need of human resources for industrialization and modernization; to develop the network of health care, health insurance and medical treatment for the population, especially those living in mountainous and island areas; and to implement the program of population control and family planning.

To expand and raise the quality of the radio and television network and ensure that the cultural activities are advanced, sophisticated and imbued with national identity; to improve the material bases for sports and physical training. To continue promoting the movement for hunger eradication and poverty alleviation, pay proper attention to the people and families of policy entitlements. Along with the development of a multi-sector and multi-trade economy, to increase the employment rate among the contingent of trained labor and reduce the unemployment rate in urban areas. To encourage people to take an active part in the building of a civilized lifestyle and the eradication of social vices.

III. MAJOR MEASURES

To ensure the implementation of its Master Plan for Socio-Economic Development in the 1996-2010 period, the province is to deploy a series of measures to be taken synchronously, including those for renewing policy mechanism combined with administrative reforms, increasing the managerial capacity, improving planning work, intensifying macro and long-term studies and building development projects and programs, etc., with a view to increasing resources at home and abroad in service of the cause of renewal and socio-economic development.

To elaborate the major orientations and tasks for socio-economic development of this Master Plan into short- and medium-term plans and feasible programs and projects.

The Provincial People�s Committee shall conduct research for, and recommend to the Government (where the matters are beyond its capacity), effective policies for mobilizing capital from domestic sources and attracting outside resources, expanding market, developing human resources, developing science and technology, building urban areas and investing in building industrial zones, etc. In the Fourth Quarter of 1998, the province shall review the trial implementation of the policies for the Mong Cai Border Gate area stipulated in Decision No.675-TTg of September 18, 1996, of the Prime Minister, and propose to the Prime Minister the necessary modifications and supplements.

Article 2.- The People�s Committee of Quang Ninh province is the mandated body to implement the Master Plan. It has to work out plans and measures to begin immediately directing and organizing the implementation in a strict and prompt manner with a view to fulfilling and over-fulfilling the targets and tasks for socio-economic development set in the Master Plan. To constantly monitor the implementation of, and make timely adjustments to, the Master Plan to make it suitable to the overall development of the region and the country as a whole.

The Ministries and branches at the Center, in line with their functions and tasks, have the responsibility to discuss with and assist Quang Ninh province in the course of its implementation of this Master Plan, in which they shall have to pay special attention to ensuring its compatibility with the overall planning of each branch and domain and the Master Plan of the region, as well with the strategy and plan for long-term socio-economic development of the country as a whole and the requirement of national defense and security.

Article 3.- This Decision takes effect from the date of its signing.

The Ministers, the Heads of the ministerial-level Agencies, the Heads of the Agencies attached to the Government, and the Presidents of the People�s Committees of Quang Ninh province and the other concerned provinces and cities directly under the Central Government, are responsible for the implementation of this Decision.

The Prime Minister