The "Driving Force Ship" model

Speaking at the working session, Mr. Ho Van Mung, Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee, stated that under the provincial master plan, five core urban areas - Rach Gia, Long Xuyen, Chau Doc, Ha Tien, and Phu Quoc - are envisioned as a ship. Among them, Phu Quoc serves as the bow, while the remaining four urban areas act as the hull, forming the corner coordinates of a quadrangle that functions as the primary driving force for development.

According to the Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee, An Giang province will establish the Steering Committee for 5 sub-regions. Each sub-region will be directly supervised and monitored by a Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee regarding socio-economic conditions. Periodically, once every quarter, the sub-regions will meet with the participation of the Party Secretaries of the localities to review progress, resolve difficulties, address emerging issues, and ensure that localities develop in accordance with the planning orientation.

After listening to reports on the socio-economic development of urban areas, Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee Ho Van Mung acknowledged and commended localities that achieved high results in budget revenue and disbursement of public investment capital; proactively implemented socio-economic development tasks, ensured national defense and security, maintained political stability, social order and safety, developed the economy, and took good care of the people. He also highly appreciated the effective operation of the two-tiered local government model in the two major cities of Rach Gia and Long Xuyen.

However, with only about four months left to achieve the socio-economic targets for 2026, some indicators remain low, such as budget revenue, disbursement of public investment capital, and digitization of land data. Economic development has not been commensurate with the region's existing potential and advantages.

Towards budgetary autonomy

According to Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee Ho Van Mung, the four cities of Rach Gia, Long Xuyen, Ha Tien, and Chau Doc, along with the Phu Quoc special economic zone, must define their role as leading urban centers and driving forces for the development of the province's sub-regions. To achieve this, attention must be paid to personnel management, and greater efforts must be made to complete and surpass socio-economic targets, contributing to the overall growth of the province.

Economically, urban areas must strive to achieve and surpass growth targets, exceeding the provincial average; gradually move towards budgetary self-sufficiency; proactively seek revenue sources from the development of trade, services, and land exploitation, without relying on provincial support.

Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee Ho Van Mung requested that localities urgently review all targets and tasks for 2026, using them as criteria for evaluating officials; Focus on urban beautification, prioritizing funding for lighting, environmental sanitation, and public services; strengthen management of construction order, urban aesthetics, environmental sanitation, and beautification of roads and residential areas, creating a bright, green, clean, and beautiful urban landscape.

The Department of Construction, in coordination with the Department of Finance and local authorities, shall urgently review and submit 27 sub-area planning schemes to the Provincial People's Committee for approval, to be implemented in sync with the provincial master plan; the goal is to complete these sub-area planning schemes by December to provide a basis for attracting investment.

Regarding enhanced investment attraction, the Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee assigned the Department of Finance to take the lead and coordinate with other units to complete the procedures for 28 investment projects to be submitted to the Provincial People's Council in November. A dedicated investment promotion conference for the four key urban areas of Rach Gia, Long Xuyen, Chau Doc, and Ha Tien will be organized in August to announce the zoning plan and invite large, capable investors to participate.

Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee Ho Van Mung requested the four localities to review projects that have been and are being implemented; resolutely revoke projects that are slow to implement, not in accordance with planning, or whose investors lack capacity. Departments and agencies should proactively coordinate, support localities, and advise the Provincial People's Committee to ensure that urban areas develop socio-economically, attract investment, and effectively carry out their tasks.

Furthermore, the Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee agreed with the view of strongly decentralizing power to localities in accordance with the law to increase proactiveness and reduce administrative procedures. The dynamic urban centers of Rach Gia, Long Xuyen, Chau Doc, and Ha Tien, along with the Phu Quoc special economic zone, must be models in implementing the two-tiered local government model throughout the province.

The Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee assigned the Department of Culture and Sports to develop a brand for An Giang province's festivals, organizing them on a rotating basis in four key urban areas (once a year) to promote tourism and socio-economic development. He also assigned the Department of Construction to take the lead in researching synchronized drainage solutions to prevent newer projects from being built higher than earlier ones, which causes localized flooding; immediate and long-term solutions are required to eliminate flooding in coastal and riverside urban areas.

According to the report, in the first seven months of 2026, localities focused on implementing socio-economic development tasks, promoting administrative reform, digital transformation, taking care of social welfare, and maintaining national defense and security. The work of consolidating the organizational structure after the reorganization of administrative units was basically completed, aiming to build a streamlined government that operates effectively and efficiently.

Regarding public investment, the four wards were allocated over 646 billion VND in capital for 2026. By the end of July, nearly 264 billion VND had been disbursed, reaching over 40% of the plan. Of these, Rach Gia had the highest disbursement rate at over 56%.

In the first six months of the year, total state budget revenue at the commune level reached over 4,600 billion VND, contributing to ensuring resources for socio-economic development, national defense and security, and social welfare. Regarding investment attraction, according to Decision No. 2864/QD-UBND of the Provincial People's Committee, four wards have 28 projects included in the investment attraction list for the 2026-2030 period, with a total area of over 873 hectares and a total estimated investment capital of nearly 118 trillion VND.

News by Nhu Ngoc

Translator: Thi Huynh