The Ministry of Construction discussed its plans to develop a new economic zone (Ho Chi Minh City and seven provinces), the country’s largest to date, at a recent conference in HCMC.

The country’s foremost economic zone would encompass HCMC, Ba Ria-Vung Tau, Dong Nai, Binh Duong, Binh Phuoc, Tay Ninh, Long An and Tien Giang provinces, according to the Ministry of Construction’s Southern Agricultural and Urban Planning Institute, which is responsible for drawing up the plan.

Many officials at the meeting expressed concerns that in order to implement the zone, which is home to 15.1 million people, a long list of concerns would have to be addressed.

For example, the area lacks highways.

Its ports are inadequate and disconnected from each other and other parts of the region.

If the zone is to rival the country’s other large industrial and economic developments, many officials agreed that transport would have to be drastically improved.

Industrial zones in the eight southern provinces are still located within residential areas, causing traffic jams, polluting the environment and increasing fire risks, according to some delegates.

HCMC: the vital core

HCMC and surrounding urban areas have already begun to form an extremely dynamic economic zone, said Chairman of the Vietnam Urban Planning and Development Association Nguyen The Ba.

To facilitate further development, Ba said transport items such as railways and inner-city roads must be improved and expanded.

Ministry of Construction outlines dictate that HCMC would be the larger economic hub’s center.

The area of focus should be HCMC’s east side, home to its seaport, as well as areas around its international airport, said delegates at the conference.

Nguyen Ngoc Dong from the Ministry of Transport said in years to come, the area would need more links to Cambodia and other neigh-boring countries.

Head of the HCMC Department of Planning and Architecture Nguyen Trong Hoa said the city was already developing a mass transit system that would connect it to southern provinces like Dong Nai and Long An.

Hoa urged these provinces to prepare accordingly.

Vice Chairman of the Ba Ria-Vung Tau People’s Committee Tran Ngoc Thoi said several provinces were vying to build ports on their own, without proper attention to how these ports would fit in the region’s master plan.

Port planning should be carefully developed, he said.

Minister of Construction Nguyen Hong Quan said that local authorities would have to review local planning to ensure it would fit in the master plan.

Under the plan, the HCMC economic zone will include major highways linking HCMC with Phnom Penh, Bangkok, Vung Tau and international ports.

Other north-south highways will link HCMC with coastal cities throughout the country as well as with important centers in the Mekong Delta.

Environmental concerns

Many delegates to the conference voiced concerns about the environment, which, they said, must not be sacrificed for the sake of economic growth and development.

Ba Ria-Vung Tau’s Tran Ngoc Thoi said provinces needed to pool their resources and work more closely to protect the environment.

Thoi said the heavy pollution of major rivers such as the Dong Nai and Saigon has continued despite local officials’ efforts.

Delegates from Long An Province agreed.

They said cross-locality cooperation was seriously lacking when it came to environment protection.

Long An, for instance, is having difficulty finding a site for a much-needed waste processing facility because no locality is willing to give up part of its land.

Tourism, education

Under the plan, the southern economic zone, with renowned tourist attractions at Vung Tau, Con Dao Island, My Tho and Tay Ninh, would also be developed as the country’s tourism center.

By 2020, the region’s 44 universities and 56 junior colleges would have 650,000 students enrolled, or around 14 percent of the country’s higher education enrollment.

In particular, higher education institutions in HCMC would offer high quality programs in high tech and priority disciplines.

The master plan will be subject to further review before it is submitted to the government for approval, according to Quan.

Source: Tuoi Tre