DECISION

ON THE RATIFICATION OF THE GENERAL PLANNING FOR SOCIO-ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT OF THE CENTRAL HIGHLANDS IN THE PERIOD FROM NOW TO THE YEAR 2010

THE PRIME MINISTER

Pursuant to the Law on Organization of the Government of September 30,1992;
After considering the proposal of the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development in Official Dispatch No. 1896 NN-KH/TTr of May 7, 1998 and of the Chairman of the State Evaluation Council for the investment projects in Official Dispatch No. 3408/HDTD of May 20, 1998,

DECIDES:

Article 1.- To ratify the General Planning for Socio-Economic Development of the Central Highlands (4 provinces : Kon Tum, Gia Lai, Dak Lak and Lam Dong) in the period from now to the year 2010 with the following main contents:

I. MAIN DEVELOPMENT OBJECTIVES

1. On economy:

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- Step by step to restructure the economy so that by the year 2010: industry and construction shall account for from 35% to 40%, agriculture and forestry from 25% to 30%, and tourism and services from 30% to 35% of GDP.

- To strive for an accumulation rate from GDP of from 10% to 11% in the period from now to the year 2000, and from 14% to 15% in the 2001-2010 period.

- To carry out renovation of equipment and technology at the existing establishments, and equip the new establishments with modern and advanced technology, especially those serving the processing of farm and forestry products in order to create competitive and export-oriented products on the market.

- To increase investment in protecting and developing forests, and strive to raise the forest cover rate to 65-70% in by the year 2010.

- To increase investment in building the infrastructure with priority for the settlement of the question of water, communication, electricity, building of schools, medical stations, communication and liaison, broadcasting and television.

2. On social welfare and the environment:

- To carry out efficaciously the program of sedentarization of farming and population, step by step to conduct planning and rational distribution of the population on the spot as well as the people coming to the Central Highlands from other regions, to stabilize the life of the people of ethnic minorities.

- To create jobs, increase the number of employed persons in the working age, strive to increase the rate of the labor force in industry, small industries and handicrafts, construction and the service sector. To create conditions for the people of ethnic minorities to have access to the new mode of production and technology.

- To strive to eradicate famine by the year 2000, alleviate poverty step by step, ensure vital necessity in food, clothing, housing, traveling, study and healthcare aimed at raising the living standard of the people. To observe a civilized lifestyle, preserve and develop the national cultural identity.

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- To pay attention to improving the living conditions of the people in deep-lying areas, remote areas, and border areas. To build an equitable and civilized society and a healthy social community, to eradicate harmful habits and social evils.

3. On national security and defense:

To carry out the strategy of economic build-up associated with strengthening security and national defense, preserving social order and safety, and firmly upholding national sovereignty. To pay special attention to the key areas of strategic defense and crucial logistic bases of the regions and of the whole country.

II. MAIN DEVELOPMENT TASKS

1. On agriculture and forestry:

- To strive for a growth rate of about 6% in agriculture and forestry from now to the year 2000 and about 7% in the period from 2001 to 2010.

- To develop agriculture in the direction of commodity production, to develop the existing advantages and potentials in a way conformable with the natural conditions of each region. To pay attention to preserving landscapes and the environment and protecting the ecology and ensure sustainable development.

- To conduct high and effective investment in intensive farming, combining agriculture with forestry and processing industry, to step by step modernize important processes in it, in order to promote the production and meet the need of production, the people's life and export.

- To expand step by step the acreage according to the planning in the planting of coffee, rubber trees, cashew, pepper, tea, fruit trees, medicinal plants and short-term industrial trees. To expand the acreage and practice intensive farming of maize; to restrict and eventually to eradicate the deforestation for farming land. To pay attention to the rational use of the land fund and to restructure the land fund in the direction of diversification of products; to expand the areas of specialized farming in order to create a rate of commodity farm products with high quality.

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- To develop forestry in the direction of strengthening the protection, transformation and supplementation of the existing natural forests, especially the headwater forests, special-use forests and protection forests; to promote the planting of new forests, to restore step by step the forest acreage in order to increase the forest cover. To carry out land allocation, to allocate and contract forests in order to combine horticulture with agricultue and forestry. To exploit the forest fund rationally in association with the program of sedentarisation of farming and population, to promote the planting of scattered trees, to give importance to the benefits from protecting the ecological environment combined with the benefits of forest ecology.

2. On industry:

- To pay attention to developing those industries which use on-the-spot raw material resources like: processing of coffee, rubber, sugarcane, food industry, building materials, paper, earthenware and porcelain...To develop step by step the repair engineering industry, to encourage the development of small industry and handicraft production in both the urban and rural areas.

- To carry out step by step in-depth investment, renovate equipment, especially in the processing industries in the crop specialization areas and in the production of forest products in order to restructure the economy of the whole region. To link industry with agriculture and forestry in order to promote production.

- To encourage domestic and foreign investment. To prepare the necessary conditions for the formation of industrial parks aimed at developing the advantages and potentials of the Central Highlands.

- To focus efforts on developing industry at the appropriate size, with preference given to the application of technologies that require little fund but that create many jobs for laborers and contribute to the rural industrialization. To apply scientific and technical advances to agricultural and forestry production.

3. Developing trade, tourism and services:

- To develop trade, tourism and services in order to generate the motive force to promote economic development in the whole region aimed at developing the advantages and achieving the set socio-economic targets. To strive for an annual growth rate of 10-15% for trade, tourism and services from now to the year 2010.

- To develop a diversified trading business network suited to the territory of the Central Highlands, to encourage all economic sectors to take part in goods circulation in order to create a motive force for the development of production. To build step by step concentrated trading centers in the cities and towns in order to exchange goods and introduce products to other areas and to Laos, Cambodia and Thailand.

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- To make the most of the advantages in geography, climate, landscapes and environment... in order to develop the existing tourist sites, at the same time to build new tourist centers in Da Lat, Suoi Vang, Lac Thien, Buon Ho..., to form travel tours in the region linked to the key economic areas and inter-regional travel tours in other areas: Eastern South Vietnam, the Central coastal area, the Mekong river delta, Ho Chi Minh City, Ba Ria-Vung Tau... To build in a synchronous way the infrastructure, the material and technical bases and tourist exploitation centers linked with upgrading and preserving nature, preserving and developing the tourist resources, to develop the national cultural identity and eventually to develop the strategy of international tourism in the future.

- To restructure trade, tourism and the service industry by giving preference to tourism, telecom-munications, finance and technology transfer, to encou-rage all economic sectors to take part in these activities.

4. To develop the infrastructure and urban centers:

- To build and rationally distribute the medium and small towns as economic, cultural and service centers of the whole region in conformity with the urban network of the country to be formed and developed according to the General Planning for the development of Vietnamese urban centers up to the year 2020.

- To develop the urban network associated with the renovation and upgrading of the communi-cation lines and the process of formation of commodity production areas. To upgrade and perfect step by step the land road system of the provinces in the region.

- To develop the land and air route networks... according to planning. To pay attention to the rural communication network, especially in the deep-lying, remote and border areas, to create conditions for the development of the difficult areas, former resistance bases and areas of key strategic importance. To strive so that all the communes will be accessible to motor vehicles up to the centers of commune groups by the year 2010.

- To attach importance to the building of the water conservancy systems, especially hydro-electric dams and water reservoirs linked to the system of irrigation canals of the concentrated production areas. To combine the building of land roads with the perfection of the systems of water conservancy works, bridges and culverts and other works catering for production and life.

- To upgrade the existing systems of water supply and drainage and build new ones in the urban centers and industrial zones. To pay attention to meeting the need in clean water of the rural population. To give importance to the protection and exploitation of the water sources.

- To carry out step by step the electrification of the Central Highlands so that by 2000 60% of the population and by the year 2010 80% of the population will be supplied with electricity. In the immediate future to invest in extending the electric grid to the densely populated areas, the areas susceptible to the exploitation and development of agriculture and forestry in order to increase the rate of commodity goods. To pay attention to developing small electric stations in the difficult, deep-lying and remote areas and the former resistance bases and the centers of commune groups.

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- To modernize the post and telecommunication networks in the direction of synchronization, automation and digitalization in order to meet the communication needs in the country and international exchanges.

5. On education, science, culture, healthcare and social welfare:

- To pay attention to developing the system of education and training, to raise step by step the quality and efficiency of education in order to arise the people's cultural level, and train on the spot human resources to meet the needs of development of production and improving the living standard. To strive so that all children in the school age can afford schooling, to universalize primary education by the year 2000. To expand the system of boarding and half boarding schools for children of ethnic minorities.

- To study in order to apply advanced science and technology as basis and motive force for socio-economic development in the region. Especially, it is necessary to quickly introduce science and technique into production and life aimed at promoting the development of agriculture and forestry.

- To give importance to the efficiency of cultural activities, broadcasting, television and physical training and sport activities. To preserve and develop the national tradition and identity in its worthy role as the motive source of development. To eradicate step by step the harmful customs and superstition, to develop various forms of mass culture, folk culture and create conditions for all strata of the population to enjoy culture and arts.

- To transform the existing medical establishments and build new ones, to strengthen and develop the system of medical stations at the communes and wards, the polyclinical consulting rooms and hospitals... in service of primary healthcare, the prevention and fight against epidemics, and the consulting and treatment establishments for the people. To strive step by step in order eventually to eradicate communicable diseases. To popularize and conduct effective education on population work and family planning. To conduct education on hygiene in living environment. To step by step socialize the medical work and raise its quality in service of the ethnic minorities.

- To strive to complete the sedentarization of farming and population, especially in the deep-lying and remote areas, the highlands, the former revolutionary bases and border areas; to step by step stabilize the life of the people, first of all the one million people of ethnic minorities. To build new economic zones according to planning. To actively step up the program for eradication of famine and alleviation of poverty; to strive so that all households have the conditions to progress on their own especially the households of ethnic minorities, the families beneficiaries of welfare policies with a living standard of the medium or higher level compared with the community.

- To effectively integrate the national programs, the target programs and concrete projects aimed at practical socio-economic effects.

- To develop the economy associated with security and national defense, to firmly defend national sovereignty. To involve effectively the army in the economic programs combined with national defense such as: planting rubber trees, protecting and planting forests, building roads, eradicating illiteracy...

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On the basis of the contents of the ratified General Planning, it is necessary to take synchronous, appropriate and effective measures to mobilize the internal and foreign resources in service of the socio-economic development of the Central Highlands.

A rational solution should be adopted to use the precious natural resources namely land fund, labor, forest resources, and water resources to develop the economy, preserve the environment and increase the forest cover.

- To carry out incentive measures to step by step attract domestic and foreign investment to create conditions for applying modern science and technology and expand the market.

- To practice preferential concentrated and definitive investment aimed at practical results and creating the motive force to develop the economy and improve the living conditions.

- To carry out high economic incentive policies for those enterprises and branches that create export-oriented and competitive products in order to increase the market share.

- To invest in building the technical infrastructure in service of the immediate and long-term develop-ment needs.

On the basis of the ratified General Planning of the region, the provinces in the region must revise the general planning of each locality, with preferential arrangement and readjustment to make it conform with the planning of each region.

In order to successfully realize the general planning of the region, the provinces must creatively apply the mechanisms and policies aimed at creating the motive force for development. On the territory of each province, the People's Committee must concretize the orientation for socio-economic development of the Planning through programs and concrete projects, medium-term and short-term plans aimed at operating, managing and organizing the implemen-tation according to the set orientation.

Article 2.- The ministries, the ministerial-level agencies, the agencies attached to the Government and the People's Committees of the provinces in the Central Highlands shall have to organize, monitor and implement this Planning according to the ratified contents.

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In the process of implementing the Planning, the Ministry of Planning and Investment and the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development shall have to coordinate with the related ministries and branches and the People's Committees of the provinces in the Central Highlands shall have to review and evaluate and draw experience in order to make timely supplements and readjustments so that the socio-economic development process follow the right track and achieve high efficiency.

Article 3.- This Decision takes effect 15 days after its signing. The Presidents of the People's Committees of the provinces in the Central Highlands and the ministers, the heads of the ministerial-level agencies, the heads of the related agencies attached to the Government shall have to implement this Decision.

THE PRIME MINISTER OF GOVERNMENT




Phan Van Khai