Inter-regional development
Can Tho city is in an urban area which comes directly under the Central Government and falls under Grade I category. Can Tho has the characteristics of a multi-functional center, with several attractive features that can link it to further development in localities in the Mekong Delta region. Together with Ho Chi Minh City, this urban area can create an inter-regional development space and at the same time be the gateway to the East Sea for the Mekong sub-region.
The Mekong Delta region plays a central role in supporting Can Tho City in the development of many fields such as the main economy, banking, trade, tourism, science and technology, education and training, specialized healthcare, and can also become a key hub for transportation with connectivity to many parts of the Mekong Delta region. However, the economic, social, and functional infrastructure of a large city are not evident here. There needs to be more effort made towards planning and management, especially urban planning, which has many shortcomings. There has to be a major breakthrough to make Can Tho a driving force for the development of the entire Mekong Delta region.
In order to create a breakthrough for development, there has to be strong motivation and a large amount of resources. This is why the National Assembly passed the Resolution for piloting specific mechanisms and policies for Can Tho city, so that bottlenecks can be removed and an impetus created for development.
New resources can be created when the city is able to actively issue local government bonds, borrow from financial institutions and other domestic organizations, and can also borrow from the Government's foreign loans, with the total outstanding balance not exceeding 60% of the city's budget revenues. Annually, the additional central budget targets the city with no more than 70% of the increase in distributed revenues. Can Tho is also allowed to apply authorized mechanisms, decentralize decisions related to fees, charges, while the city budget can enjoy 100% of additional revenues as well.
Some other bottlenecks have also removed, paving the way for Can Tho city to develop in the right direction. These are regulations related to land, planning and management, and income policy of cadres and civil servants according to work performance with an increase of up to 0.8 times the salary level, position, or salary according to job position. There are also new incentives and incentive mechanisms and policies for dredging projects combined with product recovery of Dinh An maritime channels. Besides this there is the establishment of a center for the association, production, processing, and consumption of agricultural products approved by the National Assembly, which has an important significance for Can Tho city, but it will also promote and support the development of all localities in the Mekong Delta region.
Delegate responsibility
Investment attracting policies are basically decentralized and delegated to local governments. What Can Tho city needs now is the ability to balance public investment resources and strongly mobilize the whole society based on local practical capacity and capabilities. The pilot mechanism can create new resources, but whether or not the resource is actually created depends on the efficiency of implementation. This requires organizing the apparatus of Can Tho city under the effectiveness of the city government. The strengthening of regional links to attract resources needs the consensus of the people and the business community.
As a result of the implementation of the land-use master plan and plan of Can Tho city, in the period 2011 until 2020, only 802 hectares have been converted out of a total of 3,825 hectares of the total area of rice land. This shows bottlenecks in procedures and also reveals gaps in implementation compared to planned targets. Weaknesses in planning and management, especially in urban planning, have been evident in recent times. The slow implementation of key projects need to be overcome. When the city is given greater authority, more opportunities will open, and there will be higher demands and more serious responsibilities.
It is necessary to draw lessons in responsibility from the dredging of the Dinh An channel for large ships to enter the Hau River, as well as investing in the construction of regional agricultural wholesale markets such as the rice market in Can Tho and the fruit market in Tien Giang with old and ineffective methods. New mechanisms and policies are needed, but more important is effective enforcement so as not to repeat the same mistakes all over again.
New policy mechanisms, as well as having a Center for linking, producing, processing, and consuming agricultural products, will not solve all problems. It only focuses on solving important stages of mechanisms and policies. This center is located in Can Tho but has to cover the whole Mekong Delta region, so it is necessary to promote the economic space with intra-regional connections to other regions in the country. Building the center should be associated with lessons about solving market problems, and reviewing the planning in accordance with new mechanisms. How to effectively apply mechanisms and policies, build and promote the effectiveness of the center is an opportunity but also a challenge and a great responsibility for Can Tho city.
Can Tho City has shown strong political determination, whether or not it can be achieved depends on using the full operational efficiency of the political system and mobilizing businesses, investors, and citizens to participate in its goal towards becoming a highly developed regional center of the country.
