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Mr. Phan Van Mai speaks at the meeting. (Photo: SGGP) |
During the work session with Can Gio District, Mr. Phan Van Mai, Chairman of the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee, emphasized that Resolution No.12 of the municipal People's Committee on Can Gio District's development direction until 2030 determines that tourism development will become a spearhead economic sector. Therefore, Can Gio District will collaborate with the relevant departments to quickly build more practical and upscale tourism development projects and programs to compete with other well-known tourist destinations in the country.
On February 10, the Standing Office of the HCMC People's Committee had a work session with Can Gio District on the task assignment and implementation plan for 2023 and the implementation of Resolution No.12 of the HCMC Party Committee on Can Gio District's development direction until 2030. Mr. Phan Van Mai, Member of the Central Party Committee, Deputy Secretary of the HCMC Party Committee, Chairman of the HCMC People's Committee attended and presided over the meeting.
Over VND2.1 trillion of revenue from tourism
At the meeting, Mr. Nguyen Van Hong, Chairman of the People's Committee of Can Gio District, reported on the socioeconomic situation in 2022 and the key tasks in 2023; the results and implementation progress of the contents mentioned in the conclusions of the Chairman of the People's Committee of HCMC at the previous work sessions with the district. In addition, the implementation plan of the Can Gio District Party Committee’s action program to implement Resolution No.12 of the HCMC Party Committee on the development orientation of Can Gio District to 2030.
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Mr. Nguyen Van Hong, Chairman of the People's Committee of Can Gio District, reports on the socioeconomic situation in 2022 and the key tasks in 2023. (Photo: SGGP) |
Accordingly, in 2022, Can Gio District achieved and exceeded the set plan 13 out of 16 targets. Total production value increased by 38 percent and exceeded 19 percent of the plan. Total social investment accounted for 25.6 percent of the total production value in the district. State budget revenue reached 161.3 percent of the estimate assigned by HCMC, exceeding 61.3 percent of the plan; Disbursement of public investment capital reached more than 95 percent of the capital plan assigned by the city. In addition, Can Gio District cleared 11 new points of environmental pollution and flooding.
Regarding tourism, in 2022, the district welcomed more than 3 million visitors, with revenue of VND2.11 trillion, 2.2 times higher than the previous year. For social security work, in 2022, Can Gio District supported 3,124 poor and near-poor households with loans from the Bank for Social Policies to invest in production and trade development with an amount of more than VND185 billion, up 1.15 times compared to the previous year. The district also provided monthly allowances for 25,715 turns of people with meritorious policies and social protection with more than VND20 billion. Government building and administrative discipline were also guaranteed.
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At the meeting. (Photo: SGGP) |
Administrative reform work was directed and implemented in association with the theme of 2022; The percentage of people satisfied with the provision of public administrative services reached 98.14 percent. Digital transformation, the smart city project, and the investment project to build Can Gio District into a city under HCMC in the 2021-2030 period were also implemented and completed step by step according to the schedule.
Besides the achieved results, Can Gio District still has shortcomings and limitations. The production situation still faces difficulties, and income from fishing, aquaculture, and livestock production decreased compared to the previous year, affecting people's lives. The work of compensation and site clearance is concentrated but slow to implement. The number of complaints and petitions made by local people increased by 202 applications compared to the previous year, mainly in the field of land. The number of criminal cases also rose by 19 percent, mainly property theft and gambling; Traffic accidents saw increases in terms of the number of cases and deaths compared to 2021.
At the meeting, the Chairman of the Can Gio District People's Committee proposed many important contents to promote the district's socioeconomic development. In particular, to solve the situation of traffic congestion at both ends of Binh Khanh ferry station, Can Gio District proposed HCMC chair a meeting for relevant departments to report and put forward solutions to solve the traffic jams in the Binh Khanh ferry area, as well as ferry routes connecting Can Gio District with Go Cong District of Tien Giang Province.
Developing tourism into a spearhead economic industry
A representative of the Department of Transport of HCMC said that nine ferries are in operation at Binh Khanh ferry station. In order to solve traffic congestion at the two ends of the ferry station, the Department of Transport of HCMC sent a letter to propose to the People's Committee of HCMC to approve the investment in building two new ferries with a cost of VND79 billion.
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At the meeting. (Photo: SGGP) |
In addition, the number of ferries at peak hours should be increased to solve congestion at the two ends of the ferry station. The city should study the plan to cooperate with waterway passenger transport enterprises in the socialization of building new ferries and chartering ferries to transport passengers. The Department of Transport of HCMC also proposed to the People's Committee of HCMC to approve the People's Committee of Can Gio District to arrange 12 locations for anchoring watercraft for tourism development.
Mr. Phan Van Mai, Chairman of the People's Committee of HCMC, said that the travel time from Ben Tre Province to the Vung Tau City of Ba Ria - Vung Tau Province passing through the territory of Can Gio District is reduced by 3 hours, opening up the opportunity for Can Gio District to welcome more tourists.
The Chairman of the People's Committee of HCMC also informed that the People's Committee of HCMC and the People's Committee of Tien Giang Province discussed the issues of traffic connection between Can Gio and Go Cong Dong districts in the afternoon. Therefore, besides opening more waterways and ferries connecting Can Gio District with Go Cong Dong District, the Chairman of the HCMC People's Committee suggested that Can Gio District research and develop additional accompanying services, both creating livelihoods for local people and attracting and retaining tourists.
The Chairman of the People's Committee of HCMC emphasized that in Resolution No.12 of the HCMC Party Committee, tourism is determined to become a spearhead economic sector, forming forms of tourism and supporting services for the marine economy. Mr. Phan Van Mai raised the question that tourism is the strength of the district, but what should be done to make tourism in the Can Gio District an actual strength? Thereby, it will spread to other fields and industries of the district, such as traffic and transportation development, creating livelihoods and improving people's income.
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At the meeting. (Photo: SGGP) |
According to Mr. Phan Van Mai, after the pandemic, the city's tourism industry has recovered and developed. HCMC asked each district to have at least one typical tourism product, and districts have responded to the program well. With the potential of Can Gio District, the Chairman of the People's Committee of HCMC expects the district's tourism industry to develop more to compete with other well-known tourist destinations in the country.
Therefore, the Chairman of the People's Committee of HCMC asked Can Gio District to coordinate with other departments to quickly build projects and programs to develop tourism in Can Gio District as a spearhead economy. Along with that, the Department of Industry and Trade, together with the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development of HCMC, must cooperate with Can Gio District to launch a program to develop products and specialties of the district to diversify and improve the value of agricultural and tourism products, creating livelihoods and incomes for local people.
According to the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Tourism, compared with other districts of Ho Chi Minh City, Can Gio district is considered to have a lot of potentials to become a leading tourism and resort center in the region. However, up to this point, the potential of Can Gio District has not been awakened. HCMC welcomes about 30 million tourists every year, but Can Gio District only attracts 4-6 percent of these tourists.
Because of that, there are many bottlenecks. For instance, from the center of HCMC to Can Gio District, there are no rest stops. In addition, the district does not have many quality entertainment, shopping, and resort venues for tourists to experience properly. Specifically, Can Gio Beach has not yet exploited its full value to serve marine tourism and beach resorts.
In addition, the facilities and auxiliary services for tourism in Can Gio District are still a big bottleneck. The number of accommodations is still small and not up to the standard to serve overnight stays. Eateries and shopping facilities are small-scale.
