Deputy PM Tran Hong Ha (center) hands over the decision for approval of the provincial master plan until 2030, with a vision to 2050 to Quang Ninh leaders. (Photo: VOV)

Over the past decade, Quang Ninh has posted the most stable growth in Vietnam. Its gross regional domestic product per capita has grown for seven consecutive years, 1.5 times faster than the national average.

In the provincial master plan published on February 12, the local administration has mapped out sustainable development, green growth, and continued transformation towards clean, renewable energy that protects nature, people, and culture. The plan is based on previous strategic orientations, with some new breakthroughs.

Marco Breu, Director of McKinsey & Company Vietnam, a consulting firm for the Quang Ninh master plan, said that all the master plans between 2011 and 2020 are really a seamless into the next level of the new master plan.

“There are certain ideas that we've actually enhanced. There are certain ideas that we've actually added to it, maybe one idea will be around the development into sustainable and green economy. There's a lot of emphasis around that and we've made sure that it's rooted into the old master plan, but it has new breakthrough ideas in the new master plan,” Breu added.

Quang Ninh has set out specific development directions for important industries and fields, with priority given to developing green industry and increasing the contribution of high-tech processing and manufacturing industries.

In addition, it has attached much importance to becoming a logistics hub, a marine economic center, and a green, safe eco-agriculture center.

Surasak Phanraungwong, First Senior Vice President in charge of Business Development for Thailand’s B. Grimm Power Public Company, which has been studying investment opportunities in Quang Ninh, said the company’s plan is to study the potential of the wind farm first.

“Then we want to look together with the solar farm and creating the hybrid power to provide firm energy for industries. By our target within one year, we shall be able to start getting permission and in three years from now the project shall be leading to power the society in Quang Ninh province. That’s what we plan to do,” Surasak added.

Van Don-Mong Cai expressway

Under the plan, Quang Ninh’s socio-economic activities will no longer be concentrated in wealthy areas, but will exploit and use the sea and islands sustainably and create traffic corridors associated with economic corridors and urban corridors toward building centrally-run cities.

Quang Ninh will promote internal and regional links and territorial cooperation, said Nguyen Xuan Ky, Chairman of the provincial People's Council.

“Based on the completed Hai Phong-Ha Long-Van Don-Mong Cai expressway, we need to outline specific measures and roadmaps to connect the resources of localities in the region to speed up the construction of works that relieve the traffic bottlenecks now hindering regional connectivity,” said Ky.

He also underscored the need to promote economic and labor restructuring, narrow regional disparities, and improve connectivity for economic corridor development in accordance with the northern region planning.

In addition to transportation routes, bridges connecting Quang Ninh and Hai Phong city and Hai Duong, Bac Giang, and Lang Son province are being completed.

Quang Ninh has proposed organizing urban areas around a common development space, with each locality in charge of training and developing human resources.

The plan is considered a "guarantee stamp" to clear the bottlenecks so Quang Ninh can mobilize, allocate, and use effectively all resources of the members of the dynamic economic triangle of Hanoi-Hai Phong-Quang Ninh, the northern key economic zone, and the Red River Delta region for co-development.