DECIDES:

Article 1.- To ratify the overall planning for socio-economic development of Can Tho province in the period from now to the year 2010 (readjusted) with the following principal contents:

I. DEVELOPMENT ORIENTATION, MAJOR TASKS AND BASIC OBJECTIVES

1. Development orientation:

- The overall planning for socio-economic development of Can Tho province must be in line with the overall planning of the Mekong River delta and the strategy for socio-economic development of the whole country. It must also ensure the relationships between the economic growth and the social development, between the production development and the market expansion, and between the sustainable economic development and the national security and defense.

- To step up the economic restructure along the direction of raising the commodity and service ratio; to increase products with high "gray-matter" content by bringing into play the role of sciences and technologies, thus creating premise for the attainment of the industrialization and modernization target.

- To encourage all economic sectors to develop their production and business, in order to efficiently tap all potentials and mobilize to the utmost the internal resources; to get a quick access to all external resources through technical and technological joint ventures and cooperation, with a view to diversifying and raising the quality of products in service of people�s life and export expansion.

- To implement the human resource development strategy by harmoniously developing economic, cultural and social domains, building an equitable and civilized society, ensuring that the people can get access to welfare services, particularly people in deep-lying and remote regions, families and subjects being social policy beneficiaries.

- To firmly maintain political security, social order and safety; to enhance national defense and security in the process of "open-door" integration and international cooperation expansion.

2. Major tasks:

- To build and develop a sustainable economy, to materialize the economic restructure along the direction of gradually increasing the ratios of industry, construction and service sectors, and relatively reducing those of agriculture, forestry and fishery.

- To step up the scientific development and technological application, particularly the use of new breeds and strains, creating new products in service of people�s livelihood and export.

- To step by step carry out the agricultural and rural industrialization and modernization; to materialize the strategy of gradually building and improving the urban system with a modern socio-economic and technical infrastructure and a clean urban environment, which is rationally arranged in the provincial territory, in which Can Tho city shall have the position and function of a regional-level central city.

- To step up the socio-cultural development, to reduce the population growth rate, to create jobs for laborers, to attach importance to the question of housing and clean water, to step by step elevate the population�s intellectual level, to raise the quality of medical examination and treatment services as well as primary health care, to preserve the national cultural identity and repell social vices.

- To well implement the grassroots democracy mechanism, to firmly maintain the political security and to consolidate the national defense.

3. Development objectives:

a/ Economically:

- To attain an average economic growth rate of 8-9%/year in the 2001-2010 period;

- To increase the export and import turnover by 13%/year on average;

- To raise the average income level (per capita per year) to 358 USD by 2000, 550 USD by 2005 and 875 USD by 2010.

- To raise the accumulation GDP rate from 21.5% in 2000 to 23% by 2005 and 25% by 2010.

b/ Socially:

To strive to keep the natural population growth rate at 1.50% by 2000, 1.32% by 2005 and 1.15% by 2010; to reduce the unemployment rate from 6.75% by 2000 down to around 3% by 2010; to strive to completely eliminate hungry households by 2000, and to reduce poor households to the lowest level by 2010; to raise the proportion of electricity-supplied households from 72% in 2000 to 90% by 2010. To strive to complete the junior-high education universalization in 60% of wards and district townships and 50% of communes by 2005, proceeding to complete the universalization of junior-high education in the whole province by 2010; to undertake the strategy of training human resources for the province�s economy. To step by step check malaria, to reduce the rate of tuberculosis sufferers to under 5%, to stimulate the entire population to use iodized salt; to well carry out the primary health care; to eliminate social vices.

II. DEVELOPMENT OF SOCIO-ECONOMIC BRANCHES AND FIELDS

1. Agriculture:

To strive to attain in the 2001-2010 period an average agricultural growth rate of from 3-3.5%, to ensure food security and high economic efficiency, to create raw material sources in service of processing industry and export. To practice highly-intensive farming, to step by step form areas under specialized crops and plants, to use new varieties with high yields and quality, to raise the farm commodity produce ratio from 65% in 2000 up to 80% by 2010. To step up the intensive rice farming, with high-quality strains, raising the rice yield and output, reducing the production cost, raising the competitiveness of products, sustaining and increasing the food output. To strongly boost the aquatic and marine product rearing, harvesting, catching and processing, with a view to bringing into play all advantages of Can Tho province. To combine the fulfillment of agricultural growth objectives with the construction of infrastructure, elevation of people�s intellectual level and gradual improvement of peasants� life. The agricultural development must be associated with the protection of ecological environment, market expansion and creation of favorable conditions for sustainable development.

2. Industry:

To concentrate efforts on the development of key industries, with importance being attached to the development of industrial clusters in localities where exist favorable conditions therefor to serve agricultural production and rural life there, so as to step by step industrialize and modernize the countryside. To strive to achieve an industrial growth rate of 13-14% in the 2001-2010 period. To develop industry for step-by-step materialization of the target of economic growth and restructure along the industrialization and modernization direction. To concentrate investment in the processing industry, to apply modern technologies to the processing of agricultural products, especially post-harvest technology; to make the economic restructure along the direction of stabilizing the growth rate of high-ratio sectors while quickly raising the ratios of such spearhead industries as electronics, informatics, chemistry... To encourage all economic sectors to develop industry and cottage industry in service of agriculture and rural areas, and use the local labor and raw material sources. To combine the process of industrial development with the formation of urban areas and the urbanization, and to build the socio-economic infrastructure thereof. To pay attention to the building of infrastructure of industrial parks and export processing zones to attract investment therein.

3. Trade, tourism and services:

To encourage all economic sectors to participate in trade activities, to step by step expand domestic and foreign markets, especially rural markets in order to promote the economic exchange in service of the people�s life. To set up joint ventures and partnerships with trade organizations, other provinces in the region and the whole country for exchange of goods and products, in order to stimulate the demand and develop the production, to strive to raise the market shares of refined goods items. To step by step invest in the development of Can Tho city into a commercial center of the province as well as the Mekong River delta region.

To develop Can Tho province�s tourism along the direction of green and ecological tourism in combination with tours to relics of cultural, historical and/or humanistic values, to promote the advantages of rivers, canals and orchards of the Mekong River delta region. To develop tourism according to planning in order to meet the domestic and foreign tourists� demands for visit, recreation, convalescence... To gradually form intra-regional and inter-regional tourist business linkages to meet diversified needs of tourists.

To develop various types of financial, banking and postal and telecommunications services in order to serve the cause of industrialization and modernization.

4. External economy:

To materialize a dynamic external economy strategy on the basis of bringing into play the potentials and advantages of the province, to set up joint ventures and business cooperations in order to raise the quality of and diversify products in service of production and consumption. To work out an export program on the basis of promoting advantages in land and labor in order to step by step turn out high-quality products. To attach importance to the encouragement of foreign investors to invest in fields where the biological technology, post-harvest technology, food and foodstuff processing technology, information technology and new materials processing technology... are applied, to efficiently use the ODA capital sources and other capital sources in boosting the socio-economic development.

5. Infrastructure:

To step by step build the technical and social infrastructure according to the province�s capability and conditions. To combine the building and perfection of irrigation system with the development of water-way navigation and land-road traffic, especially in rural areas, in which the bridge system in service of socio-economic exchange must soon be built.

To upgrade sections of national highways No.1 and 91 to grade-II delta roads; and those of roads No.80, 91B and 61 to grade-III delta roads. To upgrade provincial axis roads and vital arterial routes with a view to creating favorable conditions for sub-regions to develop. To renovate and upgrade the system of district roads.

To expand Can Tho and Cai Cui ports in combination with the dredging of Dinh An canal.

To renovate and upgrade Can Tho airport.

To strive to supply electricity to 90% of households (85% in rural areas) by the year 2010.

On postal service: To strive to achieve the rate of 8.5 telephones/100 people by the year 2010. To materialize the strategy for speedy, modernized and sustainable development, thus meeting the demand for information and communications within and without the province in a convenient and accurate manner.

6. Education and training, and science, technology and environment: To pursue the orientation of continued raising of the people�s intellectual level, training of human resources and fostering of talented people. To strive to complete the universalization of the junior-high education in 100% of communes and wards by the year 2010. To pay attention to the training of a contingent of skilled laborers. To step by step apply scientific and technological advances to production and daily life, especially export goods production programs. To build scientific and technological research and development institutions, so that the province can play its role as a scientific and technological center in the region. To develop the production in combination with the protection of ecological environment.

7. Health care, culture, sports and social affairs:

- To well carry out the tasks of primary health care, gradual socialization and raising of quality of medical services. To build the grassroots medical network in association with the program for rural development and urbanization. To gradually upgrade the material foundation and equipment; to raise the capacity of personnel working in the health service in order to raise the quality of medical examination and treatment for the people. To well carry out the population and family planning work in parallel with the care for the health of mothers and children, to strive to attain the natural population growth rate of 1.5% by 2000, 1.32% by 2005 and 1,15% by 2010.

- To well undertake the campaign "The entire population unite to build a new way of life in population quarters", to broaden the propagation work aimed at building an advanced culture deeply imbued with the national identity. To maintain, preserve and revamp cultural works and historical relics, and preserve the national cultural heritage.

- To socialize the physical training and sport activities, to organize the traditional and mass sport movements, to select sport and games appropriate to the province�s peculiarities for development.

- Regarding the job creation and social policy implementation: To step up the rural industrialization process in order to make the labor restructure, transferring agricultural laborers to industry, under the guiding principle of "leave fields, but not leave villages"; to create jobs for the poor, to strive to reduce the unemployment rate to 3% by the year 2010. To continue to well implement the gratitude policies and other social policies. To encourage people to get rich by doing lawful businesses; to propagate the model whereby people help one another overcome difficulties, eliminate hunger and alleviate poverty.

8. Urban development:

- On the basis of the already ratified overall planning for development of Vietnam�s urban centers till the year 2020, to form an urban development corridor along national highways No.IA and 91, including: Can Tho city; Thot Not, O Mon, Cai Rang and Phung Hiep provincial towns; Tra Noc export processing zone, and Hung Phu industrial park. To develop Vi Thanh provincial town so as to spread the urban corridor. To build Can Tho city under the planning to bring into play its role as a central city of the Mekong River delta region. To pay attention to the development of district townships in rural, deep-lying and remote areas and former revolutionary bases.

- To perform the task of restoring the urban architectural and construction order, and to take the initiative in controlling the urban development according to the planning, plans and law.

- To focus on the direction of the work of elaborating detailed land use planning, and to enhance the urban land use management.

III. MAJOR SOLUTIONS

The People�s Committee of Can Tho province is tasked to:

- Assume the prime responsibility with assistance of the concerned ministries and branches for studying and formulating the socio-economic development strategy and programs, elaborating the detailed planning and working out target programs in line with the planning. To materialize the planning, there must be a system of synchronous solutions concerning the capital mobilization, investment attraction, scientific and technological application... to make the fullest use of resources within the province as well as supports from domestic and foreign organizations.

- Study and propose to the Prime Minister specific mechanisms and policies, which are suitable to the province�s conditions and aimed to encourage all economic sectors to invest in production, market expansion, human resource development and environmental protection, in order to achieve socio-economic objectives.

- Carry out the organizational and managerial renewal as well as the administrative reform, in order to create a favorable environment for domestic and foreign investment promotion.

- Make intensive investments that can soon bring about practical efficiency; give priority to the building of the technical and social infrastructure as motive force for development of a number of key branches of the province: food -foodstuff processing, port services, commodity entrepot services, textile - garment - leather, etc.

- Work out long-term and short-term plans as well as specific projects, then step by step dispose them in a rational priority order, thus facilitating the sustainable economic development.

Article 2.- The People�s Committee of Can Tho province shall devise plans for closely inspecting and monitoring the planning implementation. The ministries and central branches shall have to coordinate with and support the locality in the implementation course in order to ensure that the overall planning for socio-economic development is in line with the strategy and planning for development of economic-technical-social branches, the territorial planning and the overall planning for socio-economic development of the Mekong River delta region and the whole country. In the course of implementation, the president of the People�s Committee of Can Tho province shall have to readjust the planning to make it suitable to practical conditions of the locality.

Article 3.- This Decision replaces the Prime Minister�s Decision No.88-TTg of February 5, 1996 and takes effect 15 days after its signing.

The president of the People�s Committee of Can Tho province, the ministers, the heads of the ministerial-level agencies and the heads of the agencies attached to the Government shall have to implement this Decision.

Prime Minister
PHAN VAN KHAI