The Central Highlands is a strategic area of special importance in terms of economy, society, ecological environment, national defense/security and foreign affairs of the country. However, over the years, the region has not yet fully tapped its distinct potentials, outstanding opportunities and competitive edge. To create a new impetus for the region to develop a green, circular economy boosted by its rich regional cultural identity, the Politburo issued Resolution No. 23-NQ/TW for orientations for socio-economic development and defense/security safeguarding in the Central Highlands by 2030 with a vision towards 2045.
The Central Highlands is a strategic area of special importance in terms of economy, society, ecological environment, national defense/security and foreign affairs of the country. However, over the years, the region has not yet fully tapped its distinct potentials, outstanding opportunities and competitive edge. To create a new impetus for the region to develop a green, circular economy boosted by its rich regional cultural identity, the Politburo issued Resolution No. 23-NQ/TW for orientations for socio-economic development and defense/security safeguarding in the Central Highlands by 2030 with a vision towards 2045.
Farmer Le Van Cuong in Nam Nung commune, Krong No district (Dak Nong) owns one hectare of a special coffee plantation. Each year he harvests about 3.5 tons of coffee beans, earning about 120 million dong (50,000 US dollars). Vu Sinh/VNA
The Central Highlands is a plateau with a mountainous terrain which is complicatedly divided and is far from major economic centers where the people have difficulty connecting with neighboring localities. The region’s economic scale is small and the socio-economic infrastructure, especially the transport infrastructure is still weak and incomplete. With much effort over the past 20 years, the Central Highlands has expanded its economic scale, reaching about 287 trillion dong in 2020, about 14 times more than in 2002.
On October 6, 2022, the Politburo issued Resolution No. 23-NQ/TW on the orientations for socio-economic development and defense/security safeguarding in the Central Highlands by 2030 with a vision towards 2045. Accordingly, six groups of solutions are proposed, namely developing rapidly and sustainably the regional economy, culture and human resources, improving the people's material and spiritual life, developing important transport infrastructure and unique tourism, focusing on the completion of policies on regional linkage, firmly improving the efficiency of foreign affairs and focusing on building and correcting the Party and political system.
The average Gross Regional Domestic Product (GRDP) in the 2002 - 2020 period was 7.98%, the highest rate among the regions. The region has shifted its economic structure in the direction of reducing the proportion of agriculture and increasing the proportion of services. It has rapidly developed industry and turned agriculture into a large agricultural production area with many products which account for a high proportion of the country's exports. These include coffee, rubber, pepper and fruit trees.
According to Resolution No.23, the growth of the Central Highlands must be aligned with the national socio-economic development strategy. One of the key missions is to restructure the regional economy in accordance with a growth model innovation, shifting from agricultural production to a highly-efficient agricultural economy based on advanced technology and digital transformation. Other areas of focus are growing, restoring and protecting forests along with stable livelihoods for the local people, developing renewable energy, agricultural products and mineral processing industries, as well as cultural tourism.
Connection within the locality, including the neighboring central coastal and southeastern regions, with countries in the Mekong Sub-region and ASEAN, especially within the framework of the Greater Mekong Sub-Region Cooperation, the development triangle area of Vietnam-Laos-Cambodia and ASEAN countries, must also be prioritized, alongside traffic and digital infrastructure development as the driving force behind regional growth.
Resolution No. 23 also emphasized that Central Highlands’ culture must be developed in a way that is rich in national identity, united in diversity, and respects different ethnic cultural values. This will be the foundation for development and international integration. It is considered as the driving force and foundation for development and international integration.
The preservation, restoration and promotion of cultural heritage values, traditional values and cultural identities of ethnic minorities, especially traditional festivals and the gong cultural space should be prioritized. It should reduce the rate of poor households; stabilize the population, especially ethnic minorities and those who live in remote and isolated areas. It should also ensure that all people have access to quality health care, education and medical services and improve people's intellectual level and quality of human resources to meet development requirements.
With the motto “the whole country for the Central Highlands and the Central Highlands overcomes difficulties to rise up with and for the whole country", the Central Highlands - "the roof of Indochina" will be turned into a fast and sustainable development region based on a green and circular economy, rich in national cultural identity and will become a unique destination, attracting domestic and international tourists by 2030. It also has the target of some provinces in the region being listed in the well-developed group of the whole country by 2045.
Da Lat is one of three cities in Vietnam to receive the ASEAN Clean Tourist City Award at the ASEAN Tourism Forum (ATF) 2022. Photo: VNA
In November 2022, the provinces of the Central Highlands signed cooperation agreements and granted certificates of investment registration to domestic and foreign investors with a total value of more than 5 billion US dollars which focus on areas, such as the construction of industrial parks, urban areas, connecting traffic routes, logistics centers, irrigation works and high-tech agricultural development, pharmaceuticals, agro-forestry product processing and mining.
Story: VNP Photos: VNA Translated by Hong Hanh