In his statement at a ceremony to mark the 20th founding anniversary of centrally-run Da Nang city on December 31, the PM called for local authorities' greater efforts to develop Da Nang into a wealthy, peaceful, civilized and modern city, an international trade centre, and an attractive destination for investors and tourists.
PM Nguyen Xuan Phuc addressing the ceremony. Photo: vtc.vn
He underlined the need for the city to give appropriate policies to flexibly apply special mechanisms on investment, finance, budget and management, streamline the authority apparatus in an effective manner, and improve the quality of civil servants to satisfy the requirement of a serviceable administration.
The PM urged Da Nang to lead the way in building a smart and start-up city, focusing on improving investment and business climate and developing businesses with a target of between 40,000 and 45,000 enterprises by 2020, thus attracting more investment and creating high-added value products, and deeply joining global production and value chains.
It is necessary to foster regional links, especially with localities in the central key economic region like Thua Thien-Hue, Quang Tri, Quang Nam, Quang Ngai, Binh Dinh, Khanh Hoa, in producing industrial and agricultural goods, and applying high-technologies, he noted.
Attention should be paid to comprehensively reforming the education and training, and improving the quality of human resources, in order to meet the locality’s demand of international integration.
Da Nang needs to exert its efforts to join the group of globally competitive cities ranked by international organizations, he said.
While congratulating the municipal authorities on its hosting of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum in 2017, the PM said this will offer a good chance for the city to promote its strengths and potential to international friends.
He also expressed his joy at the city’s great achievements in recent times, saying that he hopes the municipal administration will do more endeavors to make the city a home to the talents and a center of start-ups and creative ideas.
On the occasion, 20 individuals were honored with the title “outstanding citizen of Da Nang” for their achievements and contributions to the city’s development over the last 20 years.
According to Secretary of the municipal Party Committee Nguyen Xuan Anh, the tourism has become a spearhead economic sector of Da Nang over the last 20 years. The city has so far attracted 5.6 million visitors, up 27 times.
The city’s infrastructure system has been improved in recent years, including nine modern bridges, which not only serve transport but also are attractive tourism destinations for visitors.
In 2016, Da Nang ranked the first in the Provincial Competitive Index and topped the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Index for seven consecutive years.
The city obtained encouraging achievements in economic growth, with economic scale increased 2.5 times and per capita surged over 14 times over the two decades. It is said to be a most liveable city in Vietnam, becoming an attractive tourism site for domestic and foreign holiday-makers.
Da Nang was splited from Quang Nam-Da Nang province and become a centrally-run city on January 1, 1997.
Source: VNA