Asia Times: Vietnam targets central highlands development


	November 27, 2001	atimes.com

Southeast Asia

Vietnam targets central highlands development

HANOI - Vietnam's Tay Nguyen central highlands region will reorient its development towards specialized and diversified production with higher economic efficiency and competitiveness under new plans released by the government.

The regional economy will also be restructured over the next five years, with the industrial, construction and service sectors increasing their proportion of gross domestic product (GDP) at the expense of agriculture and forestry sectors. A government decision issued at the end of last month has earmarked an outlay of VND35 trillion (US$2.36 billion) for the region's 2001-05 five-year plan for socio-economic development.

The Central Highlands, mainly inhabited by indigenous people of different ethnic groups and long known for its vast areas of fertile basaltic soil suitable for cash and industrial crops such as coffee, rubber and tea, is regarded as a strategic region for the country. Under the five-year plan, intensive farming will be applied to export products including coffee, rubber, pepper, cashew, paper pulp, vegetables, fruit and flowers, with special attention paid to production cost and product quality. "Economic expansion must be closely linked to the struggle against hunger and poverty, especially in areas of economic difficulty and ethnic minorities, and should also consolidate political security and national defense," the government said.

Of the VND35 trillion to be spent on Tay Nguyen, VND12 trillion will come from the state budget. Some VND19 trillion will be invested in the industrial sector, including farm and forest product processing, post-harvest technology, mining and hydro-power plants. Several factories with a combined investment capital of VND16.6 trillion are being built and will be put into operation at the end of the current five-year plan. They include a bauxite-aluminium complex in Lam Dong province, a cotton processing factory in Dac Lac, a pulp mill in Kon Tum and hydro-electric plants in Dai Ninh, Se San, and Bun Kop-Chu Pong.

Economic restructuring is being stepped up with the establishment of specialized plantations, as well as farm and forestry product processing establishments, which is estimated to cost VND6 trillion. Old and low-yield coffee plants will be replaced with those of higher economic value.

Food production is expected to increase to 1.5 million tonnes in 2005. VND8 trillion will be used to develop education, health care, trade, tourism and other public facilities.

The government has set up a Steering Committee for the Central Highlands' Socio-Economic Development program comprising leaders of relevant ministries, central and local bodies. The committee will conduct surveys and identify priority development projects in the region for early execution. Tay Nguyen boasts 1.5 million hectares (ha) of basaltic land and a wide range of farms and forestry products. To tap its economic potentials effectively, careful plans must be made, enough capital sourced, and joint efforts exerted by both the state and local people.

In the 1996-2000 period, some VND24 trillion was invested in this region, marking a four-fold increase over the previous five-year plan. In addition, another VND8.9 trillion from the state budget was spent on regional infrastructure, including the construction of roads and bridges, irrigation and hydro-power projects, medical stations and cultural establishments. Part of this sum was channelled to the fight against hunger and poverty.

Tay Nguyen had an average annual GDP growth of 12.5 percent over the past five years, more than twice the figure in 1990. Large areas have been planted with coffee, rubber, sugarcane, tea, mulberry, cashew and cotton, facilitating the mechanization and industrialization of agricultural production in the region. The area of rice, coffee and rubber has expanded by 1.4, 5.5 and 3.2 times respectively over the past 10 years.

"The biggest problem facing Tay Nguyen is unorganized migration of people from other localities coupled with indiscriminate deforestation and tree felling for their resettlement and crop cultivation," said Nguyen An Ninh, deputy secretary of Dac Lac Provincial Party Committee. Other, more immediate problems include plummeting world prices of coffee and pepper, two main farm products in the region. This has badly affected the life and production of local farmers. The government and relevant ministries have been asked to supply local officials with timely and adequate information about domestic and overseas markets so that flexible plans of production and business activities can be made.

To date, the Central Highlands has 430,000 ha of coffee, accounting for 90 percent of the country's total coffee area. The yield of its robusta variety is the highest in the world. Vietnamese coffee has been exported to different offshore markets and is highly valued for its special taste and flavor.

The region's state-owned farms' rubber area is estimated at 40,000 ha, or 20 percent of the country's total. This is expected to cover 350,000 ha by 2010. Seven rubber-processing factories are being built in the region with an aggregate yearly capacity of 45,500 tonnes of dried crepe.

(Asia Pulse/VNA)