Prime Minister pays working visit to Binh Dinh

In the morning, PM Chinh listened to a report on a project to upgrade and expand Phu Cat airport, which is being used for both civil and military purposes.

According to a draft master plan on the system of airports and airfields nationwide in the 2021-2030 period, with a vision to 2050, the Ministry of Transport proposed to increase the capacity of Phu Cat airport from 2 million passengers per year as designed to 5 million by 2030 and 7 million by 2050.

The PM requested the ministry to coordinate with relevant agencies and Binh Dinh province to soon complete the Phu Cat Airport planning dossier to be ready for approval right after the master plan gets the PM’s green light.

PM Pham Minh Chinh (C) and other delegates cut ribbon to open to traffic Cat Tien - My Thanh section (Photo: VNA)

PM Chinh also attended a ceremony to open to traffic the Cat Tien - My Thanh section of the national coastal route. The 115km coastal road through Binh Dinh, which connects those of Quang Ngai and Phu Yen provinces, has a total investment of around 9 trillion VND (383.8 million USD).

The PM said that investment in upgrading and expanding the coastal route is very necessary to effectively exploit and use marine resources and coastal areas, thus serving socio-economic development of coastal localities, improving people's material and spiritual life, and strengthening defence and security in order to firmly protect the country's sovereignty.

Chinh also visited, and talked with people in the social housing area in An Phu Thinh apartment building, Nhon Binh ward, Quy Nhon city. Currently, Binh Dinh has 7,000 social housing apartments, and is striving to have 20,000 more by 2025. Chinh expressed his belief that if every locality can develop social housing like Binh Dinh, the country will complete the goal of building 1 million social housing apartments by 2030.

In the morning of the same day, PM Chinh visited the Becamex VSIP Binh Dinh Industrial, Urban, and Service Complex in Nhon Hoi economic zone, Canh Vinh commune, Van Canh district.

It is a cooperation project between the two provinces of Binh Duong and Binh Dinh, implemented by the Becamex IDC Corporation (Binh Duong) and VSIP Group.

The construction of the project, which consists of 1,000 ha for the industrial park and 425 ha for residential, commercial, service, and resettlement areas, has been started since September 2020. Once completed, it is expected to attract about 2 billion USD of investment in industrial production and create 120,000- 150,000 jobs.

Secretary of the Party Committee of Binh Dinh province Ho Quoc Dung said that the project is implemented in an especially disadvantaged commune and that the provincial authorities have created the most favourable conditions for the project, expecting that it will help attract investment and make breakthroughs to the province’s industrial production and services.

In the afternoon, Chinh attended the inauguration ceremony of Dong Mit reservoir in An Lao district. The reservoir has a basin of 160.3 square kilometres with a capacity of nearly 90 million cubic metre. It has three flood water releasing gates and its main dam is 378m long, and 62m high. Work on the reservoir project started in February 2019 with a total investment of 2.14 trillion VND.

A total of 890 households and nine organisations had to relocate for site clearance. The Dong Mit reservoir supplies water for irrigation of 6,742 ha, and helps reduce flooding for downstream areas, improve the ecological environment and prevent saline intrusion for downstream areas.

Speaking at the inauguration, PM Chinh asked Binh Dinh authorities to direct relevant units to have an effective exploitation plan, study and develop economic and tourism activities to exploit the potential and advantages of the reservoir.

Authorities must keep paying attention to ensuring stable production and life for affected households, he said. He asked the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development to continue coordinating with localities in the south central region to study solutions to ensure water security and sustainable socio-economic development for the coastal provinces.

The PM then visited the Dong Mit reservoir resettlement area in the new An Dung commune which is now home to 480 households of the H're ethnic group who moved to make room for the reservoir project./.