Reviewing the Adjustment of Phu Tho Provincial Planning: Designing a New Development Space After the Merger

On the afternoon of December 28th, Mr. Tran Duy Dong – Deputy Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee, Chairman of the Provincial People’s Committee, and Chairman of the Appraisal Council – chaired the meeting to review the adjustment of Phu Tho Provincial Planning for the period 2021-2030, with a vision to 2050.

Chairman of the Provincial People’s Committee Tran Duy Dong concluding at the meeting.

Following the Prime Minister’s directive to finalize the planning adjustments by December 31, 2025, the Provincial Party Committee, People’s Council, People’s Committee, and the Vietnam Fatherland Front Committee of Phu Tho have prioritized this task. The province has organized numerous meetings, workshops, and consultations with scientists, experts, and ministerial representatives to redefine the development space, establish a long-term vision, and maximize the potential and advantages of the three integrated localities.

Unlike previous technical updates, this adjustment to the Phu Tho Provincial Planning is considered a completely new development blueprint; it maximizes the retention of relevant content from the 2021-2030 provincial planning, with a vision to 2050, of Phu Tho, Hoa Binh, and Vinh Phuc provinces (before the merger) and the growth drivers inherited from the previous period, combined with new geo-economic factors to determine appropriate and harmonious development zones, economic development axes, and growth pillars; development based on regional advantages, building a unified, highly specialized, and closely linked economic space; focusing on developing dynamic regions, ensuring social security, narrowing the development gap, and bringing genuine benefits, prosperity, and happiness to the people.

This change stems from fundamental shifts in administrative boundaries after the merger, the governance model, and the strategic role of Phu Tho in the nation. Specifically, the plan defines the sustainable development of Phu Tho province based on three main pillars: economy, society, and environment. It places people at the center, using the cultural and historical values ​​of the ancestral land as the foundation and driving force for development. It establishes economic corridors along key expressways and national highways. It focuses on developing high-tech industries and supporting industries in areas with advantageous infrastructure. Simultaneously, it promotes the development of cultural and spiritual tourism, ecotourism, and high-quality resort tourism...During the discussion and feedback session, experts and members of the Appraisal Council acknowledged that the revised Phu Tho provincial planning document was prepared seriously and meticulously, with a solid theoretical and practical basis, clear supporting data, and a scientific presentation, serving as an important legal basis for the province’s development process. Simultaneously, they contributed many insightful opinions on the objectives, legal principles, and methods for evaluating Phu Tho’s outstanding potential to finalize the planning document.

At the meeting, the Appraisal Council voted by ballot to approve the revised Phu Tho provincial planning document. The result was 100% of the council members present voting in favor of approving the revised Phu Tho provincial planning document and the draft appraisal report.

In his concluding remarks, Chairman of the Provincial People’s Committee Tran Duy Dong emphasized the importance of finalizing the planning to maximize the advantages in the expanded socio-economic space after the merger. He affirmed that the Phu Tho provincial planning has been implemented in accordance with regulations; the planning content reflects new thinking, a new vision, and the province’s development aspirations. It also concretizes the major orientations, driving forces, and solutions outlined in the approved Provincial Party Congress documents; and demonstrates the linkage and synchronization between the province’s development orientation and the spatial arrangement of development.

To ensure quality and progress, the Chairman of the Provincial People’s Committee directed the Department of Finance and relevant departments and agencies, as well as the consulting unit, to fully incorporate and explain all comments from ministries, ministerial-level agencies, reviewers, members of the Appraisal Council, and the conclusions of the Chairman of the Appraisal Council at the meeting. The focus should be on clarifying the province’s position and role as a bridge between the Northern Midlands and mountainous region, especially Thai Nguyen and Tuyen Quang provinces, and Hanoi in the cooperative linkage chain, highlighting its advantages in transportation infrastructure; its role as a center for automobile and motorcycle assembly, electronic components, and semiconductors; and its role as a “symbiotic and mutually supportive” urban area for Hanoi’s future development. The province’s development perspective is unified towards sustainable development, closely integrating economic development with scientific and technological progress and social progress, preserving and promoting traditional cultural values ​​and unique identity, and aiming to become one of the development hubs of the northern midland and mountainous region... Based on this, ensuring the decision is issued before December 31, 2025.

Dinh Vu