PM to chair Central region economic development conference next week

Da Nang City

The Central region, including 14 localities from Thanh Hoa Province to Binh Thuan Province, is a strategic area in terms of politics, economics, society, defense and security. 

The region is the home to 20.2 million people, accounting for 21% of the nation’s total population and makes up 28.9% of the nation’s area. 

With the coastal lines of 1,900 km, the Central region plays a crucial role in maritime economic development. 

The Central key economic region was established 22 years ago based on the PM’s Decision No.  1018/1997/QĐ-TTg dated November 29, 1997, consisting of five localities, namely  Thua Thien Hue Province, Da Nang City, Quang Nam Province, Quang Ngai Province and Binh Dinh Province. 

The Central key economic region is located on the area of 27,882 square kilometers, accounting for 8.4% of the nation’s total area and has the total population of 6.5 million, making up 7%. 

The region is regarded as a key bridging role in external economic and cultural exchanges and transporting products between Central Highland provinces as well as a most favorable gateway for localities in South Laos, Northeast Thailand and Northeast Cambodia through the East-West Economic Corridor.

It has advantages of four external and internal transport infrastructure structures of road, railway, waterway and air.  

In the first half of 2019, the GRDP growth of the Central region was estimated at 8.05%, higher than the nation’s GDP growth of 6.76%. Eight among 14 localities reported the high GRDP growths such as Thanh Hoa 22.18%, Ha Tinh 12.78%, Ninh Thuan 10.07%, Phu Yen 9.2%, Binh Thuan 8.46%, Nghe An 7.09%, Thua Thien Hue 6.87% and Quang Tri 6.8%. 

The region’s exports in the first half witnessed an increase of 22.2% against in 2018, reaching US$6.95 billion.

By Thuy Dung