Located in the northwest mountainous area, Hoa Binh province has an important position, transitioning from the plains to the mountains. Hoa Binh is a land of specific economic, social and cultural values. In the process of strong integration, the province has been striving to a new height and a new position.

The province preserves traditional cultural heritage values ​​of many ethnic groups. The protection and promotion of traditional values ​​becomes a key task, actively contributing to the cause of building and consolidating the great national unity in the province.

In particular, the movement "All people unite to build a cultural life" in Hoa Binh has brought about good results. The steering committees at all levels have directed communes, wards and townships to implement the program on building cultural families. The registration, selection, and recognition of cultural titles have been carried out in a timely, open and transparent manner, in accordance with regulations, which are actively responded to by the community.

In 2019, Hoa Binh province had 81.9% of families meeting the standards for cultural families; 69.6% of villages, hamlets, residential groups and over 90% of agencies, organizations and enterprises satisfied the cultural standards. 

The movement "All people unite to build a cultural life" has helped officials, party members and people raise their sense of responsibility in maintaining security and order, repelling social evils and strengthening the great solidarity in localities, agencies and organizations. Creating a healthy environment for each citizen to build a good life is the foundation for social-economic development in each area in the province.

State management in the field of culture has witnessed many changes, promoting the effectiveness of state management, integrating international integration activities in the process of building and implementing strategies for cultural conservation and promotion.

In terms of economic development, Hoa Binh province has determined to thoroughly exploit the potential and advantages of natural resources, forest land, and labor power in order to develop the local economy in a sustainable manner. The province ais to restructuring the economy in association with transforming the growth model towards a balance between growth in width and depth, striving to develop in depth by 2025. It also promotes the development of specific industries and products based on its own advantages, industries and products that contribute highly to the economy and have high added value, which are highly competitive, and improves labor productivity.

The province aims at comprehensive development, taking fast, efficient and sustainable development as the goal. Particularly, it takes industrial development as breakthrough, tourism development as the key, agricultural development as the foundation in the direction of commodity production, ensuring a reasonable economic structure. Developing dynamic areas is considered a key task to create spillovers to all regions in the province.

It also aims to promote economic development in harmony with cultural development, realize social progress and justice, and improve the quality of people's material and spiritual life, especially ethnic minorities and the disadvantaged areas; well combine economic and social development with national defense and security and vice versa. Economic development will be associated with environmental protection and response to climate change.

The common goal of Hoa Binh Province is to mobilize all resources, promote fast and sustainable economic growth in parallel with the implementation of progress, social justice and ecological environment protection, effective management and use of natural resources, and actively respond to climate change;

To ensure that all people can bring into full play their potential, participate and equally enjoy the fruits of development; preserve and promote national cultural identity; ensure national defense, security, political stability and social order and safety; to build strong party organizations and political system, strengthen the great unity bloc of ethnic groups; and strive to become a developed province, belonging to the leading group in the Northern midland and mountainous region by 2030, and become a developed province of the whole country by 2050.

Hoa Binh province sets some specific targets to 2030, including: The average GRDP growth rate in the period of 2021 - 2030 to reach 9%; By 2030, the economic scale to reach about 168 trillion VND, of which agriculture, forestry and fishery accounting for 13%, industry - construction 51%, services 32%; GRDP per capita to be 185 million VND/person/year; State budget revenue of about 16,000 - 18,000 billion VND; export turnover of about 4.05 billion USD; the urbanization rate to reach 42%; the rate of communes meeting the new rural standards of over 80% (of which 50% of the communes to meet the enhanced standards for the new rural areas); the rate of districts meeting the new rural standards of over 60%.

In terms of poverty rate, the province targets to decrease the average rate of poor households by 2-2.5%/year according to the new criteria. By 2030, the rate of trained workers will reach 70%, those with degrees and certificates will reach about 32-35; to have 34.5 hospital beds/10,000 people and 12.8 doctors/10,000 people; health insurance coverage to reach over 95% of the population.

By 2030, the annual forest coverage will remain above 51.5%; 100% of urban residents will have access to clean water, and 100% of rural residents will have access to hygienic water. Up to 100% of hazardous waste will be collected and treated, 95% of urban solid waste and 90% of rural solid waste will be treated. Up to 100% of industrial zones and industrial clusters will have centralized wastewater treatment systems that meets environmental standards.

In particular, with a vision to 2045, Hoa Binh province aims to have a synchronous and modern economic and social infrastructure network, a satellite city closely linked with Hanoi; become a center of tourism services, a leading center of processing and manufacturing industry of the Northern midlands and mountainous region, an attractive destination for large domestic and foreign investors, especially in the fields of tourism services, manufacturing and processing industries, and high-tech agriculture. The traditional cultural values ​​of the province, especially the Muong cultural identity, will be well preserved and promoted effectively, significantly contributing to the local socio-economic development; national defense, security, social order and safety in the province will be firmly guaranteed.

2022 is the year that Hoa Binh province has achieved good results in all aspects after a long time heavily affected by the Covid-19 epidemic. With the highest political determination to successfully implement the Resolution of the 17th Provincial Party Congress, in early 2022, the Provincial People's Committee drastically directed and administered all agencies to implement economic development tasks and strategic breakthroughs; to well implement resolutions and directives of the Government and the Prime Minister on socio-economic development. The Provincial People's Committee has promptly issued directives and executive documents in various fields, especially in implementing "dual goals": prevention and control of the Covid-19 epidemic while focusing on solving difficulties, recovering, promoting production and business, ensuring social security and people's life.

The Provincial People's Committee issued Directive No. 03/CT-UBND, dated January 18, 2022 on key tasks and solutions to direct and administer the implementation of socio-economic development plans, budget estimates for 2022 with 10 main groups of tasks and solutions for each sector and field, and assigned details to departments, agencies, People's Committees of districts and cities to implement, including 19 key socio-economic indicators of the year; 54 specific targets for industries and fields; 153 specific tasks for industries and fields; growth scenario of gross domestic product in the province; the plan to implement 6 public investment projects and 14 key off-budget investment projects which are kicked off in 2022.

In order to create a driving force to promote rapid and sustainable economic growth, the Provincial People's Committee issued plans and allocated and mobilizes resources to implement the projects of the Provincial Party Committee on: agricultural development, promoting the consumption of products associated with new rural construction in the period of 2021 - 2025; industrial - handicrafts development; service development, focusing on tourism development. Besides, the Provincial People's Committee closely directed to remove difficulties and obstacles in administrative procedures, investment capital, site clearance, access to land in order to help businesses restore production and increase investment attraction in the province.

Thanks to the innovation in direction and administration along with the consensus of all levels and industries and the dynamism and spirit of overcoming difficulties of the local business community, Hoa Binh’s economic picture in 2022 have many bright spots. 

Gross domestic product in Hoa Binh province in the first 9 months of the year was estimated to increase by 10.32% over the same period last year. Particularly, agriculture, forestry and fishery increased by 3.92%; industry - construction rose by 15.66% (industry alone up by 18.1%); and services up by 7.74%.

The province takes tourism development as a key with the goal of building Hoa Binh province into an attractive destination with typical tourism products, a major tourist center of the Northern midland and mountainous region. In recent years, the Provincial Party Committee, the Provincial People's Council and Provincial People's Committee have issued many guidelines and policies to promote tourism development and to restructure the tourism industry towards professionalism, modernity, sustainable development, meeting the requirements of developing tourism into a spearhead economic sector.

The decentralization of management of tangible and intangible relics creates favorable conditions for localities to perform state management of relics. Favorable mechanisms have promoted the work of socialization to promote the value of relics, contributing to the socio-economic development of the locality.

Besides tourism, the local authorities have focused investment in industries. It is estimated that in the first 9 months of 2022, the industrial production value of Hoa Binh province increased by 18% compared to the same period in 2021

Particularly, the processing and manufacturing industry developed stably; some key products of the industry such as electronics, garments, steel structures and metal products grew quite well (garments up by 7.6%, electronics up by 5.86%, steel structure and metal products up by 3.5%).

For electricity generation and distribution, the output of electricity was estimated at 8,163.5 million kWh, up 18.6% over the same period of last year; commercial power output was estimated at 880.13 million KWh, up 5.4% over the same period last year.

Quynh Nga