The Government has planned to invest a total capital of VND1.25 trillion (US$54.3 million) to three large projects in the Central Highlands region, focusing on agricultural production, wood processing and real estate.

According to Deputy Minister of Planning and Investment Tran Duy Dong, the Central Highlands has become a large-scale production area for several key agricultural products, especially industrial crops and fruit trees.

At the same time, he said socio-economic infrastructure, especially transport infrastructure, had received a lot of attention and investment, greatly improving the connection between provinces in the region and between the region and the whole country. As a result, some localities have made breakthrough development, creating bright spots in the region and the whole country.

Dong said: "Compared to other economic regions, the VND1.25 trillion investment sum is not large, but compared to the Central Highlands region in previous years, the number is very respectable."

Dong said the Government had recognised many domestic and foreign enterprises interested in investing in the Central Highlands. There are many memorandums of understanding, with billions of dollars in capital flows in agriculture, forestry, commerce, and transportation.

However, Dong said the socio-economic development of the Central Highlands region still had limitations, inadequacies, difficulties and challenges, adding the regional economic growth rate was unsustainable and tended to slow down.

He said among the six socio-economic regions of the country, the GRDP per capita of the Central Highlands was still the lowest.

He said if those limitations and inadequacies could be overcome, combined with the potentials, advantages and resources that have not been effectively exploited, the region would soon develop strongly.

Seeing ten potential, the Politburo issued Resolution No. 23-NQ/TW dated October 6, 2022, on the direction of socio-economic development and assurance of national defence and security in the Central Highlands until 2030, vision to 2045 with some new focus on promoting the development of transport infrastructure of the Central Highlands, connecting with other regions.

Accordingly, in the resolution, nine important transport projects in the Central Highlands region from 2030 to 2045 will be invested, including five important road projects, namely Quy Nhon – Pleiku, Khanh Hoa – Buon Me Thuot, Tan Phu – Bao Loc, Bao Loc – Lien Khuong and Gia Nghia – Nhon Trach.

The investment would help the Central Highlands connect with other key economic regions, especially the south-central economic region, and to help the Central Highlands develop tourism in the coming time, said Deputy Minister Dong. — VNS