Hoa Binh city is gathering feedback from ministries and sectors regarding its proposal for tier-2 urban status. After years of development from its tier-3 foundation, the city is awaiting inclusion in the country’s list of more than 30 tier-2 urban centres.
A corner of Hoa Binh city.
For Le Minh Long, a native in Tan Thinh ward who now lives in Hai Phong city,
the transformation of his homeland is striking with high-rise building,
shopping zones, an array of services, and bustling streets.
Prior to 2010, entertainment options for young people were limited to a handful
of small coffee and fashion shops and eateries. Nowadays, shopping centres
offer everything from retail therapy to cinema experience, helping younger
generations embrace a contemporary and dynamic lifestyle.
Over the recent past,
multiple infrastructure improvement projects have been carried out, including
the upgrade of key streets like Cu Chinh Lan, An Duong Vuong, Ba Trieu, Vo Thi
Sau, Ly Nam De, and Phan Boi Chau. These projects cover sidewalk renovation,
lighting system supplement, and drainage system construction.
Besides, the city has accelerated the site clearance work for the construction
of key projects, helping create a facelift to the locality.
The economic indicators also support the city’s ambition. Over the past three
years, Hoa Binh city has maintained an average economic growth rate of 11.93%
while per capita income is 1.51 times higher than the national level. Besides,
non-agricultural employment has reached 82.2% while the poverty rate has
dropped significantly to 1.38%. According to the Ministry of Construction’s
assessment board, the metrics align with the tier-2 urban standards.
Achieving the tier-2
status, Chairman of the city People’s Committee Pham Anh Quy said, will not
only be a milestone but also a starting point for the city to continue
consolidating and improving its achieved criteria, with the ultimate goal of
improving the living quality of the local residents.
The city, boasting rich cultural, historical and ethnic traits of the
northwestern region, will keep on making breakthroughs and positioning itself
as a political, administrative, economic, cultural, social and
scientific-technical centre of Hoa Binh province.
In 2024, amid significant global and regional fluctuations, Vietnam's economy entered a phase of recovery and growth, albeit with persistent challenges. However, through determination and decisive actions, Hoa Binh province achieved remarkable progress across all sectors. The province met all 19 socio-economic development targets, recorded its highest state budget revenue in five years, launched several key projects, and enhanced its investment climate.
During the last days of 2024, work on the Canh Tang reservoir, a key irrigation project in both the province and the country and the northern region, proceeded intensively. Hundreds of workers and engineers have been striving to complete the main components by April 30, and finalise the entire project by 2026.
The national target programme on building new-style rural areas has been carried out harmoniously in Cao Phong district, giving a facelift to the locality while improving the living quality of the residents.
Over recent years, the Farmers' Union of Mai Chau district has implemented numerous specific programmes and activities to support its members in developing products under the One Commune One (OCOP) programme. These efforts have contributed to enhancing local agricultural branding, increasing goods value, and improving incomes and living standards for residents.
Since 2022, the Hoa Binh Department of Education and Training has provided advice for the provincial People's Committee to issue Plan No. 219/KH-UBND on November 17, 2022, which outlines the implementation of a project titled "Enhancing the application of Information Technology (IT) and Digital Transformation in Education and Training for the 2022–2025 period, with a vision to 2030.” As of now, the local education sector has made significant progress in IT adoption and digital transformation.
Hoa Binh allocated over 30 trillion VND (nearly 1.18 billion USD) to develop infrastructure systems in ethnic minority and mountainous areas during 2019 - 2024. Priority was given to transport and irrigation infrastructure; markets; schools; medical stations; communal houses; and power grid, telecommunication, radio, and television systems.