From aspiration to rise up...

With the chosen path of accelerating industrialization and modernization, after 25 years of construction and development, Binh Duong today has a great change. It is the desire to enrich the homeland and the country that is the driving force for an industrialized and modernized Binh Duong today.

“Rising up from this land…”

Not long ago, on the occasion of the 25th anniversary of Binh Duong's construction and development (January 1, 1997 - January 1, 2022), in a talk to Binh Duong Newspaper’s reporter, Nguyen Minh Triet, former Secretary of Song Be provincial Party Committee, former Politburo member, former State President shared that the then Song Be had an area of ​​over 1 million hectares, but lacked some aspects for development. Therefore, the province discussed and proposed a policy on mobilizing all resources for development. With the spirit, leaders of the then Song Be province set out a policy on "rolling out flower mats to call for investment".

Industrialization has accelerated the local urbanization process. Binh Duong now has 3 cities under the province, 2 towns on the way of becoming cities under the province. In picture: The modern industrial urban image in Thuan An city

According to Mr. Triet, the province also encountered many obstacles when embarking on the implementation of industrialization. “There were many shortcomings from capital, traffic, science-technology... for change. But we thought that in the war, our country was weak, but could still fight the enemy with bare hands and sharpened pieces of bamboo. Thus, why didn’t we promote that spirit at this time? First of all, that was self-reliance to rise up from this land and our own people ...", he shared.

And then, key infrastructure projects were invested and built, and a number of industrial parks (IPs) were formed up. Regarding the birth of IPs, Mr. Triet said that at that time, there was almost no IP in the country, only Ho Chi Minh city had Tan Thuan Export Processing Zone. The province discussed and asked for the Government for the establishment of the local Ip. And the concept of the IP has been formed and developed until now. The province also paid attention to the local traffic system, paying the way for development  ... That is the first germ for the industrial development of Binh Duong in the future.

Miracle on the journey of development

On January 1, 1997, Binh Duong was separated from Song Be province, entering a new stage of construction and development, with a total area of ​​2,718.50km2 and 4 administrative units: Thu Dau Mot town and Thuan An, Tan Uyen, Ben Cat districts. When entering the new stage of construction and development, Binh Duong had basic advantages. For example, socio-economic mechanisms and policies were gradually improving; the cause of national industrialization and modernization obtained initial results; the multi-sector economy was developed in the right direction; infrastructure facilities were invested towards modernity... Especially, Binh Duong also has a favorable geographical position in the southern key economic region... Along with advantages, the local Party, government and people faced many difficulties such as low starting point in many aspects compared to other localities, limited human resources...

However, with high determination, enterprising thinking, solidarity and unity; inheriting achievements from the old Song Be province, Binh Duong province’s Party, government and people made great efforts to overcome difficulties and reached many important achievements in various fields during the initial period of construction and development. According to Nguyen Minh Duc, former Secretary of Binh Duong provincial Party Committee, after only a short time, Binh Duong had a miraculous change, which was highly appreciated by the Government.

“At that time, State President Tran Duc Luong assessed Binh Duong's industrialization and modernization as a miracle phenomenon in the renewal process because no locality in the country had such a strong shift in economic structure towards industrial development when just entering the process of reconstruction and redevelopment. At that time, Binh Duong achieved an industrial proportion of over 60% in the local economic structure. The Government considered this as the shift of economic structure towards an industrial city…”, Mr. Duc shared.

Up to now, after 25 years of construction and development, Binh Duong has had 29 industrial parks, 12 industrial compounds in operation with the land tenancy rate of over 88%, attracting over 50,000 domestic enterprises and more than 4,000 FDI ones from 65 countries and territories. The province’s economic growth was maintained at a high level with scale expanded. The local industrialization has accelerated the process of urbanization. Binh Duong now has 3 cities under the province, 2 towns on the way of becoming cities under the province. The province belongs to the country’s top group in average income per capita. The province’s potential, competitiveness and brand name have been raised to a new height and it is considered by the Government as one of successful localities in the renewal cause.

Binh Duong’s great achievements after 25 years of construction and development are very worthy of pride. This will be an important premise and great motivation for the local Party, government and people to continue overcoming difficulties, concretizing new development goals; strive to help Binh Duong province reach sustainable development towards a smart, civilized and modern city; By 2030, Binh Duong will become a modern industrial hub and by 2045, it will be a smart city of the region and the whole country.

Reported by Thanh Son-Translated by Kim Tin