In his speech at Thursday’s closing ceremony of the 3^rd session of the Da Nang People’s Council (PCl) in its 9^th tenure of the 2016 - 2021 term, municipal Party Committee Secretary cum PCl Chairman Nguyen Xuan Anh urged all local relevant agencies to make every effort to effectively implement the city’s key tasks during the year ahead.

Secretary Anh addressing the event (left) and the participants passing a proposal

Top priority will be given to ensuring the stability of State tax collection, tightening the management of local urban affairs, implementing the ‘City of 4 Safe’ programme, ensuring the on-schedule implementation of key construction projects, and enhancing administrative reforms.

Municipal People’s Committee Chairman Huynh Duc Tho remarked that more effective solutions will be found to reduce the number of personal vehicles in the near future to ease traffic congestion in the city centre. 

Also, more underground parking areas will be constructed and parking fees will be collected at some locations.  As regards the pre-feasibility study of new projects, special attention will be paid to accurately assessing their environmental impact.

Also at the event, the PCl members adopted many important proposals.  In the spotlight was the list of the city’s key targets for next year.  The city aims to ensure that, by the end of next year, the city’s GDP, the total value of industrial production and construction, and the total amount of development investment capital will all have increased by 10% compared with 2016.  The total value of local services should be 10.5% greater, export turnover of goods 12%, the total of State tax collected 15%, and the number of job opportunities for local residents 5% more.

Chairman Tho expressing his ideas

Also by late next year, the unemployment rate is targeted to be 3.6%, with the number of local households living below the city’s poverty threshold set  to reduce to 3.81%.

It was also announced that, following approval by the municipal PCl, over 28,099 billion VND from the city budget will be spent on deploying public investment projects over the 2016 – 2020 period.  Top priority will be given to ODA and public-private partnership (PPP) projects, and those involved in dealing with environmental pollution and traffic congestion in the city.  

Other adopted resolutions included the regulations about local tax collection and spending over the 2017 – 2020 period, the list of delayed projects whose leased land will be revoked, and the construction works allowed to use agricultural land and parts of protected or special-use forests in 2017.  The go-ahead was also given for adjustments to the master plan to bolster the development of local industry by 2020, with a vision towards 2030. 

In particular, the green light was given to collecting new fees in the city, starting from 1 January 2017.  They are entrance fees to the Da Nang Fine Arts Museum, charges for the assessment of environmental improvement measures, for the granting of business permits for professional sports clubs, family-owned establishments and cooperatives, and fees for the issuance of identity cards to local citizens.

Also at the session, the current Head of the municipal Inspection Department, Mr Tran Huy Duc, was unanimously elected a member of the municipal People’s Committee in its 9^th tenure of the 2016 - 2021 term.  Mr Duc will replace Mr Nguyen Ba Son, the former Head of the Inspection Department, who has been promoted to be the Deputy Head of the city’s National Assembly members’ group in its 14^th tenure.