Decision No. 27/2008/QD-TTg on issuing certain mechanisms and policies to support economic and social development for provinces in the Northern Midland and Mountainous Region until 2010

RESOLUTION OF THE PRIME MINISTER

On Issuing Certain Mechanisms and Policies to Support Economic and Social Development

for the Central Highlands and Northern Mountainous Provinces until 2010

PRIME MINISTER

Pursuant to the Law on Organization of the Government dated December 25, 2001;

Considering the proposal of the Minister of Planning and Investment in the report No. 8409/TTr-BKH dated November 15, 2007,

DECISION:

Article 1. Issuing certain mechanisms and policies to support economic and social development for the Central Highlands and Northern Mountainous Provinces until 2010 (including the provinces of Lai Châu, Điện Biên, Sơn La, Hòa Bình, Lào Cai, Yên Bái, Hà Giang, Cao Bằng, Bắc Kạn, Lạng Sơn, Tuyên Quang, Thái Nguyên, Bắc Giang, Phú Thọ, and the western counties of Thanh Hoa Province (including Quan Hoá, Quan Sơn, Mường Lát, Bá Thước, Lang Chánh, Cẩm Thuỷ, Ngọc Lặc, Thạch Thành, Thường Xuân, Như Xuân, Như Thanh), the western counties of Nghệ An Province (including Kỳ Sơn, Tương Dương, Con Cuông, Anh Sơn, Tân Kỳ, Quế Phong, Quỳ Châu, Quỳ Hợp, Nghĩa Đàn, Thanh Chương) to implement and complete the main objectives and tasks of economic and social development in the Region:

1. Objectives:

a) The economic growth rate (GDP) of the Region reaches over 12%;

b) Prioritize the development of economic and social infrastructure, improve the ability to provide social services for economic development, contribute to raising the living standards of the people, gradually narrowing the gap with other regions nationwide; by 2010: 100% of communes have telephone access to the commune center, 70-75% of rural population have access to clean water, 90-95% of communes have national power grid, 80-90% of households have electricity, ensuring that most households can listen to Vietnam Radio and watch Vietnam Television;

c) Promptly resolve chronic hunger and near-famine households; strive to reduce the average poverty rate (according to new poverty standards) by more than 3% per year; by 2010, reduce the poverty rate to 20%;

d) By 2010 achieve universal lower secondary education throughout the Region; school enrollment rates for children of age: kindergarten reach 85-90%, primary school reach 97-99%; lower secondary school reach 85-90%; upper secondary school reach 45-50%; improve the conditions for learning and living at boarding schools for ethnic minority students and residential schools;

đ) Create positive changes in the labor structure and quality of human resources; strengthen vocational training efforts, striving to increase the proportion of trained labor to 25-30% and ensure that all village cadres receive specialized training by 2010;

e) Better address social issues, raise public awareness, and significantly improve the spiritual life of the people, especially the cultural life of ethnic minority groups;

g) Protect forests, protect water sources and ecological environment; use and protect natural resources and the environment to ensure economic growth, poverty reduction, and improved quality of life.

2. Main Tasks:

a) Regarding agricultural, forestry, and fisheries production

- Plan and implement plans for food crop production towards increasing efficiency, leveraging the advantages of land, climate... of each region, sub-region; reasonably expand rice cultivation areas, reduce food production on steep slopes;

- Continue to form and develop concentrated cash crop zones (tea, coffee, mulberry, sugar cane, fruit trees, medicinal plants, aromatic plants, flowers, vegetables...) with appropriate scale, linked to processing industries with advanced technology, aiming to increase productivity and product quality, enhance competitiveness of export goods as well as domestic consumption goods;

- Develop animal husbandry, particularly large livestock farming, linked to processing industries and markets, enhancing product value and competitiveness;

- Adjust the structure of three types of forests, reasonably determine the area of protective forests based on strict classification of protected areas, rapidly increase the area of productive forests; properly care for and protect existing forest areas, actively plant new forests including upstream protective forests, economic forests, raw material forests for processing industries according to planning; organize the development of upstream protective forests along the Red River to stabilize water sources for major hydropower projects in the Region;

- Complete land allocation and forest allocation tied to permanent settlement; solve long-term stable housing and production land, end slash-and-burn practices; effectively link fixed-field development with permanent settlement and solve drinking water problems for the people;

- Develop new varieties and techniques, intensive cultivation, multiple cropping, intensify land use and land conservation; develop agricultural extension work, forestry extension, fishery extension, seedling breeding bases suitable for local conditions, serving commodity production and poverty alleviation; organize post-harvest processing and preservation well; promote training and instruction for farmers to change outdated production habits and effectively transfer technology;

- Develop freshwater aquaculture in reservoirs, natural lakes, and fish cages in rivers and streams;

- Develop irrigation systems to serve agricultural production;

- Organize the implementation of investment projects in the Lao People's Democratic Republic adjacent to the Vietnamese border regarding agricultural and forestry production.

b) Regarding industry and construction

- Plan and implement comprehensive development plans for industry in the Central Highlands and Northern Mountainous Provinces until 2010; plan comprehensive development of transmission and distribution networks; plan development of medium and small hydropower plants; plan development of new energy and renewable energy sources in the Central Highlands and Northern Mountainous Provinces; plan development of key mechanical, metallurgical, chemical products and other key industrial products for the Central Highlands and Northern Mountainous Provinces until 2020;

- Plan and implement programs to develop industrial promotion activities and industrial promotion centers in the Central Highlands and Northern Mountainous Provinces;

- Focus on building hydropower plants, first and foremost the Son La and Tuyen Quang Hydropower Plants, while mobilizing investment capital from various economic sectors to develop medium and small hydropower plants and coal-fired thermal power plants.

- In conjunction with the effective exploitation and processing of minerals according to central investment programs and projects on the territory, develop construction materials and chemical factories at appropriate scales based on the region's resources and consumption markets;

- Organize surveys, explorations, and evaluations of mineral resources in the midland and mountainous northern provinces, and manage and exploit mineral resources appropriately; focus on extracting residual minerals in areas flooded by hydropower projects. Develop the exploitation and processing of minerals according to plans effectively;

- Construct new and improve the quality of tea, tobacco, agricultural products, and other food processing facilities linked to raw material regions; develop export-oriented processing facilities;

- Continue expanding the planting of raw material forests for the paper industry to ensure sufficient raw materials for the Bai Bang Paper Industrial Zone; construct new paper, pulp, and wood export factories;

- Emphasize the development of small-scale industries such as metalwork, electrical appliances, cold forging, mechanical repair services... serving production and people's livelihoods, as well as meeting the requirements of the people's defense system when necessary; emphasize the development of traditional craft villages;

- Continue expanding, improving the quality, and effectiveness of industrial parks and clusters within the region; build infrastructure for industrial parks along the Yunnan-Lao Cai-Hanoi-Hai Phong corridor, Lang Son-Bac Giang-Hanoi corridor, and Hoa Binh-Son La-Dien Bien-Lai Chau corridor to fully utilize the potential of the region's fan-shaped road network, enhance international trade, and promote economic and social development in difficult areas of the midland and mountainous northern region;

- Strengthen cooperation and foreign investment with the Lao People's Democratic Republic in developing industry, exploiting natural resources, minerals, and addressing labor issues, especially in border areas;

c) On commerce and services

- Develop and implement the regional tourism development plan until 2020;

- Prioritize the exploitation of tourist sites: Dien Bien Phu, Pac Bo Historical Site, Tan Trao, Ding Ha, Hung Temple, Sa Pa, Mao Son, Ba Be Lake, Nui Co Lake, Thac Ba Lake, Hoa Binh Hydropower Plant,...; intensify organizing various forms of tourism that leverage the region's unique strengths such as eco-tourism, historical and cultural tourism, adventure sports tourism, and resort tourism to fully exploit these tourist sites through suitable forms of tourism;

- Intensify the construction of border economic zones; organize the construction of infrastructure for border economic zones, including bonded warehouses in border economic zones with large import-export volumes; suitable scale trading centers with modern technical facilities to meet the needs of goods exchange; develop financial, banking, import-export, transportation, postal and telecommunications services; establish border economic zone policies to promote monetary and commodity exchanges, support exports, develop enterprises operating in border economic zones, and create stable export sources through borders, strengthen economic cooperation with the People's Republic of China and the Lao People's Democratic Republic;

- Promote the development of commercial networks (markets, retail stores) in commune cluster centers, deep and remote mountainous and rural areas linked to transportation development and planned resettlement to promote the development of commodity economy; develop wholesale agricultural product markets according to plans; construct and upgrade some existing trading centers and markets in townships, market towns, commune cluster centers, and border communes to serve the needs of two-way goods exchange and sales;

- Encourage economic sectors to enter into contracts for the consumption of agricultural and forest products for farmers and invest in developing the following services:

+ Transportation services, prioritizing key economic areas, important traffic axes, connecting tourist and historical-cultural sites, enhancing the quality of passenger and cargo transport services;

+ Tourism services;

+ Other services: construction, finance, banking, postal and telecommunications, science and technology, labor export;

d) On education and training

- Consolidate the results of universal primary education and literacy eradication; improve the overall quality of secondary education, gradually approaching national standards; increase the school attendance rate; continue investing in building solid classrooms for all educational levels and gradually invest in comprehensive and complete schools for communes, villages, and ethnic groups under Program 135 (Phase II); consolidate and develop kindergartens and nurseries; complete the construction of boarding schools for all districts in the region, gradually expand their scale and strengthen their facilities; develop boarding schools, orphanages, and special education schools in provinces; support dormitories, housing, and allowances for students in boarding schools; increase the number of annually selected students for mountainous provinces; support the training and upgrading of education management cadres and teachers at all levels to improve educational quality.

- To create fundamental changes in the labor structure and the quality of human resources through simultaneously and urgently expanding local training while organizing the transfer of a portion of labor from the Red River Delta region to work and operate in industries and fields with demand, especially in remote areas, border regions; investing in expanding and upgrading material facilities and enhancing training capacity for existing vocational schools, building new key vocational training centers in cities, towns, and districts within the region; establishing regular education centers in all districts and cities; investing in upgrading material facilities and enhancing training capacity for some universities in the region towards multi-disciplinary development such as the Northwest University, Thai Nguyen University, Hung Vuong University (Phu Tho); consolidating and opening additional colleges, secondary vocational schools, and vocational training institutions; reforming the training structure according to professions and levels to meet the needs of human resources serving industrialization, modernization, and the cadre requirements of localities within the region; intensifying specialized and professional training for grassroots cadres.

d) On science, technology, and environment

- Establish scientific and technological research centers at universities in the region, initially focusing on selecting and breeding crop and livestock varieties and researching and applying preservation and processing technologies for agricultural and forest products; strengthening the construction of agricultural and forestry extension systems from provincial to grassroots levels; researching and applying scientific and technological advancements to address specific difficulties and implement industrialization and modernization in the midland and mountainous northern region; researching the effective use of water resources, prioritizing irrigation projects for crops requiring less water but yielding high economic returns such as industrial crops, fruit trees, and medicinal plants;

- Reforming and modernizing technology in mining, preservation, and processing of agricultural and forest products to ensure safety and environmental hygiene; infrastructure projects for urban areas, transportation, water conservancy, hydropower, industry, etc., must comply with safety and environmental standards.

e) On culture and society

- Prioritizing investment in cultural facilities, radio, television, information, press, libraries, and sports activity centers, cultural houses to promote traditional culture and ethnic identity; preserving, restoring, and developing tangible and intangible cultural heritage of ethnic groups, strengthening grassroots cultural institutions through the implementation of democratic regulations; continuing to invest in building postal and cultural community centers, cultural and sports activity points in villages; increasing investment according to planning to build radio and television relay stations for villages without coverage; consolidating and ensuring the operation of existing stations; modernizing equipment, increasing broadcasting time in ethnic languages at district and provincial levels;

- Effectively implementing national target programs on crime prevention, drug abuse, prostitution, trafficking women and children, and eliminating backward customs; supporting projects to eradicate opium replanting; supporting social welfare institutions in nurturing and caring for the elderly, disabled, and orphans;

- Regularly promoting through newspapers, radio, and television, as well as organizing training sessions for the public to popularize the legal system among the people, gradually enhancing the understanding of various strata of the population to live and work according to the law.

g) On healthcare

Improving the quality of primary health care for the people, particularly ethnic minorities. Upgrading district hospitals; continuing to renovate and construct provincial hospitals; modernizing equipment for provincial hospitals; building regional medical centers in the Northeast in Thai Nguyen province and in the Northwest in Son La province, meeting the needs of medical examination and treatment for the people. Enhancing the capacity of the preventive healthcare system at provincial and district levels to ensure sufficient ability to meet disease prevention needs; intensifying reproductive health care, family planning, and improving the quality of the population in the region; continuing to effectively implement national target programs on preventing certain social diseases, dangerous epidemics such as HIV/AIDS, environmental sanitation, food safety, occupational health; supporting the training and development of the healthcare workforce;

h) On poverty reduction and employment

Effectively implementing the National Target Program on Poverty Reduction and the National Target Program on Employment, reducing the poverty rate according to new standards throughout the region faster than the national average, particularly in remote areas, border areas, and former resistance war zones; actively addressing outdated farming methods, self-sufficiency, shifting cultivation, and implementing provincial plans on land allocation, seeds, loans, agricultural, forestry, and industrial promotion to help poor households escape poverty; prioritizing the resolution of pressing issues in the lives and society of provinces in the region: poverty, free migration, deforestation and slash-and-burn agriculture, lack of production and domestic water, improving sanitary conditions; strengthening measures to increase annual employment opportunities in all provinces in the region, striving to provide employment for 200,000 to 250,000 workers annually across the region.

i) Developing economic and social infrastructure

- On transportation:

Concentrating on planning and mobilizing all resources to prioritize the development of transportation as the top priority, creating a foundation for rapid economic and social development, improving people's livelihoods, and contributing to national defense and security.

The investment targets for transportation from now until 2010 are:

+ Completing the upgrade of National Highway 1 to meet the standard of a four-lane road and major repair of National Highway 70 to ensure convenient travel, combined with the construction of the Hanoi-Lao Cai expressway; National Highways 2, 3, 6, and 32 reaching Class III standards at the beginning sections and Class IV standards at the end sections; prioritizing investment in upgrading roads leading to border gates, ring roads, and border patrol routes; upgrading National Highways 4A, 4B, 4C, 4D, 4E, 46, 34, 37, and 279; constructing the Hanoi-Thái Nguyên expressway; accelerating the construction of the Hồ Chí Minh highway to Pac Bo (Cao Bang) and connecting segments from Pac Bo to Ha Tay; completing the construction of National Highway 4G, the extension of National Highway 48, and the Western Thanh Hoa and Western Nghe An roads (Phase I);

+ Implementing the interconnection of routes to create a synchronized and continuous transportation network between provinces, provinces with districts, and districts with communes; completing routes to facilitate quick connections and establish a ring road serving the resettlement work for the Son La and Tuyen Quang hydropower projects and other important works;

+ Achieving the goal of 100% communes and commune clusters in the Region having roads accessible by automobiles to their centers; allocating funds and implementing upgrades to roads leading to commune and commune cluster centers to ensure year-round accessibility and constructing roads from communes to villages; building a border patrol road system, initially focusing on key areas; constructing roads from the centers of border communes to the border ring road and border patrol road; constructing interconnecting roads between provinces and important border gates to serve export development, tourism, and national defense and security;

+ Upgrading existing railway lines in the area: Hanoi-Lao Cai; Hanoi-Lang Son; Hanoi-Thai Nguyen; Kep-Luu Xa;

+ Managing and operating river routes effectively in the Region; continuing to improve and construct some terminals and ports on main river routes and transport facilities serving the construction of the Son La Hydropower Plant;

+ Renovating and upgrading Nà Sản Airport; preparing for the upgrade of Dien Bien Phu Airport; studying some projects to invest in and construct new airports after 2010 when needed;

- Regarding water conservancy works:

+ Upgrading and repairing deteriorated works, intensifying the reinforcement of irrigation canals and existing water conservancy works; constructing medium and small reservoirs to supply water for production and daily life, particularly emphasizing small water conservancy works in extremely difficult communes; organizing the synchronization between main water conservancy works and canals to enhance the irrigation and drainage capacity of water conservancy works; constructing riverbank protection works along the border rivers to prevent erosion, ensuring safety of the border and production and living conditions of the people; constructing both sides of river and stream banks in large cities and densely populated areas in the region to prevent erosion, encroachment, and maintain urban landscape;

+ Organizing the construction of water conservancy works in the area according to the mountainous water conservancy program and urgent water conservancy projects using government bond capital up to 2010;

- Regarding the development of domestic water supply systems, power supply, and communication assurance:

+ Concentrating investments to ensure adequate domestic water supply for residents, implementing practical solutions to address severe water shortages in highland areas, especially in limestone regions;

+ Developing electricity distribution networks to communes, villages, and bringing electricity to households, increasing the proportion of households using the national grid; improving the quality of the power transmission system;

+ Developing telephone and postal telecommunications networks towards modernization and integration, meeting economic and social development requirements, enhancing people's living standards, and serving Party and State management and direction;

- Regarding infrastructure construction in extremely difficult communes (Program 135 Phase II):

+ Based on planning and resettling residents, developing production, it is necessary to implement the integration with other programs and projects in the area to invest in infrastructure construction;

+ Investing in schools in commune centers including classrooms, teachers' housing, and dormitories for students; kindergartens and primary schools in communes; health stations and commune health centers including housing for medical staff;

- Urgently planning and prioritizing capital investment in resettlement projects for important works in the area, aiming to complete economic and social infrastructure (transportation, water conservancy, electricity, water, schools, health stations, etc.), land for production and residential purposes to accommodate relocated residents, ensuring that the population has all necessary conditions for production development, early stabilization, and better living conditions than before;

- Concentrating investment in economic and social infrastructure construction in communes in safe zones (ATK) to create favorable conditions for production development, improving people's living standards in the Region, and gradually narrowing the gap with other regions;

- Prioritizing investment in cultural facilities, radio and television broadcasting, and sports facilities, cultural houses to promote traditional culture and preserve ethnic identity;

- Prioritizing investment in vocational education and training institutions, research, application, and technology transfer into production and people's lives, primarily in seed breeding, preservation and processing technologies for agricultural and forest products, and mineral extraction and processing;

- Developing the urban system, resettling residents, and building new rural areas:

+ Planning and investment in the development of a synchronized urban system with economic and social development and the formation of economic centers in the Region including the cities of Viet Tri, Thai Nguyen, Yen Bai, Lang Son, Dien Bien Phu, and Lao Cai; towns and provincial capitals of provinces within the Region; construction of new urban areas in the provincial capital of Lai Chau. Building synchronized infrastructure in urban areas; prioritizing the development of urban areas at border gates Dong Dang (Lang Son), city of Lao Cai (Lao Cai), Thanh Thuy (Ha Giang), Ta Lung (Cao Bang), Ma Lu Thang (Lai Chau), Tay Trang (Dien Bien), Pa Hang (Son La), and urban areas in the western regions of Thanh Hoa and Nghe An; forming a system of national and international service centers connecting to major economic centers in the northern part of the country and throughout the nation;

+ Planning and construction of residential clusters, towns, market towns, and village centers in conjunction with the resettlement of residents in industrialization and modernization; first, planning and resettling residents based on transportation development plans and overall socio-economic development plans for the period 2006-2010 of localities, for border areas, combining with defense and security tasks to form residential clusters, residential lines, towns, market towns, and village centers suitable to the situation;

+ Continuing to complete the resettlement of residents in communes along the Vietnam-China border according to approved planning; urgently planning and organizing the resettlement of residents in communes in the Vietnam-Laos border area according to planning, ensuring stable production and living conditions for the people based on maximizing the potential of land resources in the region and limiting free migration to other areas; prioritizing investment in the construction and development of economic-defense zones, especially in key areas to link economic and social development with the assurance of defense and security along the border;

- Continuing to invest in projects listed in the Important Project Catalogue attached to Decision No. 186/2001/QD-TTg dated December 7, 2001 of the Prime Minister on socio-economic development in six particularly difficult mountainous northern provinces during the period 2001-2005 to ensure early effective use and completion of set goals;

Article 2. Continuing to implement and supplement some mechanisms and policies to support socio-economic development in the Central Highlands and Northern Mountainous Provinces until 2010;

1. Amending and supplementing some mechanisms and policies:

a) Regarding state budget capital

- In addition to mechanisms and policies supporting socio-economic development in the Central Highlands and Northern Mountainous Provinces through programs and projects (Program 135 Phase II, national target programs, and the 5 million hectare forest project,...), the State will strengthen investment in the Central Highlands and Northern Mountainous Provinces through projects using government bonds and programs and projects of central ministries and sectors as assigned by the Government in Decision No. 79/2005/QD-TTg dated April 15, 2005 of the Prime Minister on the Implementation Program of the Government's Resolution No. 37/NQ-TW dated July 1, 2004 of the Politburo on the Direction of Socio-Economic Development and National Defense and Security in the Central Highlands and Northern Mountainous Provinces until 2010;

Targeted support capital sources allocated to provinces according to Decision No. 210/2006/QD-TTg dated September 12, 2006 of the Prime Minister promulgating principles, criteria, and allocation standards for development investment expenditures from the state budget for the period 2007-2010, prioritizing particularly difficult mountainous northern provinces according to Decision No. 186/2001/QD-TTg dated December 7, 2001 and provinces with districts supported according to Decision No. 174/2004/QD-TTg dated October 1, 2004 of the Prime Minister;

- Increasing the maximum level of central budget support for industrial park investment up to 70 billion VND for localities meeting the criteria of Decision No. 183/2004/QD-TTg dated October 19, 2004 of the Prime Minister (including access roads or roads and bridges to the industrial park);

- Supporting central budget investment for the construction of infrastructure in industrial clusters and small-scale industries not exceeding 6 billion VND per cluster and not more than 70 billion VND for one province by 2010;

- Supporting 100% counterpart funding for ODA projects managed by localities that meet the support conditions of Decision No. 210/2006/QD-TTg dated September 12, 2006 of the Prime Minister;

b) Regarding healthcare

- Increasing the allowance for health workers in rural and mountainous areas to 50% of the basic salary in difficult areas according to Decision No. 30/2007/QD-TTg dated March 5, 2007 of the Prime Minister;

- Increasing the level of support and the scope of support for medical examination and treatment costs for poor people according to the newly issued poverty standard;

- Continuing to implement the policy of medical examination and treatment for poor people and those under social policy according to Decision No. 139/2002/QD-TTg dated October 15, 2002 of the Prime Minister;

c) Regarding education and training

- Increasing the allowance for kindergarten teachers in rural and mountainous areas to 50% of the basic salary in difficult areas according to Decision No. 30/2007/QD-TTg dated March 5, 2007 of the Prime Minister;

- For poor ethnic minority students studying in boarding schools who attend public or semi-public schools, they will be granted scholarships equal to 50% of the boarding school scholarship amount;

- For students graduating from ethnic minority boarding high schools, they will be given priority for admission to universities, preparatory universities, specialized schools; if they do not study in specialized schools, they will be trained in professional and vocational skills for 3, 6, or 9 months according to actual industry requirements and will be arranged to work in their home regions. Provinces will use vocational training centers at the provincial and district levels to conduct training, and the state will support 100% of the training costs;

2. Some expanded mechanisms and policies for the entire Central Highlands and Northern Mountainous Region:

- Expand the scope of application of Decision No. 304/2005/QĐ-TTg dated July 23, 2005 on piloting the transfer of forests and household and community forest protection contracts for ethnic minority households residing in villages in the Central Highlands and Northern Mountainous Region to the Midland and Northern Mountainous Region.

- Expand the scope of application of Decision No. 231/2005/QĐ-TTg dated September 22, 2005 on supporting state-owned agricultural and forestry enterprises, special-purpose forest management boards, and protective forest management boards to employ ethnic minorities legally residing in their areas to the Midland and Northern Mountainous Region.

3. Enactment of some new mechanisms and policies applicable to the Region:

- Support seeds and fertilizers for the transition to new crops in particularly difficult communes and households of ethnic minorities;

- Provide 100% funding for purchasing new seeds for planting new trees and replacing long-term fruit and industrial crops with high economic value according to approved projects;

- Provide 50% interest subsidy for households borrowing funds for planting new trees and intensively cultivating long-term fruit and industrial crops; allow assets formed from borrowed capital (long-term orchards) to be used as collateral.

Article 3. Implementation

1. Ministries and central agencies shall, based on their functions, tasks, and authorities, be responsible for guiding and supervising localities in implementing this Decision. The Ministry of Planning and Investment shall take the lead, in collaboration with the Ministry of Finance, to calculate and propose to the Government to balance the central budget annually to support provinces in the Midland and Northern Mountainous Region in implementing this Decision.

2. People's Committees of provinces in the Midland and Northern Mountainous Region shall, based on the main policies outlined in this Decision and guidance from ministries and central agencies, focus on directing and managing implementation in accordance with specific conditions of each locality.

3. Ministries and central agencies and People's Committees of provinces in the Midland and Northern Mountainous Region shall submit annual reports on results to the Ministry of Planning and Investment for consolidation and reporting to the Prime Minister.

4. Annually, the Ministry of Planning and Investment shall take the lead, coordinating with relevant ministries, agencies, and localities to conduct mid-term reviews, summaries, and report to the Prime Minister.

Article 4. This Decision takes effect fifteen days after its publication in the Official Gazette.

Article 5. Ministers, Heads of ministerial-level agencies, Heads of government-affiliated agencies, Chairpersons of People's Committees of Lai Châu, Điện Biên, Sơn La, Hòa Bình, Lào Cai, Yên Bái, Hà Giang, Cao Bằng, Bắc Kạn, Lạng Sơn, Tuyên Quang, Thái Nguyên, Bắc Giang, Phú Thọ, Thanh Hóa, Nghệ An are responsible for enforcing this Decision./.