CT

Natural conditions and socio-economic characteristics of Kon Tum province

1. Natural conditions:

- Geographical location: Kon Tum is a mountainous and frontier province of the Central Highlands of Vietnam with a natural area of 9,674.2 km². It shares the border with Laos and Cambodia to the west with the length of 292.522 km boundary (of which: Laos with 154.222 km and Cambodia with 138.3 km), Quang Nam province to the north; Quang Ngai province to the east and Gia Lai province to the south. Kon Tum consists of 10 district-level administrative units and 102 commune-level administrative units with 756 villages and civil groups.

- Topography: The terrain is diverse and complex with hills, plateaus and low-lying areas interwoven. Se San river is a tributary of the Me Kong river and is the joint of two major tributaries - Poko and Dakbla river, with the hydropower potential ranked third in the river system of Vietnam (after Da and Dong Nai river), contributing significantly to the province’s domestic revenue.

- Water resources: Kon Tum has abundant surface water resources with 04 major river systems and reservoirs; particularly Dakbla river with a length of 145 km and a basin of 3,050 km²; Ya Ly hydropower reservoir with a surface area of 6,450 ha and the underground water at a depth of 10 m - 25 m, with flow of boreholes from 1 to 3 liters/s.

- Climate: Kon Tum not only possesses a tropical monsoon climate of southern Vietnam but it also has the nature of a plateau climate. The diverse characteristics of the climate in Kon Tum province are favorable for comprehensive development of crop, husbandry, forestry and fishery industries using high technology, commodity production with great added value such as coffee, rubber, macadamia, sugarcane, cassava, corn, cold weather vegetables and flowers, medicinal plants such as Ngoc Linh ginseng, red ginseng and other rare and precious materials; developing herds of beef cattle, milk cows, goats, freshwater aquatic products and cold water sturgeon ...

- Land: Agriculture land 266,175 ha; forestry land: 607,542 ha; aquaculture land: 680 ha; exploited agriculture land: 69 ha. The Ngoc Linh mountain range is at the altitude of 300m-2,600m; Mang Den Highland is located at altitude of 1,200m on Truong Son mountain range with an elevation of 1,200 m above sea level.

- Forest area and forest cover: By the end of 2019, the total forest area in Kon Tum province was 621,079 ha (of which: natural forest area was 547,083 ha and planted forest was 73,276 ha), an increase of 3,399 ha compared to 2016; The forest coverage rate (including the area of ​​rubber trees) reached 63.0%, an increase of 0.8% compared to 2016 and higher than 22.11% of the country's forest cover.

- Minerals: Kon Tum has many mines and ore points. There are 21 stratigraphic units, 19 magmatic complexes with 214 mines and ore points, mineralization, diverse and abundant mineral resources, up to 40 types with different origins such as iron, chromium, gold, refractory materials, precious and semi-precious stones, radioactive metals, rare earths, etc. In addition, the source of construction materials is also various with many categories such as: clay, sand, stone construction, paving stone, ceramic materials such as kaolin, fenspat, fenzite, refractory materials such as dolomite, silimamite. However, the survey and research on minerals in the province has not been covered, some areas have been studied briefly, some minerals only stop at the level of being discovered and qualitative forecast.

2. Population – economic characteristics:

By the end of 2019, the gross regional domestic product (GRDP) reached about 14,781 billion VND (at constant 2010 prices), an increase of nearly 31% compared to 2016^[1]. The average economic growth in the 2016-2019 period reached 9.41% / year. The economic structure has shifted in a positive direction, the proportion of agriculture, forestry and fishery has gradually decreased^[2]. The per capita income increased significantly, from 32.14 million VND in 2016 to 41.28 million VND in 2019.

The province's commerce and service sector grew quite well. Total retail sales of goods and services increased rapidly^[3], the average amount of 2016 - 2019 period reached 11.8% / year. The export turnover of goods grew sharply, increasing from USD 114 million in 2016 to USD 210 million in 2019. Supermarkets and trade centers are invested; Financial services, banking, insurance, real estate, health care, entertainment ... have grown significantly. Tourism infrastructure is gradually invested and completed; Many tours and tourist sites are maintained and expanded, so the average number of tourists increases by 25% / year.

The total population of the province by the end of 2019 is 543,452 people, with 28 ethnic groups, of which ethnic minorities account for 53.25%.

3. Transportation:

Kon Tum province is situated in the unique core of Vietnam – Laos – Cambodia Development Triangle Area and the intersection of four national roads 40, 14, 14C, 24.

Bo Y International Border Gate connects the central highlands, the central coast and southeast provinces of Vietnam with the northern provinces of Thailand, Cambodia and the southern provinces of Laos.        

4. Culture and Tourism:

Kon Tum province has a long history of establishment with a variety of ethnic minorities, popular historical and cultural relics and unique religious architectural works.

5. Business and investment opportunities:

- Hi-tech agriculture: calling for investment in hi-tech applied agriculture in conjunction with processing and consuming, developing a value chain of cultivation, processing from crops and animals such as coffee, cold weather vegetables, livestock and poultry breeding...

- Medicinal materials: Ngoc Linh Mountain located in Tu Mo Rong, Dak Glei, and Kon Plong districts is suitable for medicinal development such as: Ngoc Linh Ginseng, Red Ginseng and Angelica Sinensis, loquat, Schisandraceae, Polyscias fruticosa, Curcuma longa, Fallopia multiflora, Gynostemma pentaphyllum..

- Tourism: Mang Den national eco-tourism park with an area of 138 ha is considered as Da Lat 2 of Vietnam, situated at the altitude of 1,200m with the average temperature of 220C, which is suitable for the development of eco-tourism.

- Renewable energy: Kon Tum has potentials for solar and wind energy.

- Infrastructure development: Calling for investment projects in urban infrastructure development, new combined urban areas, infrastructure of industrial zones and economic zones.

6. Three breakthrough fields:

Implementing Resolution No. 42/2019/NQ-HDND dated December 9, 2019 of the People's Council of Kon Tum province on socio-economic directions and missions in 2020 (Clause b, Point 2, Article 2 of Resolution No. 42/2019/NQ-HDND dated December 9, 2019 of the provincial People's Council) includes 03 contents:

To focus on investing in developing urban infrastructure, industrial – service - urban parks and complexes, developing eco-tourism and community-based tourism with Kon Tum's unique identity.

To develop agriculture in depth with the direction of commodity production, hi-tech application and processing and consumption markets; conservation and development of Ngoc Linh ginseng and other medicinal herbs.

To promote administration reform, with the focus on administrative procedure reform; increase investment promotion, support start-up.

7. Business environment:

Kon Tum province is strongly concentrating on the public administration reform, facilitating and committing to offering best preferential policies to corporates and investors, specifically as follows:


- Time for the procedure of investment decision is reduced to 15 working days.


- Time to establish a new enterprise decreases to 02 working days. The remaining procedures for business registration shall not exceed 01 working day

- Time to issue construction permits is shortened to 30 days, planning license to 15 days.

- Time for land allocation and land lease is reduced to 15 days, land use purpose transfer to 20 days; land registration and issuance of land use right certificate to 20 days.