PHU QUY ISLAND DISTRICT –

A SPECIFIC ECONOMIC AREA

Phu Quy district comprises a total of ten islands, with Phu Quy Island being the largest. The district is 120 km south- east of Phan Thiet, 150 km south of Cam Ranh, 120 km east of Vung Tau, 333 km northeast of Con Son and 540 km west of the Spratly Archipelago.

Phu Quy IslanD was liberated in the spring of 1975. In March 1976, the island was recognized as a commune of Bac Binh district in the former Thuan Hai province, which is now Binh Thuan province. On December 15, 1977, the island became a district of former Thuan Hai province, pursuant to Decision No.329 of the Council of ministers.

Under the leadership of the local Party and agencies at all levels and with the efforts of local people, Phu Quy Island has made great progress. Its annual GDP has grown by 12%, of which agricultural production grew by 7%, industrial production and construction 27.3% and trade and services 14.5%. The district reported total budget revenues of VND25.75 billion in the period between 2001 and June 2003, up 52% against the 1996-2000 period and exceeding the target by 32%.

According to the development plan of Binh Thuan province, Phu Quy is part of the Phan Thiet - Ham Thuan Nam - Ham Tan - Phu Quy Economic Zone, which has great potential for the development of the seafood and fann produce processing industries. Phu Quy Island will develop itself into a center for fisheries services, seafood processing and the building and repair of fishing vessels.

The district's policies have helped local people to invest in building more fishing vessels and purchasing more fishing equipment. The district's seafood output has increased every year. It reported total seafood output of 9,307.9 tons in 2002, up 11% against that of2000.

Phu Quy district is also focùsing on raising grouper fish and lobster. Raising grouper fish has proved more profitable than raising other types of seafood. The district now has 43 seafood raising farms, including 23 floating farms of grouper fish. Phy Quy has 776 fishing vessels with a total capacity of 17,818 CV, up by 241 vessels and 4,482 CV against 2000. Local fishermen have applied new fishing techniques, and raised their productivity by nearly 3%. Phu Quy district is now home to 16 seafood processing enterprises and 30 fisheries service enterprises.

The island district has also paid attention to the protection of its seafood resources and its water territory.

Local farmers have also focused on cultivating perennial trees and fruit trees, instead of short-term crops. Such fruit trees as custard apples and mangoes are being grown widely throughout the district.

The number of heads of cattle and poultry in the district is now 85% higher than that of 1985. According to statistics from the district, as at June 2003, it had 619 heads of cattle, 2,416 pigs, and 14,252 heads of poultry. Phu Quy has also paid attention to forest plantation, and now has 300 hectares of forests.

The seafood processing and the fisheries logistic service industries in the district have grown steadily in recent years. Enterprises in all economic sectors are encouraged to invest in processing seafood for export, building fishing vessels and providing fisheries logistics services. Phu Quy has 16 seafood- processing enterprises, 22 ice production factories, and two shipyards. It has recorded average annual industrial production of 79.4 billion, up 11.8% annually.

Phu Qúy also encourages all economic sectors to participate in trade and services. The district now has over ~OO household businesses, private enterprises, and cooperatives, many of which are operating profitably.

The district has built many infrastructure works, including schools, l healthcare centers, cultural houses, an electricity system, and street lighting. It is building a central cultural and sporting complex, 10 km of inter-commune roads, administrative offices, and a water supply plant. The district now has 50 km of inter-commune roads, of which 16 km have been asphalted and 10 km are in the process of being asphalted. The first phase of the project to build Phu Quy Port is now underway, which will facilitate transport in the district and contribute to its socio-economic development. The second phase of the project, with total investment of VND99 billion, has been approved and is to be carried out in the 2003-05 period. The port will be capable of accommodating vessels of up to 1,000 deadweight tons. Construction of the Cao Cat TV Station, a bank and an electricity office are also underway.

The district now has no poor households. Every year, hundreds of new jobs are created. Since 2001, the district has mobilized VND77.5 million to repair and build houses for house-holds whose members contributed to the revolution. It has built and upgraded its system of schools. Local people have contributed hundreds of thousands of dong to the construction of schools in communes. The district has set up education promotion centers in every commune. Teaching staff have been improved in terms of both quantity and quality. Phu Quy has also consolidated its system of healthcare centers.

During the economic integration process, Phu Quy district has paid ample attention to preserving its cultural characteristics.

Due to its strategic position, economic development on the island is always in line with the maintenance of national security. This is a strategic task that is undertaken regularly.

The achievements Phu Quy district has made over the past 26 years are a direct result of the efforts of local people. These achievements will form the background for the district to realize its new economic targets set for the years to come.

According to the development plan of Binh Thuan province, the province will focus on building infra- structure in the Phan Thiet - Ham Thuan Nam - Ham Tan - Phu Quy zone to attract investment. It will also upgrade National Road 55 and National Road 28 to create a traffic corridor along the coastline and will build roads branching out from National Highway 1A. Phu Quy has worked out policies to attract domestic and foreign investment into seafood raising, seafood processing, transport and tourism. It will initially set up offshore fishing centers, aiming to raise the annual seafood out-put to 14,000 tons. It has also encouraged the establishment of fishing cooperatives by 2004.

The district will build export processing zones to house seafood processing factories, which will use high technologies to turn out products of high quality for domestic and foreign markets when Vietnam fully integrates into AFTA by 2007. Seafood exploitation will be matched with the protection of seafood resources and the environment.

The district will attract investment in the repair and building of fishing vessels and the application of new fishing techniques and seafood processing technologies.

With favorable natural conditions, Phu Quy needs to adopt appropriate policies to attract investment in tourism, particularly in ecological tourism.

As regards agriculture, it needs to focus on the plantation of perennial trees and fruit trees and the expansion of its cattle herds and poultry.

In addition to boosting its economic development, Phu Quy will seek to solve any social problems, focusing particularly on education. It targets to apply compulsory high school education in the near future./.

HOAI VIET