Current Status of Management of Economic Development Investment Activities

2011); the stability of the collective sector at too low a level (0.5%); the increase of the private and mixed sectors (from 66.5% in 2006 to nearly 75% in 2011); the rapid increase of the foreign-invested economic sector (from 3.5% to 8.2%).

Total wholesale goods: Vientiane is the center of wholesale goods distribution of the whole country. Although there are some items that were previously only held and dominated by state-owned trading enterprises such as garments, construction materials, electrical appliances, electronics, motorbikes, etc., now have the participation of the private sector, state trading still dominates and is increasing, from 83.8% in 2006 to 89% in 2011.

In recent years, a number of commodity channels have been formed as follows: (1) Vientiane - Mekong Delta provinces: food, agricultural products, iron and steel, construction materials of all kinds, electricity, electronics, office equipment, household appliances, textiles, beer, wine, mineral water, soft drinks, etc.; (2) Vientiane - Northern provinces: minerals, forestry products, fresh fruits, fresh milk and raw milk, cement, salt, household appliances, mechanical products, etc.; (3) Vientiane - Other areas: agricultural products, consumer goods, textiles, beer, wine, soft drinks, etc. Many Vientiane trading enterprises have opened branches or representative offices in provinces such as Luang Prabang, Xa Van Nakhet, Champasak. In addition, a number of enterprises have set up representative offices in Vietnam, Thailand, Malaysia, China and some Western European countries.

- Import and export development situation.

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Export: Export turnover has increased quite rapidly in recent years. In 2006, the total export turnover in the capital reached over 206 million USD, and by 2011 it had increased to over 591 million USD, with an average growth rate of 11.86% per year. This is a fairly high growth rate. The number of export businesses is increasing with the participation of all economic sectors. The two largest export groups, with the fastest and most stable growth, are

Industrial products and wood products. The export value of industrial products in 2011 accounted for 44.2% of the total export value, followed by the export value of wood products at 43%. Some key export products with high turnover and rapid growth have been initially formed, such as high-end wooden furniture, garments, textiles, handicrafts, agricultural and forestry specialties, minerals, etc. The main export markets are the EU, Vietnam, and Thailand. Exports to the EU market are mainly garments processed under the form of processing. And some brocade and handicraft products. Vietnam and Thailand are Vientiane's wood import markets.

Imports: Import turnover has decreased steadily in recent years, from 265 million USD in 2006 to 148.7 million USD in 2011. It is worth noting that imported goods mainly serving agricultural and industrial production such as equipment, machinery, supplies, raw materials for production, chemicals, fertilizers, iron and steel, electronic components, electrical appliances, computers, etc. are always considered to be reduced to the lowest level. The main import markets are still from East and Southeast Asian countries, in which imports from Japan, Thailand, China, Singapore, Taiwan, Malaysia, Vietnam, etc. account for a large proportion.

Develop market system, supermarkets and commercial centers .

Vientiane's market system plays an important role as a retail hub serving the daily life of the people and tourists, but at the same time it is also a wholesale hub, distributing goods throughout the North and the whole country. However, there is a current situation in Vientiane that the market system develops spontaneously, lacking direction and planning from the government. Temporary markets and flea markets develop quite a lot, affecting the operations of large markets, destroying the beauty of the capital and commercial civilization.

2.2.2.6. Investment in education and training development

To develop a sustainable economy, it is necessary to focus on investing heavily in human resources, mainly in education and training. The investment situation in education and training in Vientiane Capital in recent years has been carried out through the following investment projects:

- Some educational development projects.

 Compulsory primary education project for children of school age from 6-10

year old.

 Project to build drug-free villages and schools.

 The project continues to eliminate illiteracy for the people.

 Vocational training project for workers.

 Project to build primary, secondary and high schools in inner city, suburban and

countryside.

 Project to improve the quality of preschool, primary, secondary and high school students.

 Project to build solid schools for primary, secondary and high schools.

 The project provides experimental equipment and computers for large schools such as Vientiane Secondary and High School, Chanthabuly Secondary and High School and Sykhottabong Secondary and High School.

Thanks to the implementation of investment projects in education development, investment activities have contributed to the development of the education sector of the capital specifically as follows:

- Universal and mass education.

In 2011, the entire capital had 2,204 children attending nursery school, 11,911 children attending kindergarten, 89,396 primary school students and 45,792 secondary and high school students. It is expected that the student population will develop in 2020 as follows:

 Continue to increase the number of students at all levels to meet the people's learning needs, improve the rate of age-appropriate enrollment at all levels of education.

 Moving forward, we will ensure that 100% of primary school-age children attend school and gradually reduce the rate of children going to school late (the number of primary school students tends to decrease because the rate of 6-year-old children entering grade I has reached a high level).

 The number of junior high school students continues to increase on the basis of accepting all primary school graduates and by means of regular education and cultural enrichment to attract all those who have a need to study to school.

 The number of high school students continues to increase rapidly on the basis of attracting an increasing proportion of secondary school graduates to attend secondary school.

III. At the same time, expand the network of continuing education and cultural enrichment to attract all those who need to continue studying at grade 12.

- Gifted education and talent development.

 Establish and develop a national high-quality general school (in addition to students from Vientiane, attract excellent students from provinces across the country to study at the school).

 Research and organize gifted classes in secondary schools to early discover and nurture talents.

 Focus on developing and expanding the teaching of arts (including traditional folk arts) in schools.

- Eradicate illiteracy, prevent re-illiteracy and provide continuing education.

 Build continuing education centers and community learning centers in suburban districts to attract all children who have dropped out of school or have not graduated from primary school to continue studying.

 Improve and increase the literacy rate of the population in the age group of 15-40 to 100% by 2020. Attract more and more of this group into the regular education system to continue improving their educational level.

- For the development of school and classroom facilities.

Currently, Vientiane has 243 kindergartens with 465 classes, 535 schools

Primary school with 3,527 classes, 123 secondary and high schools with 1,502 classes. It is expected that by 2020, the following large school facilities will be developed:

 Consolidate the entire school facilities, along with completing the supplementary facilities (Library, laboratory, physical education room, electricity, clean water, sanitation, etc.) to ensure comprehensive education and improve learning conditions for students.

 Build in each district a complete and synchronous system of schools/classes from preschool to high school and vocational training facilities suitable to the socio-economic development requirements of the locality.

 Build and develop at least 1 secondary school in each village and at least 1 primary school in each cluster of villages (if the village is large, there will be 1 primary school in that village). In residential areas too far from the concentrated school, build classrooms so that students do not have to travel far to school, attracting all school-age children to school. Build a model kindergarten/class in each village. All villages have kindergartens and child care groups.

 Build a Continuing Education Center and a Community Learning Center in each district.

 Build in each district a comprehensive vocational training and guidance center suitable to the characteristics and requirements of human resource development and socio-economic development of the whole locality.

- For developing teaching staff:

In 2011, the entire capital had 1,240 kindergarten teachers, 3,106 primary school teachers and 2,881 secondary and high school teachers. The teaching staff is in a serious shortage.

2.3 Current status of management of economic development investment activities

2.3.1 The basic economic development investment orientation has been implemented.

In recent times, the Capital City government has carried out many activities to orient investment and economic development. The Capital City has clearly distinguished the business function of enterprises from the state management function in orienting investment and economic development. Every year, the Capital City has launched economic development slogans according to themes, for example, 2010 is considered the year of "for the environment" of the Capital City, therefore the Capital City has implemented the policy of "allowing investment only for projects that ensure environmental factors ". Accordingly, technology imported into the Capital City is strictly evaluated and inspected for value and environmental factors.

The capital has also developed a socio-economic development plan, in which the issue of economic development investment is emphasized according to each economic sector and locality such as construction planning, new urban planning, aquaculture planning, etc. planning of districts and counties in the capital. Up to now, most districts and counties in the capital have completed economic development plans, focusing on economic development investment planning of districts and counties in the direction of appropriately exploiting local resources.

With the plans, programs, etc. that have been built, the structure of investment for economic development in Vientiane has also changed a lot, investment sources from the state economic sector tend to decrease, while non-state sources tend to increase sharply. This demonstrates the policy of the Capital in enhancing internal strength and proactiveness in restructuring investment for economic development, creating a source of sustainable development for the future.

According to the management form, the trend of development investment from central sources tends to decrease, local sources increase, showing signs of opening up.

Central Government's door and development encouragement for the Capital.

The amount of foreign direct investment also shows signs of increasing, foreign investors have initially felt the investment environment of the Capital. However, the amount of economic development investment from foreign investment sources of the Capital is too large compared to other sources of capital, which will also affect the initiative in economic development of the Capital.

2.3.2 The investment environment is created to be more open and trustworthy.

The amount of investment in economic development of the Capital has increased many times compared to the previous period, the investment environment is also more open, specifically:

- The capital's investment attraction policies have been issued and implemented such as investment incentives, site clearance support, labor training support, legal procedure support... At the same time, the capital also issued regulations on coordination of management between the capital's Departments, Boards, and sectors... These policies have basically attracted investment for economic development, and have been gradually innovated and become more suitable to the economic development investment situation in each period.

With investment attraction policies, in recent years, Vientiane has attracted a large number of investors to invest in economic development. The number of investment projects and investment capital in business sectors is increasing day by day.

- The Capital's viewpoints and visions on development have become more open in terms of investment sources and forms. State management of economic development investment has gradually become clearer and more practical, linked to economic efficiency with a clear system of viewpoints, separating state management from business, not discriminating between economic sectors... The Capital's vision in state management has also been further and more deeply formed, reflected in the strategies and plans that have been developed and approved. Leaders of the Capital

There have been bolder decisions and views in the process of state management of investment such as the determination to become the economic locomotive of the whole country.

2.3.3 Implement support and regulate economic development investment

In recent times, the Capital has also basically performed the function of supporting and regulating investment in economic development. The Capital has promptly provided information on laws, state policies, information on competition, and the business environment for businesses operating and wanting to operate in the Capital... This information has contributed to supporting businesses in promptly adjusting their investment activities, seizing business opportunities and avoiding risks and fraud in business. The Capital also supports training in professional knowledge and skills for businesses, supporting infrastructure, equipment and providing other support services such as administration, health... The Capital also has other support such as supporting administrative procedures, issuing dossiers for investment project approval, supporting site clearance... Although there are still some shortcomings, Vientiane's increased support for investors has contributed to creating trust and promoting an increase in investment capital.

Regarding the regulation of economic development investment. The regulation of economic development investment is reflected through the regulation of the amount of investment capital in industries and business sectors in Vientiane. The results of the above regulation have contributed to the creation of an economic structure with clearly oriented industries in Vientiane. Specifically, the industry and tourism services are given priority for investment development. The agricultural and forestry sectors are gradually invested in with focus, not encouraged to expand. The project of the list of encouraged and discouraged investment projects is a mark demonstrating the determination of the Capital to eliminate investment projects that cause environmental pollution. The Capital is determined to eliminate investment projects that do not comply with environmental and ecological laws.

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