Chapter 4 Regional Economy 4.1 Overview 4.1.1 Demography The Northwestern Region geographically lies in latitude 20°20"N to 22°40"N and in longitude 102°40"E to 105°50"E. The Region borders on both China and Laos. The demographic information of eight (8) geographical regions of Vietnam is presented in Table 4.1.1. The Region occupies 37,534 km2 or 11.3% of the total area of Vietnam. Its population is 2.65 million accounting for 3.1% of the national population (2007). Table 4.1.1 Area and Population of Eight (8) Regions of Vietnam Population Area Population Region Density (km2) (,000 persons) (persons/km2) Whole Nation 331,211.6 85,154.9 257 1. North-West 37,533.8 2,652.1 71 2. Red River Delta 14,862.5 18,400.6 1,238 3. North-East 64,025.2 9,543.9 149 4. North Central Coast 51,551.9 10,722.7 208 5. South Central Coast 33,166.1 7,185.2 217 6. Central Highland 54,659.6 4,935.2 90 7. South East 34,807.8 14,193.2 408 8. Mekong River Delta 40,604.7 17,524.0 435 Source：GSO National Census (2007) The Red River Delta region that including Hanoi is a highly populated area with a population density of 1,218 persons/km2. Although the Region adjoins the Red River Delta, it is sparsely populated with the density of 71 persons/km2, which is the lowest among all the regions. The Region administratively belongs to four provinces, namely Lai Chau, Dien Bien, Son La and Hoa Binh. Their demographic conditions are presented in Table 4.1.2. Table 4.1.2 Areas and Populations of the Study Area (2007) The Study Area Total of Regional Description Lai Chau Dien Bien Son La Hoa Binh Total Vietnam Share (%) Land Area (km2) 9,112.3 9,562.9 14,174.4 4,684.2 37,533.8 331,211.6 11.3 Population 330.5 467.8 1,024.3 829.5 2,652.1 84,155.8 3.2 (1,000 persons) Population density 36 49 72 177 71 257 - (persons/km2) Source： Statistical Yearbook of Vietnam 2007, Statistical Publishing House As presented in Table 4.1.3, the primary sector including agriculture, livestock, fishery and forestry is the prime industry in the Region as far as the employment opportunity is concerned. The labor employment 4 - 1 in both of the second and tertiary industrial sectors is so far limited to few percent, except the service sub-sector of which the public service share more than 5% in all four provinces. Table 4.1.3 Proportional Extent of Labour Population by Economic Sector (2005) Economic Sectors Provinces Primary Sector Secondary Sector Tertiary Sector Agriculture Fishery Mining Manufacture Construction Commerce Services Others Lai Chau 86.26 0.35 0.39 1.38 1.76 3.25 6.44 0.17 Dien Bien 79.14 0.46 0.41 2.08 3.53 3.58 10.66 0.14 Son La 86.75 0.01 0.17 1.27 1.55 3.57 6.54 0.14 Hoa Binh 82.35 3.38 0.59 2.61 1.27 3.31 6.41 0.08 Average 83.60 1.35 0.37 1.93 1.84 3.47 7.31 0.12 Source: Annual Statistics of each respective 4 provinces (2006) Data of Lai Chau province is still under confirmation. 4.1.2 Economic Structure Growth of GDP in 2001 to 2005 Gross Domestic Products (GDP) of Vietnam 4,500 amounted to 837,858 billion VND, of which the GRDP of the Region was 10,575 billion VND 3,000 accounting only for 1.3% of the GDP in 2005. 2005 The per capita GDP of Vietnam was US$634 in Billion VND Billion 2001 1,500 2005, while one of the study area was US$ 259 or only 40% of the national average, i.e. US$273 for 0 Dien Bien, US$266 for Son La, US$263 for Hoa Lai Chau Dien Bien Son La Hoa Binh Binh and US$212 for Lai Chau. The regional Figure 4.1.1 Economic Growth of the Study economy has significantly grown by 160% to Area 200% from 2001 to 2005 as seen in Figure 4.1.1. In particular, GRDP of Son La has been grown in term of both annual growth rates and amounts. The shares among the economic sectors have also been changed. The regional economy is still dependent highly upon the primary sector of which share was 44% in 2005, while 22% for the secondary sector and 34% of the tertiary sector as seen in Table 4.1.4. Table 4.1.4 Shares of Economic Sectors in the Study Area (2005) Unit： Billion VND (%) The Study Area Total of Regional Description Lai Chau Dien Bien Son La Hoa Binh Total Vietnam Share (%) Total GDP 1,058 1,951 4,177 3,389 10,575 (100) 837,858 1.3 Primary Sector 479 729 1,813 1,561 4,582 (44) 175,048 2.6 Secondary Sector 269 520 902 684 2,375 (22) 343,807 0.7 Third Sector 310 702 1,463 1,144 3,619 (34) 319,003 1.1 Source： Statistical Yearbook of Vietnam 2005, Statistical Publishing House and Statistical Yearbooks 2005 Note: Primary Sector : Agriculture, forestry, fishery and livestock industries etc. Secondary Sector : Manufacturing, construction and mining industries etc. Third Sector : Service industries The details of GRDP by sector are presented in Table 4.1.5. 4 - 2 Table4.1.5 Regional Gross Domestic Product (RGDP) of Each Respective Province Unit： Billion VND Respective Provinces (Billion VND) Particulars Lai Chau Dien Bien Son La Hoa Binh GDP (%) GDP (%) GDP (%) GDP (%) Primary Sector 479,048 45.28 730,900 37.46 1,831,900 43.85 1,561,308 37.29 -Agriculture 344,128 32.52534,360 27.38 1,812,900 43.40 1,521,611 36.34 -Forestry 115,538 10.92185,650 9.51 -Fishery 19,387 1.8310,890 0.56 18,760 0.45 39,697 0.95 Secondary Sector 259,531 24.53 490,805 25.15 824,620 19.74 604,638 14.44 -Mining & Quarry 21,800 2.06 18,500 0.95 166,400 3.98 48,715 1.16 -Construction 69,826 6.60154,625 7.92 243,997 5.83 -Manufacturing 167,905 15.87317,680 16.28 658,220 15.76 311,926 7.45 Tertiary Sector 319,494 30.20 729,638 37.39 1,520,730 36.41 2,020,806 48.27 -Trade & Commerce 61,171 5.78 321,351 16.47 636,060 15.23 481,845 11.51 -Services 192,158 18.16210,405 10.78 355,160 8.50 1,326,319 31.68 -Others 66,165 6.25197,882 10.14 529,510 12.68 212,640 5.08 Total 1,058,073 100.01,951,343 100.0 4,177,010 100.0 4,186,752 100.0 Note: Unit is at “million VND”. Source: Annual Statistics (2006) of the respective 4 provinces. It is notable that the service sub-sector in Hoa Binh province has in 2005 achieved 1,326.3 billion VND or 32% of the provincial GDP through rapid expansion of the services both of the public and private enterprises under direct-cum-favorable impact by the most active economy in Hanoi. The trend of changes in shares of economic sectors in recent years is illustrated in Figure 4.1.2 Change in Sector Shares 第1次産業Primary Change in Sector Shares 第1次産業Primary 分野別GDP占有率の推移 第2次産業Secondary 分野別GDP占有率の推移 第2次産業Secondary Lai Cha Tertiary Dien Bien Tertiary ライチャウ省 第3次産業 ディエンビエン省 第3次産業 2005年200 45% 25% 29% 2005年200 37% 27% 36% 2003年 50% 23% 28% 2001年 41% 21% 38% 200 200 0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100% 0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100% 第1次産業Primary 第1次産業Primary 分野別GDP占有率の推移Change in Sector Shares Change in Sector Shares 第2次産業Secondary 分野別GDP占有率の推移 第2次産業Secondary ソンラ省Son La Tertiary Hoa Binh Tertiary 第3次産業 ホアビン省 第3次産業 2005年200 43% 22% 35% 2005年200 46% 20% 34% 2001年 57% 12% 31% 200 2002001年 47% 18% 35% 0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100% 0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100% Figure 4.1.2 Changes of Shares in Economic Sectors (2001-2005) There is a clear tendency in changes of economic sector share in the study area. All four provinces show 4 - 3 the expansion of shares of the secondary sector from 2001 to 2005, while the share of the primary sector was reduced. In particular, the secondary sector of Son La increased its share due to the growth of construction sub-sector encouraged by the on-going Son La hydro-power project 4.1.3 Food Security Vietnam is the second largest rice exporting country in the world. The national paddy production of Vietnam amounted to 35.79 million ton, of which 3.27 million ton or 9.1% were exported in 2005. It is estimated that the national paddy consumption is 21.48 million ton taking into account rice consumed by agro-processing of rice for noodle production and brewery, animal feed and seed. Paddy of 21.48 million ton is equivalent to 258 kg of paddy or 168 kg of milled rice per capita. The paddy production of the Region was as low as 0.54 million ton, or limited only to 1.7% of the national paddy production, which is equivalent to 211 kg of paddy or 137 kg of milled rice on per capita basis.