THE PEOPLE COMMITTEE OF DAKLAK PROVINCE OVERVIEW OF DAK LAK PROVINCE *** DAK LAK DEPARTMENT OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS Add: 178 Y Jut, Buon Ma Thuot city, Dak Lak province, Vietnam Tel: (+84) 0500.3843012 - Fax: 0500.3842166 Email: [email protected] Website: www.dofa.gov.vn 1 1. GEOGRAPHY 1.1. Location: Dak Lak province is located in the heart of the Central Highlands, around 600 - 800m above sea level, with natural area of 13,125 km² and a population of nearly 1.8 million people from 44 ethnic groups living together. The weather is fresh and cool, with only 2 seasons (rainy season from May to November) 1.2. Transportation - Inland: Dak Lak borders Gia Lai province to the north, Khanh Hoa and Phu Yen to the east, Lam Dong province to the south, Dak Nong province to the west and shares borders with Cambodia. The distances are as below: 350km from Ho Chi Minh City (by National Highway No. 14); 190km from Pleiku city, Gia Lai province (by National Highway No. 14); 180km from Nha Trang city, Khanh Hoa province (by National Highway No. 26); 190km from Da Lat city, Lam Dong province (by National Highway No. 27); 185km from Phu Yen province (by National Highway No. 29); In conjunction with Ho Chi Minh trail in Kon Tum province. - Airway: Daily flights to/from Hanoi capital, Ho Chi Minh city, Da Nang city, Vinh city, Phu Quoc island, Con Dao island are available to meet increasing demand of tourism and business. 2 2. ADMISTRATION STRUCTURE Daklak province consists of 15 administrative units as below: 1. Buon Ma Thuot city. 2. Buon Ho town. 3. Ea H’leo district. 4. Ea Sup district. 5. Buon Don district. 6. Cu M’gar district. 7. Krong Buk district. 8. Ea Kar district. 9. M’Drak district. 10. Krong Bong district. 13. Lak district. 11. Krong Pac district. 14. Krong Nang district. 12. Krong Ana district. 15. Cu Kuin district. * Administration system: The People's Committee of Dak Lak is the executive organization under the supervision of the Provincial People’s Council, responsible for the execution of the Constitution, laws, governmental policies and the resolutions issued by the Provincial People's Council. The administration system under the management of the Provincial People's Committee consists of 16 functional departments, other specialized organizations and The People's Committees of the city and districts. Functional departments include: Home Affairs; Foreign Affairs; Planning & Investment; Finance; Information & Communications; Science &Technology; Culture - Sports & Tourism; Transport; Natural Resouces & Environment; Education & Training; Health; Industry & Commerce; Justice, Construction; Labour - Invalids & Social Affairs; Agrculture & Rural Development; Commerce - Investment - Tourism Promotion Center. Provincial People’s Council Provincial People Committee Functional People Committees of the Political – Social Departments city/town/district organizations People Committees of town/commune 3 3. POPULATION By the end of 2011, Dak Lak’s population was 1,778,000 (22.5% live in urban and 77.5% in rural) with the annual population growth rate 0.13% and the average population density 135 people per km2. The labour force is about 1,145,788 people. There are 44 ethnic minorities living in Daklak. The Kinh is the largest group, making up 70% of Dak Lak’s population. The rest of 30% comprise other ethnic minorities such as Ede, M’nong, Thai, Tay, Nung… The Ede Each of them has their own beautiful cultural characters but they altogether create a rich and diversified culture for the province. Their gong festival, buffalo-stabbing festival, elephant race, the architecture of their stilt houses, communal houses, their traditional musical instruments like gong sets, lithopone, T’rung… and the Central Highland epics are considered as valuable tangible and intangible cultural heritages. Gong sets and T’rung 4. EDUCATION Currently, Tay Nguyen University is the only in Daklak and the biggest in Central Highlands area with 34 majors in pedagogy (maths, physics, foreign languages,..), health, forestry, banking, business administration,…). Besides, there are 04 colleges (Daklak Pedagogy College College, Culture and Arts College, Central Highlands Ethnics Youth Vocational College, Dak Lak Vocational College) and a system of intermediates (law, technology, health,…) in Dak Lak. Dak Lak People’s Committee has sent an official letter to the Ministry of Education and Training to submit to the Prime Minister for approval of establishing Buon Ma Thuot University with a scale of 2,200 students/year. Tay Nguyen University 5. HEALTHCARE In Daklak, the healthcare network from the provincial to communal levels has been paid considerable attention by the provincial authorities. At the provincial level, there are 22 units (17 general hospitals, 01 specialty hospital, 01 traditional medicine hospital, 01 leprosy treatment hospital, 01 hospital in Tay Nguyen university and The provincial general hospital 01 eye center). At the district level, there are 15 medical centers. Recently, private investment in healthcare system has increased with many health centers for communities’ convenience. 4 6. TOURISM ATTRACTION - Landscapes: + Many famous tourist landscapes, such as Lake Lak, Buon Don village, Krong Kmar waterfall, Thuy Tien waterfall, Dray Nur waterfall, Yok Don National Park, Chu Yang Sin National Park…which all have their unique characteristics. Dray Nur fall Elephant riding in Yok Don Stilt house + Many famous historical and cultural sights: Lac Giao temple (which mark the presence of Vietnamese on the land of Central Highlands), Bao Dai King Palace, Khai Doan Pagoda, Dak Tuor cave, Buon Ma Thuot prison house, Ako Dhong valley, the provincial museum with a Buon Ma Thuot relief map of the general offensive and uprising in the spring of 1975,…09 places among them are recognized as national relics by the Ministry of Culture. Khai Doan pagoda Dak Tour cave - Cutural Festivals: Dak Lak and other Central Highland provinces are proud of our “Space of Gong Culture", which was recognized by UNESCO as “a Masterpiece of the Intangible Heritage” of Humanity. There are also festivals of ethnic minorities such as Gong festival; elephant race; new rice ceremony; mature ceremony, Bo ma (grave-abandoning) ceremony. Especially, Buon Ma Thuot coffee festival is held every two years, a unique festival of Vietnam in honor of coffee products,... Buon Ma Thuot Coffee festival Elephan racing Gong festival 5 7. DEVELOPMENT POTENTIALS 7.1. Some economy indexes in 2011: - GDP: growth rate 13%/year; 1,300USD/person - Economy structure: Agriculture, Forestry, Fishery: 46% - Industry & Construction: 20%; - Services: 34%. - Export value: 700 million USD Main export products: Coffee, pepper, cashew nut, rubber, honey, processed wood, cassava starch. Annual average output are 400,000 ton of coffee, 30,000 ton of rubber, 25,000 ton of cashewnut, 12,000 ton of pepper, 700 ton of cocoa, 450,000 ton of cassava, over 5,000 ton of honey… Dak Lak is also strong in the crafting trade such as furniture, handicrafts, souvenirs, brocade... Goods are exported to 59 countries and territories around the world. - Import value: 15 million USD; main import items: Fertilizers, machinery. 7.2. Agriculture - Agricultural land: over 480,000 ha, which is categorized into 8 types of land. The two largest and most significant are gray soil (54,57%) and red soil (36,52%), which are suitable for planting coffee, rubber, pepper… to produce good harvest and quality - an ideal supply for food processing industry. Jatropha With the highest quality and productivity in the country, Dak Lak is famous as Vietnam Capital of coffee. - Industrial cattle-breeding: investment in construction of cattle-feed farms, animal products processing facilities, and tanning factories....is much encouraged. - The largest forest area and timber deposit in Vietnam with coverage rate reaches about 49% of the total area. - Development of aquaculture: A vast and diversified systems of rivers, streams, lakes and ponds in Lak, Ea Sup, Ea Kao... covering a total area of 50,000 ha. Dak Lak province has cooperated with Vietnam Sturgeon Association to try raising sturgeon and achived good results. Both sides also plan to develop this activity with greater scale. 7.3. Mineral resources: There are many kinds of minerals in Dak Lak, such as: kaolin clay stretching from M'Drak to Buon Ma Thuot; brick clay in Krong Ana, M'Drak; gold in Ea Kar; lead in Ea H'leo; phosphorus in Buon Don; peat in Cu M'gar; paving stones, building stone, construction sand…in many places of the province. 6 8. INVESTMENT IN DAK LAK 8.1. Advantages of Dak Lak: - Dak Lak, geographically located in the heart of the Central Highlands, has a strategically advantageous position for convenient transportation both in land or by air. This location is also an important factor for the development of triangular regional of three Indochina countries (Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia). - Abundant, diversified natural resources. - Daklak is the "Coffee Capital of Vietnam". - Young, self-motivated labor source (over 01 million people in working age). - A leading goods consumption market in the Central Highlands. - Potential tourism resources with all year round cool climate to develop cultural tourism, ecological tourism and recreational tourism. - Power Supply: Thanks to a system of big lakes like Lak lake and Serepok river with hydroelectric reserves of about 2,636 million kWh, Dak Lak is supposed to have great potential for the development of hydro-electricity. - Telecommunications: Telephone and mobile phone systems are covered throughout the province. High-speed internet lines are also available in all districts and communities. (List of operating industrial sites in Daklak Province attached) 8.2. Investment promoting policies: To attract investment, provide employment and raise revenues for the provincial budget, Dak Lak focusses on efficient allocation of resources, training for local government officials, administrative reform, infrastructure development and building an attractive investment environment. To promote investment, so far Dak Lak Province Council has issued Resolution No.