THE TRANSITION OF SECTORAL ECONOMIC STRUCTURE TOWARDS SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT IN THAI NGUYEN PROVINCE

VIETNAM ACADEMY OF SOCIAL SCIENCES GRADUATE ACADEMY OF SOCIAL SCIENCES -** - PHAM THI NGA THE TRANSITION OF SECTORAL ECONOMIC STRUCTURE TOWARDS SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT IN THAI NGUYEN PROVINCE Major: Political Economy Code: 62.31.01.02 PhD DISSERTATION SUMMARY Hanoi, 2016 The work was completed at: GRADUATE ACADEMY OF SOCIAL SCIENCES VIETNAM ACADEMY OF SOCIAL SCIENCES Scientific supervisors: Assoc Prof Dr Ha Huy Thanh Dr Tran Ngoc Ngoan Opponent 1: Assoc Prof Dr Mai Thi Thanh Xuan Opponent 2: Assoc Prof Dr Nguyen Trong Xuan Opponent 3: Assoc Prof Dr Nguyen Dinh Long The PhD dissertation will be defended in front of the Dissertation Scoring Council of the Academy at the Graduate Academy of Social Sciences, 477 Nguyen Trai Street, Thanh Xuan District, Hanoi Time……….date…….month………year 20…… INTRODUCTION Problem statement Sustainable development is increasingly becoming the center of development in all areas when the society has entered the 21st century Referring to sustainable development is referring to requirements for balance and harmony among three aspects of economy, society and environment Sustainable development also means economic structure transition (with the emphasis on sectoral economic structure) in the direction of improvement Therefore, it is the task to clarify basic connotations of sectoral economic structure transition towards sustainable development and apply it in practice Thai Nguyen is a Northern midland and mountainous province, which has many comparative advantages in geographical location, favorable climate, mineral resources, and abundant skilled human resources to construct a rational, modern and efficient economic structure After nearly 30 years of implementing the Party and State’s economic reform, the socio-economic situation of Thai Nguyen province has achieved some encouraging results However, besides the achievements, Thai Nguyen is also facing strong challenges in the sustainable development of economy, society and environment In particular, in the master planning and plans for the socio-economic development in the province, three important aspects of sustainable development have not really been combined and closely integrated Stemming from the above reasons, the study on "The transition of sectoral economic structure in Thai Nguyen province towards sustainable development" is an urgent and important requirement in the context of the current development of Thai Nguyen province 2 Research aims and research tasks 2.1 Research aims To clarify the basic theoretical issues of sectoral economic structure transition in relation to the requirements of sustainable development in order to assess the current situation and give recommendations of the sectoral economic structure transition towards sustainable development in Thai Nguyen province in the period 2015 - 2020 and vision to 2030 2.2 Research tasks - Clarify the rationale for the transition of sectoral economic structure towards sustainable development - Analyze and evaluate the current situation of the sectoral economic structure transition towards sustainable development in Thai Nguyen province on three aspects of economy, society and environment in the period 2006 - 2015 - Recommend primary perspectives and solutions to promote the sectoral economic structure transition towards sustainable development in Thai Nguyen province in the period 2015 - 2020 and vision to 2030 Research Subject and research scope 3.1 Research Subject The dissertation focused on studying the issues related to the transition of sectoral economic structure in Thai Nguyen province in relation to the requirements of sustainable development (in terms of economy - society - environment) under the perspective of political economics Research scope (i) Scope of content Within the dissertation, the author focused on the theoretical and practical issues of sectoral economic structure transition, sustainable development and the mutual impact between them in terms of political economy The perspective of sustainable development used in this research mainly focused on three basic elements as economy, society and environment (ii) Scope of time The author intended most of the information and data will be collected, updated and calculated primarily in the period 2006 2015 Also, the author intended to propose some solutions to the transition of sectoral economic structure in Thai Nguyen province towards sustainable development up to 2020 and vision to 2030 (iii) Scope of space The dissertation focused on researching the transition of sectoral economic structure in Thai Nguyen province in relation to Hanoi and neighboring provinces in the key Northern economic region Rationale and research methology 4.1 Rationale The dissertation relied on the following rationale: - The methodological basis of the dissertation included dialectical materialism method and historical materialism method of Marxism – Leninism - The basic theoretical points of Marxism – Leninism on economic structure, sectoral economic structure transition and sustainable development - The perspectives and policies of the Party and policies of the State on economic structure, sectoral economic structure transition and sustainable development; - The theories of economic structure transition and sustainable development; - The inheritance of the result of some previous researches related to the dissertation project 4.2 Research methodology - Research approach group: Dialectical materialism method; logical - historical method, etc - Theoretical research group: Information collecting, sorting and processing method; SWOT method, PEEST method - Practical research group: Statistical and comparative method; analytical method of practical model In addition, the method of scientific abstraction was regularly used in the research New contributions of the dissertation After the completion of dissertation, there may be some new theoretical and practical contributions as follows: - The dissertation summarized the lessons learned that can be applied to Thai Nguyen province in the immediate and long-term periods - The dissertation focused on analyzing the current situation of the transition of sectoral economic structure towards sustainable development on three aspects of economy, society and environment in Thai Nguyen province, which reviewed the achievements and shortcomings, then caused the interpretations of the above shortcomings; - The dissertation recommended a system of solutions to promote the transition of sector economic structure towards sustainable development in Thai Nguyen province, striving to make Thai Nguyen province to become an industrial province by 2020 The dissertation structure In addition to the introduction, conclusion, appendices and reference list, the dissertation content is structured of chapters Chapter 1: The overview of the research Chapter 2: The rationale and experiences in the transition of sectoral economic structure towards sustainable development Chapter 3: The current situation of the sectoral economic structure transition towards sustainable development in Thai Nguyen province Chapter 4: Perspectives and solutions to promote the transition of sectoral economic structure towards sustainable development in Thai Nguyen province Chapter THE OVERVIEW OF THE RESEARCH 1.1 Previous researches on the economic structure and the transition of sectoral economic structure 1.1.1 The research situation in the world The transition of sectoral economic structure was mentioned in the doctrine of social labor division and the doctrine of social reproduction by Karl Marx Arguments on the economic development stage were given by the prominent representative W.W Rostow The scholar Tatyana P Soubbotina clarified the economic development through the stages of agriculturalization, industrialization, and post-industrialization Lately, the "structuralism school" appeared with viewpoints on the economic structure development in the context of globalization and expansion of the global value chain In particular, arguments on structural changes of the classical school ranked a primary position, typified as "Lewis – Fellner – Ranis’s dualistic economic model” and Chenery’s structural analysis model The World Bank (WB) had two major research projects: "The East Asian Miracle" and "Ruminating on the East Asian Miracle" These two projects considered the structural policies of Asian countries (Japan, Korea, Taiwan, Singapore, etc.) 1.1.2 The research situation in Vietnam In Vietnam, the transition of economic structure in general and the transition of sectoral economic structure in particular were concerned about and studied by a lot of scientists of many different aspects: "The transition of economic structure in terms of integration with the region and the world," by Prof Dr Le Du Phong and Assoc Prof Dr Nguyen Thanh Do (1999); the State-level scientific project, code KH 02-05 "The transition of sectoral economic structure during industrialization and modernization" (2005) edited by Bui Tat Thang "Scientific rationale for adjusting the sectoral structure policy in conditions of Vietnam’s international economic integration" – The ministeriallevel-scientific project reported by Dang Thi Hieu La, etc From the analysis of the above studies, the author gave possible conclusions as follows: First, the author hoped to inherit research achievements made by the scientists mentioned above Second, unlike the previous studies which mainly focused on the transition of sectoral economic structure in terms of quantity, this study paid special attention to the transition of sectoral economic structure in terms of quality from the perspective of political economy Third, unlike the previous studies on the transition of sectoral economic structure (focusing primarily on the production structure), this paper examined the transition of sectoral economic structure in the collective relationship between economic, social, environmental issues towards sustainable development; and evaluated the role and impact of the inside and outside factors of the economic system to the transition of sectoral economic structure towards sustainable development 1.2 Researches on sustainable development 1.2.1 The research situation in the world * On the concept of sustainable development As soon as fundamental concepts of historical materialism were formed, Marx and Friedrich Engels considered the relationships between man and nature, between human history and natural history as an organic and inseparable unity This is really a rationale for the sustainable development strategy of each country as well as of all mankind The concept of sustainable development was performed by the WCED in the report “Our Common Future”; then the economists focused on sustainable development issues Barbier and Markandya (1990) synthesized theories and divided definitions into two groups (ie, in wide and narrow sense) Next, Hofkes (1996) came up with the growth model in which the elements of natural resources were included, which could calculate the optimal exploitation in terms of environmental sustainability * Researches on statistical indicator system for sustainable development In 1995, the Committee for Economic and Social Affairs of the United Nations established a system of statistical indicators including 134 national indicators of sustainable development; these indicators were summarized in the "Green Book", which was published widespread In 2001, the UN CDS launched a system of recommended indicators including 15 main themes, 38 branch themes and 58 indicators In addition, many scholars were interested in this issue: Peter P Rogers, Kazi F.Jalal and John A Boyd in "An Introduction to Sustainable Development", published in 2007, introduced the fundamental knowledge of sustainable development John Blewitt in "Understanding sustainable development" published in 2008 also played an important part in the theory of sustainable development Simon Bell and Stephen Morse in "Sustainability Indicators: Measuring the Immeasurable” published in 2008 made major contributions to the theory and practice in use of sustainable development indicators 1.2.2 The research situation in Vietnam * Sustainable development in Vietnam’s development policy The perspective of sustainable development was particularly clearly asserted in the socio-economic development strategy 1991 2000 and related documents through Party Congress VII, VIII, IX, X, XI After that, the Prime Minister issued the strategic orientation for sustainable development in Vietnam (Vietnam Agenda 21) * Researches on sustainable development in Vietnam The most basic and systematic research on sustainable development in Vietnam was done within the project "Support to the development and implementation of Vietnam Agenda 21" VIE/01/021 hosted by the Ministry of Planning and Investment (MPI) with the participation of ministries, sectors, localities and cooperation of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the Denmark International Development Agency (DANIDA) and the Sweden International Development Agency (SIDA) On the academic side, there were projects implemented by the authors as Assoc Prof Dr Ha Huy Thanh – Assoc Prof Dr Nguyen Ngoc Khanh (eds) (2009), "Sustainable development from concept to action", Hanoi, Social Science Publishing House, Assoc Prof Dr Bui Tat Thang, Dr Luu Duc Hai, Dr Tran Hong Quang (2014), "Towards a sustainable economy", Social Sciences Publishing House, Ha Noi 11 Chapter THE RATIONALE AND PRACTICE OF SECTORAL ECONOMIC STRUCTURE TRANSITION TOWARDS SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT 2.1 The rationale for sectoral economic structure transition towards sustainable development 2.1.1 Arguments on economic structure and sectoral economic structure transition 2.1.1.1 Eeconomic structure and sectoral economic structure * Economic structure Now there are many concepts of economic structure According to Vietnam Encyclopedia, "Economic structure is the overall economic sectors, areas and divisions which have a relatively stable organic relationship * Sectoral economic structure Sectoral economic structure is a combination of economic sectors and a ratio relationship between economic sectors shown in the position and weight of each sector in the overall national economy Sectoral economic structure transition reflects the level of social division of labor in the economy and the development level of productive forces 2.1.1.2 Sectoral economic structure transition Sectoral economic structure transition was mentioned by the schools of economic theory from many different approaches Three major economic schools were Marxist economics; mainstream economics and development economics 2.1.2 Arguments on sustainable development 2.1.2.1 The concept of sustainable development In Section 4, Article of the Law on Protection of the environment, sustainable development was defined as the 12 development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs on the basis of close and harmonious combination among the economic growth, social progress guarantee and environmental protection." Based on the above analysis, the author proposed a more specific definition of sustainable development: "Sustainable development is a way of socio-economic development to better tackle the relationship among the economic growth, solutions to the social issues and environmental protection to better meet the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs " This definition can be extended to three basic constituents of sustainable development: economy - society – environment 2.1.2.2 The content of sustainable development (i) Sustainable development in economy (ii) Sustainable development in society (iii) Sustainable development in environment 2.1.3 Arguments on sectoral economic structure transition towards sustainable development 2.1.3.1 The concepts of sectoral economic structure transition towards sustainable development The author identified with the author Ta Dinh Thi in defining sectoral economic structure transition towards sustainable development "Sectoral economic structure transition towards sustainable development is the transition that ensures a balanced and harmonious development among the aspects of economy, society and environment; or to put it more specifically, sectoral economic structure transition towards sustainable development must ensure a positive, efficient, stable, and high-level economic growth; ensure the necessary stability of the economic system; avoid and mitigate risks, with competitiveness; avoid 13 stagnation, recession and structural collapse of the economy; be less vulnerable from external changes; be less harmful or be harmless to the natural environment; ensure a progressive social development; ensure the maintainability of security, social order and safety; proactively and effectively participate in international cooperation" According to this concept, sectoral economic structure transition towards sustainable development must meet the following demands: (i) Promote the rapid, effectively, stable, balanced and harmonious economic growth between localities, regions, particularly between rural and urban areas (ii) Ensure the rational, economical and effective use of natural resources, the maintainability of biodiversity and the minimization of the adverse impact on the environment (iii) Contribute to solve social problems 2.1.3.2 The contents of sectoral economic structure transition towards sustainable development According to this concept, sectoral economic structure transition towards sustainable development must ensure the following contents: (i) E economy (ii) Society (iii) Eenvironment 2.1.3.3 Evaluation criteria on sectoral economic structure transition towards sustainable development (i) Economic indicators (ii) Social indicators (iii) Environmental indicators 2.1.3.4 Factors impacting sectoral economic structure transition towards sustainable development (i) Factors within the economic system (ii) Factors outside the economic system 14 2.2 The experiences on the sectoral economic structure transition towards sustainable development of the countries in the world and some provinces in Vietnam 2.2.1 The experience of some countries in the world 2 1.1 The experience of Korea 2.2.1.2 The experience of China 2.2.2 The experience of some provinces and cities in Vietnam 2.2.2.1 The experience of Vinh Phuc 2.2.2.2 The experience of Da Nang 2.3 Some lessons learned on the transition of sectoral economic structure towards sustainable development for Thai Nguyen Province (i) Put emphasis on the economic structure transition from sectors with low productivity to sectors with higher productivity to give greater contributions to the economic growth (ii) Make use of geographical advantages to strengthen the investment (especially FDI) and initial accumulation, etc (iii) Persist the motto of sectoral economic structure transition in a "rolling" way, of immediately building any economic sectors effectively, and of establishing primary and spearhead economic sectors to form growth poles to create ripple impacts promoting other sectors (the experiences of China, Vinh Phuc, Da Nang) (iv) Better solve the unemployment for workers to match the qualifications and skills for each sector of the economy (v) Choose a development model of services sector, taking this sector as the main one on behalf of the industry's role in the past (vi) Choose a development model with friendly, modern environment and reduced pollution; gradually eliminate the image of an industrial city with topped pollution levels in the country Thus, we can say, on the basis of studies on theories and experiences of sectoral economic structure transition towards sustainable development, in the opinion of the author, the strategy of sectoral economic structure transition in Thai Nguyen province in the coming period should follow ”the unbalanced development theory" or “growth poles theory" 15 Chapter THE CURRENT SITUATION OF SECTORAL ECONOMIC STRUCTURE TRANSITION TOWARDS SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT IN THAI NGUYEN PROVINCE 3.1 The overview of the socio-economic situation of Thai Nguyen province * Economic growth * Investment attraction * Socio-economic infrastructure * Socio-cultural situation 3.2 The current situation of sectoral economic structure transition towards sustainable development in Thai Nguyen province in the period 2006 - 2014 3.2.1 The economic growth 3.2.1.1 The GDP growth The average growth rate of GDP in the period 2006 - 2012 reached 10.1% per year, which was higher compared with the period 2001 - 2005 with 9.05% per year In 2014, the provincial GDP went by 18.6% (while the target was 15%) In comparison with year 2013, the growth rate of industry and construction increased by 40.5%; agriculture, forestry, aquatic sectors by 4.8% and services sector by 6.4% The average growth rate for years from 2013 to 2014 across the province reached 12.65 This has marked a breakthrough in the growth so far This result, on the one hand, shows the outstanding efforts in the policy of socio-economic development of the province On the other hand, it shows the potentially unsustainable economic growth in general and the transition of sectoral economic structure in particular in the province (the economic growth depends largely on external factors) 16 3.2.1.2 The growth within each economic sector Industry, construction: In the period 2000 - 2012, the regional growth rate of industrial production and construction was fulfilled On average in the period 2006 - 2012, the growth rate reached 13.5% per year (12.45% higher compared with the period between 2001 and 2005) However, there was the fact that the growth of FDI enterprises decided the economic growth rate of the whole province in general and industry sector in particular This is a new direction in the selection and development of key industries in the developing scenario of the province in the next years On the other hand, this fact also shows a big dependence on external factors Services: The service sector growth was relatively stable; on average in the period 2006 - 2012, it reached 10.63% per year (compared to 10% in the period 2001 - 2005) Year 2014 marked a breakthrough in export values in the province (reached 8.97 billion US dollars), with 897 plans, which was 36.5 times higher (up by 3,544%) compared with year 2013 Specifically, the sectors with foreign investment reached $8.72 billion, which increased 93.8 times compared with the same period, the domestic economic sector reached $246.108 million, (61.5 % higher compared with the same period) Agriculture, forestry and fisheries: In the period 2006 - 2012, the growth rate of the total production value of agriculture, forestry and fisheries increased unstably, in which major contributions to the increase of the production value of this region was forestry sector (the average growth rate was 11.52% per year in the period 2006 2012) , followed by the fisheries sector Particularly, year 2012 marked a significant increase of the forestry sector (50.97%), this showed the huge potential of this sector in the agricultural structure in particular and of the whole economy in general 17 3.2.2 The transition of sectoral economic structure 3.2.2.1 The GDP structure * The Macroeconomic structure - On the economic structure: The results of sectoral economic structure transition in the period 2008 - 2013 showed that the economic structure of the province had a prompt shift, in which the ratio of agriculture, forestry and fisheries tended to decrease, the ratio of industry and construction tended to increase, along with the trend of increasing the ratio of services * The FDI attraction in Thai Nguyen in the period 2000 - 2014 In 2014, Thai Nguyen attracted 22 new FDI projects with total registered capital of 3.2 billion USD Also, there were projects of capital increase which helped the total newly registered capital and increased capital reached 3.35 billion USD, leading the whole country in attracting FDI in 2014 This has gradually asserted the role as well as efforts to attract FDI of Thai Nguyen province 3.2.2.2 The internal economic structure - The internal structure of industry and construction had a positive shift, in the right direction In particular, in 2014, the province's industrial production had the structural adjustment from heavy industries to industries of assembly and high-tech manufacture, support, to create products with highly increased value, developing the potentials and advantages of the province However, there was a large difference of within the industry of the province This is something that should definitely be interested for improvement in 2015, because if we want a sustainable development in local industry, it is necessary to have the growth and large contributions of the industrial sector in the country Construction: Although the capital for investment from the state budget and individuals increased rapidly over the years, the contribution level of the construction sector was not matched, the contribution level of new branches was respectively 6% GDP 18 - The structure transition within the agriculture, forestry and fisheries: In general, the agricultural sector still accounted for the highest proportion (around 95 %); forestry and fisheries had similar proportion The structure within these sectors over time did not have a lot of fluctuations (sector structure in 2012 nearly resembled the one in 2000) and was generally consistent with the objectives set out in the "The planning of environmental protection and sustainable development in agricultural sector and rural areas in Thai Nguyen up to 2020", as well as in line with the natural conditions of Thai Nguyen province - The economic structure transition within the service sector In the period 2006 - 2014, the structure of services sector of Thai Nguyen province had a prompt shift, but with a slow transition rate: 35.95% (in 2000) to 36.52% (in 2006), and 37.81% (in 2012) of GDP However, comprehensively, the province's economic growth mainly thanked to the contribution of the sectors of industry and construction, with 14.9% Two remaining important sectors in the economic structure transition including services and agriculture forestry - fisheries reached low growth with the contribution of percentage points to the whole province of respectively 2.72 and 1.0 3.2.2.3 Labor structure In the period 2006 - 2012, the province's labor structure had a positive transition However, this transition was took place at a slower rate This showed industry, construction and services did not have enough power to attract labor from switched agriculture, forestry, fisheries Regarding labor skills in the province, the proportion of trained workers was very low (only 20.4% of total labor force in the province in 2012) This was one of the causes of the slow movement of labor from the sectors of agriculture, forestry and fisheries to the sectors of industry, construction and services 19 3.3 Factors affecting the transition of sectoral economic structure towards sustainable development in Thai Nguyen province 3.3.1 Factors within the economic system 3.3.1.1 Natural resources (geographic location and natural resources) 3.3.1.2 Human resources (population and labor resources) 3.3.1.3 Financial resources for investment in the socio-economic development 3.3.2 Factors outside the economic system 3.3.2.1 Market storage (domestic and foreign markets) 3.3.2.2 The process of international economic integration 3.3.2.3 Policy and institutional factors and the consensus & involvement of the community in the implementation of sustainable development 3.4 Evaluating the sustainability of sectoral economic structure transition in Thai Nguyen province Main causes for the achievements and shortcomings 4.1 Evaluating the sustainability of sectoral economic structure transition in Thai Nguyen province 3.4.1.1 The transition of sectoral economic structure and the economic structure sustainability itself * The economic growth rate was unstable and tended to decrease, the GDP per capita increased continuously, but was not commensurate with the potentials and strengths of the province * GDP structure transition within each sector was not only unbalanced and could not promote the potential and strengths of each sector * There was no link between the sectoral economic structure transition and labor structure transition from agriculture to the industry and services * Spillover effects within the industry and between the industries to the agricultural and service sector remained low 4.1.2 The transition of sectoral economic structure and social sustainability * Regarding unemployment * Regarding poverty 20 * The income gap between the strata of society 3.4.1.3 The transition of sectoral economic structure and sustainability of ecological environment * Solid waste * Environmental pollution * Forests and biodiversity 3.4.2 Main causes for the achievements and shortcomings of the sectoral economic structure transition towards sustainable development in Thai Nguyen province 3.4.2.1 The cause for the achievements First, there was a change in thinking on the sectoral economic structure transition Second, there was a strong innovation in the policy of FDI attraction Third, the transformation of modern economic thinking and proactive international economic integration were clearly expressed in the policies of development Forth, the effectiveness of policies improved and enhanced the Provincial Competitiveness Index Fifth, the province strengthened business support services, created a healthy business environment; improved the quality of administration of government at all levels, enhanced the activeness and creativity in issues on attracting investment Sixth, the province was interested in the planning 3.4.2.2 The causes for the shortcomings First, limitations on policy mechanism and motivation for development Second, limitations on existing economic potentials (i) The limits of high-quality human resources (ii) The difficulties in mobilization and effective use of funds (iii) The relationship between the sectors and competitiveness in the market were weak 21 Chapter PERSPECTIVES AND SOLUTIONS TO PROMOTE THE SECTORAL ECONOMIC STRUCTURE TRANSITION TOWARDS SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT IN THAI NGUYEN PROVINCE 4.1 The impacts of the new context and opportunities, challenges for the transition of sectoral economic structure towards sustainable development in Thai Nguyen province 4.1.1 The impact of the new context to the transition of sectoral economic structure towards sustainable development in Thai Nguyen province 4.1.1.1 International context * The formation and development of knowledge-based economy on the basis of modern scientific technology development * The process of international economic integration 4.1.1.2 New context of Vietnam * Regarding the economic institutions of Vietnam * Regarding the state of the economy 4.1.1.3 The new context of Thai Nguyen province  The implementation of economic restructuring and growth model transition in Thai Nguyen  Regarding the master planning of socio-economic development in Thai Nguyen province up to 2020 and vision to 2030  New points in attracting FDI in Thai Nguyen 4.1.2 Opportunities and challenges for the transition of sectoral economic structure towards sustainable development in Thai Nguyen province 4.1.2.1 Potentials, advantages and opportunities of development 4.1.2.2 Difficulties and challenges 22 4.2 The perspectives of sectoral economic structure transition towards sustainable development in Thai Nguyen province 4.2.1 The Party and State’s perspectives 4.2.2 The author’s perspectives 4.2.2.1 Further improve the awareness about the mutual dialectical relationship among the high economic growth, proactive and extensive economic integration and sustainable economic development 4.2.2.2 The transition of sectoral economic structure should focus and base on integration to accelerate the process of transferring 4.2.2.3 Give priority to develop sectors in order to better exploit the advantages of the province as motivation to the development of other sectors and northern mountainous and midland areas 4.2.2.4 Ensure the harmony between the objectives of rapid economic growth and social stability; and ecological environment protection in sustainable development requirements 4.2.2.5 Ensure the harmony between the objectives of rapid, progressive economic growth and social justice and ecological environment protection in sustainable development requirements 4.3 Solutions to promote the transition of sectoral economic structure towards sustainable development in Thai Nguyen province 4.3.1 Improve effectiveness of State management for sustainable development 4.3.1.1 Improve the capacity and efficiency of the State management apparatus, promote the reform of administrative procedures, improve the investment environment, and enhance provincial competitiveness 4.3.1.2 Improve the quality of planning work towards sustainable development 23 4.3.1.3 Strengthen education and communication towards sustainable development 4.3.2 Develop Human Resources and Science and Technology 4.3.2.1 Develop human resources 4.3.2.2 Develop science - technology 4.3.3 Solutions to mobilize and effectively use investment funds 4.3.4 Solutions to expand the cooperation and linkage among the provinces, regions, nation, and proactive international integration CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS Conclusions Sustainable Development is not only an indispensable demand but also a major challenge in the development process of each country, especially of developing countries such as Vietnam Based on the analysis and concept of the sectoral economic structure transition towards sustainable development, stemming from practical experiences of some countries in the world and some provinces in Vietnam, the dissertation identified theoretical models which were considered to be appropriate to implement the transition of sectoral economic structure in order to ensure sustainable development in Thai Nguyen province Stemming from the above reasoning, the paper analyzed the current situation of sectoral economic structure transition in Thai Nguyen province, which assessed the sustainability of this transition process The argument of sustainability here was considered mainly on three aspects: economy, society and environment From the above analysis, the paper proposed four main groups of solutions to implement the transition of sectoral economic structure in Thai Nguyen province towards sustainable development, making Thai Nguyen province become an industrial 24 province by 2020 Some solutions were analyzed in detail, but there were new solutions limited at the policy-oriented suggestion, which should be further studied, and could develop into the independent studies later Recommendations The research scope of the dissertation was broad, which mentioned many issues related to the transition of sectoral economic structure towards sustainable development Many people concerned about these big issues, so the establishment of a system of points, solutions should be tested and completed over time In addition, due to the limitations of the author’s research capabilities as well as time, resources, some issues have not been extensively studied within the research Therefore, the author hopes the organizations and concerned individuals will continue to implement in the near future, which namely include: (i) Continue to improve the theory of sectoral economic structure transition towards sustainable development on three aspects of economy, society and environment in the province, which makes the basis for determining appropriate theoretical model for the transition of sectoral economic structures towards sustainable development in Thai Nguyen province to meet each stage of development of the province (ii) Give further analysis and evaluation of the sustainability of sectoral economic structure transition, while continuing to develop and improve the indicator system reflecting the sustainability of the relationship among the three aspects of economy, society and environment of the sectoral economic structure transition in Thai Nguyen province (iii) Pay more attention to develop and take advantage of potentials and strengths to accelerate the transition of sectoral economic structure towards sustainable development; avoid the spontaneous development, avoid follow the crowd inefficiently without ensuring sustainability LIST OF PUBLISHED WORKS [1] Pham Thi Nga, "The current situation and existing problems in capital mobilization for the socio-economic development in Thai Nguyen province", Volume 112, No 12/1, 2013, Journal of Science & Technology - TNU (p.201-206) [2] Pham Thi Nga, "The current situation of sectoral economic structure transition in Thai Nguyen province in the period 2006 - 2012", Volume 114, No 14, 2013, Journal of Science & Technology - TNU (p.49-54) [3] Pham Thi Nga, "The sectoral economic structure transition in Thai Nguyen province in the period 2006 - 2012", No (430), 2014, Journal of Economic Research (p.53-58) [4] Pham Thi Nga, "The sectoral economic structure transition towards sustainable development: from theory, experience and lessons learned for Thai Nguyen Province", No 2(5), June, 2014, Journal of Studies and Research in Human Geography (p.39-44) [5] Ngo Thi Tan Huong, Pham Thi Nga, Dao Thi Tan, "A discussion on Vietnam’s market economy with a socialist orientation ", Volume 124, No.10, 2014, Journal of Science & Technology - TNU (p.115-118) [6] Pham Thi Nga Ngo Thi Tan Huong, "The conflict in the implementation of socialist-oriented market economy in Vietnam", Volume 124, No 10, 2014, Journal of Science & Technology - TNU (p.131-136) [7] Pham Thi Nga, "Assessing the sustainability of sectoral economic structure transition in Thai Nguyen province in the period 2006 - 2012", Volume 130, No 16, 2014, Journal of Science & technology - TNU (p.139-146) [8] Pham Thi Nga, Nguyen Thi Hanh Hong, "The impact of the international context to the sectoral economic structure transition towards sustainable development in Thai Nguyen province", Volume 141, No 11, 2015, Journal of Science & Technology - TNU (p.63-68) [...]... towards sustainable development, in the opinion of the author, the strategy of sectoral economic structure transition in Thai Nguyen province in the coming period should follow the unbalanced development theory" or “growth poles theory" 15 Chapter 3 THE CURRENT SITUATION OF SECTORAL ECONOMIC STRUCTURE TRANSITION TOWARDS SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT IN THAI NGUYEN PROVINCE 3.1 The overview of the socio -economic. .. factors and the consensus & involvement of the community in the implementation of sustainable development 3.4 Evaluating the sustainability of sectoral economic structure transition in Thai Nguyen province Main causes for the achievements and shortcomings 3 4.1 Evaluating the sustainability of sectoral economic structure transition in Thai Nguyen province 3.4.1.1 The transition of sectoral economic structure. .. content of sustainable development (i) Sustainable development in economy (ii) Sustainable development in society (iii) Sustainable development in environment 2.1.3 Arguments on sectoral economic structure transition towards sustainable development 2.1.3.1 The concepts of sectoral economic structure transition towards sustainable development The author identified with the author Ta Dinh Thi in defining sectoral. .. context of Vietnam * Regarding the economic institutions of Vietnam * Regarding the state of the economy 4.1.1.3 The new context of Thai Nguyen province  The implementation of economic restructuring and growth model transition in Thai Nguyen  Regarding the master planning of socio -economic development in Thai Nguyen province up to 2020 and vision to 2030  New points in attracting FDI in Thai Nguyen. .. economic structure towards sustainable development in Thai Nguyen province 4.1.1 The impact of the new context to the transition of sectoral economic structure towards sustainable development in Thai Nguyen province 4.1.1.1 International context * The formation and development of knowledge-based economy on the basis of modern scientific technology development * The process of international economic integration... towards sustainable development in Thai Nguyen province to meet each stage of development of the province (ii) Give further analysis and evaluation of the sustainability of sectoral economic structure transition, while continuing to develop and improve the indicator system reflecting the sustainability of the relationship among the three aspects of economy, society and environment of the sectoral economic. .. this showed the huge potential of this sector in the agricultural structure in particular and of the whole economy in general 17 3.2.2 The transition of sectoral economic structure 3.2.2.1 The GDP structure * The Macroeconomic structure - On the economic structure: The results of sectoral economic structure transition in the period 2008 - 2013 showed that the economic structure of the province had a... breakthrough in the growth so far This result, on the one hand, shows the outstanding efforts in the policy of socio -economic development of the province On the other hand, it shows the potentially unsustainable economic growth in general and the transition of sectoral economic structure in particular in the province (the economic growth depends largely on external factors) 16 3.2.1.2 The growth within each economic. .. out in the "The planning of environmental protection and sustainable development in agricultural sector and rural areas in Thai Nguyen up to 2020", as well as in line with the natural conditions of Thai Nguyen province - The economic structure transition within the service sector In the period 2006 - 2014, the structure of services sector of Thai Nguyen province had a prompt shift, but with a slow transition. .. Thai Nguyen province, related to issues of sustainable development, the People's Committee of Thai Nguyen province published "The strategic orientation for sustainable development in Thai Nguyen to 2020 (Thai Nguyen Agenda 21)" 1.3 The researches on the transition of economic structure associated with sustainable development On this content, it is important to mention the works as "The transition of