When talking about Gia Lai, one cannot fail to refer to its immense plantations of rubber and pepper trees, its hydro-electric power projects, such as Ialy, Se San, An Khe - Ka Nak and other strong points. All these serve as the wings for this province in the Central Highlands to fly off during its socio-economic development.
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Coffee trees born with
flowers - in Bien Ho
Commune, Pleiku
City.
Rubber tree bringing
about a high profit to
farmers.
Pepper is one of
the
trees in Gia Lai that
brings in high
economic
value.
A workshop to produce
feed for shrimps run
by Dang Phuoc Private
Oil Enterprise,
in Tra
Da Industrial Zone.
Riding
elephants for
sight-seeing.
Four groups of
turbines
at Ialy Hydro-electric
Plant, which has a
capacity
of 720 MW.
Russian and
Vietnamese engineers
working at Se San
Hydro-electric Plant
3.
| When talking
about Gia Lai, one cannot fail to refer to its immense plantations of
rubber and pepper trees, its hydro-electric power projects, such as Ialy,
Se San, An Khe - Ka Nak and other strong points. All these serve as the
"wings" for this province in the Central Highlands to fly off during its
socio-economic development.
In line with the trend of the
whole country, Gia Lai has also been calling for investments, but in its
own way, i.e., popularizing its potential and providing priorities for the
investors.
Located at the crossroads of
the impor tant highways, such as Highways 19, 14 and 25, and having Pleiku
Airport, Gia Lai has convenient gateways to the coastal provinces in
Central Vietnam, the northeastern provinces of Cambodia and the lower area
of Laos, as well as to the domestic economic centres, such as Da Nang, Qui
Nhon and Ho Chi Minh Cities.
Chairman of Gia Lai Province
People's Committee, Nguyen Vi Ha said: "Gia Lai has a rich source of
forests and fertile land, including 750,000 ha of natural forests with a
reserve of nearly 75 million cubic metres of timber and 450,000 ha of
specialized cultivation zones yielding high outputs of rubber, coffee,
maize, cashew and cotton". In addition, the province has mines with great
reserves of limestone, granite and basalt under exploitation. In the
construction material sector alone, the local source of limestone enables
the building of a cement plant with an annual capacity of 200,000-300,000
tonnes to supply to the northern provinces of the Central Highlands and
the northeastern provinces of Cambodia. Covering an area of 109.30 ha, Tra
Da Industrial Zone has attracted more and more investors, giving a picture
of a promising future.
Apart from rubber and coffee,
Gia Lai's typical feature, the Province has another strongpoint, i.e.,
electrical energy with a capacity of approximately 10.5-11 billion KWh,
ranking second in the whole country.
Referring to the Central
Highlands in general, and Gia Lai in particular, the Vietnamese people
always think of Ialy Hydro-electric Plant. On April 27, 2002 construction
of the plant was completed, with a capacity of 720 MW. With an
annual output of 3.68 billion KWh, it plays an important role in the
national economic development and enhances the efficiency of the national
power network. Besides the hydro-electric works on Se San, An Khe and Ka
Nak Rivers, Gia Lai has 85 small- and medium-scale hydro-electric projects
in effective use. All these projects have changed the quality of life of
the local residents.
Together with construction of
each plant, more infrastructures, including roads, schools and healthcare
facilities have been built, bringing more jobs and incomes to the people.
We visited the construction
site of Se San Hydro-electric Plant 3 which has a designed capacity of 273
MW. A permanent correspondent in Gia Lai told us that in the past the red
soil path leading to that site was narrow and full of dust, and visitors
had to walk the whole day to get there. Now, our car ran smoothly on a 30
km-long asphalted road, which winds its way around the mountains. The
legendary river of Se San, which ran swiftly and fiercely in a wild
mountainous area, is now calm and gentle due to the abutments of the
hydro-electric project. To date, its foundation, made of more than 2
million cubic metres of rocks and soils and other facilities have been
completed. Vu Tuan Hung, the executive manager of the Se San project, said
that the main work in the year 2004 is to fill 42,000 cubic metres of
concrete and assemble the machines. As planned, the first electric
generator will start operation by the end of 2005, the second generator,
in 2006 and a few months later the plant will be inaugurated. The Se San
Hydro-electric Plant 3 also has the functions of regulating the water
source, preventing floods, creating a micro-climate and supplying water
for agricultural irrigation and aqua-culture in the ponds.
Gia Lai Province has great
potential for tourism, including eco-tourism, which is closely linked to
the mountainous terrain full of grandiose and natural features and the
long-lasting unique cultures of many ethnic groups including the Gia Rai
and Ba Na. As the tourist activities have not matched its potential, the
Province is providing priorities to attract more investors in this
field.
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Gia Lai has great potential for
tourism.
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Gia Lai Province:
Area: 15,485 sq.km
Population: 1,047,000 people of 11 ethnic
groups including the Kinh (56%) and other minority groups (44%,
mainly the Ba Na and Gia Rai).
Geography: Gia
Lai is a northern mountainous area of the Central Highlands. It
borders Kon Tum Province in the North, Dak Lak Province in the
South, Cambodia in the West, and Quang Ngai, Binh Dinh and Phu Yen
Provinces in the East.
Administrative units:
Pleiku City and 13 districts.
Climate: Tropical
monsoon with two distinctive seasons, the rainy and dry seasons.
Average temperature: 22o
C-25oC
Potential:
-
Minerals: The province abounds with different kinds of
minerals, mainly gold, bauxite and gemstones.
- Construction
material: Granite, limestone, basalt, clay and sand.
-
Energy: An estimated hydro-electric capacity of 10,5-11 billion
KW.
- Land: A great
land fund for construction, afforestation and rubber and coffee
plantations |
Story: Vuong
Mo Photos: Nguyen Thang
- Quang Ha
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