VietNamNet Bridge - Higher agricultural production had continued to reduce poverty in the northern mountainous province of Bac Can, Vietnam Communist Party General Secretary Nong Duc Manh was told yesterday.

General Secretary Nong Duc Manh visits ethnic minority communities in Bac Kan Province.

Food per capita was reported at 490.4 kg – an increase of 15.7 per cent.

The higher yield helped reduce the rate of the highland province’s poor households to 30 per cent against 50.87 per cent three years ago.

The Party General Secretary was told that eight of 43 key targets set in the Resolution of the Provincial Party’s 9th Congress in 2005 had been achieved.

The rate of achievement for 23 of the targets was 50 per cent with less than 50 per cent for the remaining 12.

The province wants a 19-20 per cent increase in its 2009 gross product compared with 2008.

The higher target for agriculture-forestry and fisheries products is 6-7 per cent.

The target for industry and capital construction is more than 50 per cent and services 21-22 per cent.

The administrators want to raise the province’s yearly per capita income to VND 8.5 million ($500) against the national average of more than $1,000 this year.

The Party General Secretary was told the provincial party committee had devised numerous measures intended to ensure the targets were met.

These included supporting business and production, maintaining and developing agro-forestry products and creating a favourable climate for investment.

The leader praised the achievements of the provincial party, administration and people during the past three years.

But he asked the provincial party committee to review what have been done well and that which had not before making any adjustment for the next two years.

“Livestock breeding is one of the province’s strengths, so you should focus on developing herds, particularly cattle,” he said.

The Party General Secretary asked the officials to accelerate the allocation of forest to households while finding ways to encourage forest planting and protection.

” A very important principle in forest development is that forest feeds forest; forest protects the forest and forest is in service of socio-economic development,” he said.

The leader asked the provincial party officials and administrators to develop a strategy for long-term development.

“Human resources are decisive to rapid and sustainable development,” he advised.

“You should develop policies to attract talent and attend to training, including vocational training, for ethnic minorities in the province.”

He called for central ministries and sectors to provide more support to mountainous provinces, particularly provinces such as Bac Can which were a cradle of the revolution, to build infrastructure and development plan for tourism and services industries.

The Party General Secretary also asked for a more intense effort to follow the morality of President Ho Chi Minh in the fight against corruption and waste and the practise of thrift.

(Source: VNS)