“From now until 2010, each district should build a vocational training school, focusing on short-term courses for labor intensive industries such as leather shoe and garment production,” the PM said.

The provincial People’s Committee Chairman Truong Ngoc Han suggested the central government provide Dong Thap more than VND1.3 trillion (US$74.5 million) to invest in programs aimed at strengthening systems of canals and ditches, developing transportation infrastructure, and reinforcing riverbanks to prevent erosion.

Dung promised to advance funds for key socio-economic projects in the province.

Despite the national economic slowdown in 2008, Dong Thap managed to maintain its economic growth at 16.56 percent, leading the Mekong Delta region, while reducing the poverty rate to 5.93 percent.

In the first two months of 2009, the provincial economy kept growing as industrial production was up by 17.9 percent and export turnover increased by almost 50 percent.

Source: TN, VNA