Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung has urged the northern province of Hai Duong to extract its advantages in infrastructure and human resources to spur growth in the locality.

Hai Duong needs to take the initiative in seeking dynamic and creative methods to go forward in a rapid and sustainable manner, the PM said at a working session with the province’s key officials in Hanoi on August 2.

The locality was asked to drastically restructure the economy, focusing on the unremitting improvement of productivity, quality and competitive edge of products and services.

The Government leader suggested large-scale agricultural development with the close combination of production and the processing industry, market expansion and technical application.

Requesting the province to accelerate investment attraction and industrial production, especially high-tech projects, PM Dung put stress on the need for Hai Duong to pay attention to environmental protection.

He urged the locality to give more importance to developing socio-economic infrastructure, especially in the realms of transport and irrigation, and enthusiastically implement the programme on building new-style rural areas.

The province should focus on vocational training and job generation while implementing social welfare and poverty reduction policies, the leader said.

PM Dung praised the efforts made by the provincial Party Committee, authorities and people to surpass difficulties and challenges to reap achievements in various areas, especially outstanding economic recovery in the first half of this year.

According to Chairman of the Hai Duong People’s Committee Nguyen Manh Hien, the province’s average growth rate jumped from 9.3 percent in 2011 to 9.4 percent last year and its GDP increased by 7.2 percent while budget contributions were up 34 percent during the January-June period.

The locality also pocketed one billion USD from exports in the first six months of the year, up 36.2 percent over the same period last year.

Hai Duong is striving to record an economic growth rate of 6-6.5 percent and raise its average income per capita to 33.6 million VND this year, said Chairman Hien.-VNA