Hai Phong should try to attract investment and foreign partners to become a mechanical engineering and shipbuilding centre of the country, Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung said at a working session with key officials of the northern port city on October 3.

He urged Hai Phong to continue with restructuring efforts and make full use of major infrastructure projects in the region which are almost completed to maintain its growth impetus.

The PM said the Cat Bi Airport, the Hanoi-Hai Phong and Hai Phong-Quang Ninh Highways and the Lach Huyen international port are expected to create new breakthroughs in socio-economic development in not only Hai Phong but also other localities in the Hanoi-Hai Phong-Quang Ninh development triangle.

According to the municipal People’s Committee’s report, the city recorded a GDP growth rate of 7.86 percent in the first nine months of this year and is likely to achieve an 8.3 percent growth for the year. Export earnings in the period almost reached 2.5 billion USD while FDI attraction is estimated at nearly 1.2 billion USD. Hai Phong port, one of the largest in the northern region, handled nearly 45 million tonnes of cargo in the nine-month period.-VNA