New head of steering committee for northwest named

Hanoi (VNA) – Politburo member and head of the Party Central Committee’s Economic Commission Nguyen Van Binh has been appointed as head of the Steering Committee for the Northwestern Region.

Speaking at a ceremony in Hanoi on July 19 to announce the Politburo’s decision on the appointment, Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc asked Binh to do his best to develop the northwest – the country’s most disadvantaged area to catch up with other regions.

Binh, for his part, pledged to work hard to maintain political security and social safety and order in the region, and gradually clear hindrances on the way towards progress.

The same day, Binh chaired a conference in Hanoi reviewing the steering committee’s six-month activities and laying out tasks for the second half of this year.

In his speech, Binh asked for refining the committee’s key working programme for 2016 and revising effective cooperation mechanisms with ministries, agencies and localities for regional socio-economic development.

In the remaining months of this year, the committee was required to devise long-term mechanisms for regional socio-economic development, especially in transport infrastructure.

Ministries, agencies and regional localities should pay attention to poverty reduction, increase external activities to build a borderline of peace, friendship and development while improving the working efficiency of the political system, particularly grassroots political system in remote and specially disadvantaged areas, he said.

The steering committee reported that the regional economy grew 6.98 percent year-on-year in the first half of this year, but the rate of poor households remains high.

Between now and the year’s end, regional localities will restructure agriculture in tandem with new rural construction, continue administrative reform and improve the investment climate, while providing all possible support for businesses, and fulfilling other key tasks.-VNA