Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong has lauded good progress that the central province of Thanh Hoa has made in socio-economic development, defence, security and Party building work so far.

At a meeting with key officials of the province as part of his working visit from July 31-August 1, the Party chief noted that after four years of implementing the 11th Party Congress’s resolution, Thanh Hoa has maintained high economic growth rate at average 11.3 percent annually.

As a result, the province’s economy has expanded by 1.54 times compared to 2010, with the industry-construction sector accounting for 42 percent, services - 39.6 percent and agriculture - 18.4 percent. Per capita GDP is estimated at 1,320 USD per year.

Last year, Thanh Hoa ranked eighth among 63 cities and provinces nationwide in FDI attraction and stood at the sixth position in provincial economic integration index and eighth in provincial competitiveness index.

By 2013, as many as 19 communes of the province met all standards of the new-style rural areas, while other communes completed more than 10 criteria averagely.

However, Party General Secretary Trong also pointed out that the ratio of poor households in Thanh Hoa is still high, urging the locality to worked harder to fulfil all the set targets.

The province should also get itself well-prepared for the 12th Party Congress, he added, stressing that Party building and personnel work is key in order to well implement other tasks.

Also on August 1, the Party leader toured the Nghi Son Economic Zone where he held a working session with the zone’s management board, inspected the progress of the Nghi Son Refinery and visited the Nghi Son port.-VNA