Phu Tho set to become northern mountainous growth hub

The northern midland province of Phu Tho aims to become one of the leading localities in the northern midland and mountainous region in the next five years by continuing to speed up infrastructure building, administrative reform, and human resources and tourism development.

The goal was revealed during the province’s 18th Party Congress that opened on September 29 with the participation of 334 delegates representing over 95,000 Party members from 801 local Party organisations.

According to a report at the event, the province recorded an average growth of 5.87 percent with annual per capita income of 29.5 million VND (1,311 USD) from 2010-2015, a rise of 77.4 percent compared to that of 2010.

The localities mobilised over 69 trillion VND (3.03 billion USD) for improving infrastructure systems with nearly 1,000 kilometres of roads and seven large bridges.

Meanwhile, 85.6 percent of local schools were concretised, higher than the northwest region’s average of 73 percent. Total investment in education and vocational training facilities rose 64.3 percent while that for tourism increased 3.5 times.

Boasting two UNESCO-recognised intangible cultural heritage of Xoan singing and Hung Kings worship ritual, Phu Tho lures 6-7 million visitors per year, helping raise earnings from the tourism sector by 17.9 percent annually.

From 2015-2020, the province hopes maintain an average growth of 7.5 percent per year with per capita income of 52.5 million VND (2,400 USD). Two districts and 124 communes are expected to meet the standards of new-style rural areas while household poverty rate is set to reduce by 1.5 percent a year.

Addressing the event, National Assembly Chairman Nguyen Sinh Hung praised the locality’s efforts over the past years. He urged participants to analyse shortcomings and weaknesses to determine timely solutions.

Agreeing with future targets set in the report, the NA leader said Phu Tho should determine the advantages and disadvantages it is having amidst the country’s strong international integration, thus rolling out suitable measures to make the province a developmental centre of the northern mountainous region.

Besides securing rapid and sustainable development, Phu Tho should focus on boosting tourism and making it a spearhead economic sector, he said.-VNA