The plan to build new-style rural areas has initially created clean and beautiful landscapes in rural areas while raising local people’s living standards step by step.

The outcomes were released at a conference held by the Ministry of Construction in the northern province of Thai Binh on June 14 to review the plan’s three-year implementation in northern provinces .

The event attracted the participation of leaders of ministries and 30 northern cities and provinces.

By the end of last year, 74.6 percent of communes across the country approved the plan to build new-style rural communes, with the Red River delta taking the lead nationwide.

Provinces with the most outstanding performance include Vinh Phuc, Bac Ninh, Quang Ninh, Thai Binh, Ha Nam and Ninh Binh in the north and the central province of Nghe An.

Delegates at the event also pointed to difficulties facing the localities regarding finance, the capacity of local authorities at different levels and coordination between them.

While proposing measures to deal with shortcomings and difficulties, they underscored the need to pay attention to popularisation work to encourage businesses and people of all social strata to get involved in the plan.

The plan on building new-style rural areas is expected to reach 100 percent of communes nationwide by 2013, heard the conference.

In order to fulfil the set target, the delegates called on relevant ministries and branches to work closely with each other to ease difficulties facing localities, especially those in special difficulty.

The building of new-style rural areas targets to create conditions for reasonable exploitation of land and natural resources while upholding the potential and strength of each locality to serve its socio-economic development.

This is also an important task serving as a foundation to realise the national target on building new-style rural areas during the 2012-2020 period, ensuring that by 2015, 20 percent of communes meet the criteria of building new-style rural areas.-VNA