Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung has said the Mekong Delta province of Tra Vinh needs to pay special attention to the construction of its infrastructure system, especially in transport, to serve local socio-economic development.

Working with key provincial leaders on January 3, PM Dung noted that Tra Vinh is still facing many difficulties with a high proportion of poor households and a weak infrastructure system.

He asked the province to optimise its potential and advantages, especially in aquaculture, to boost its socio-economic development.

Tra Vinh should focus on multiplying models of large-scale rice fields and strengthening the application of scientific and technological advances in production for higher productivity and quality, thus improving the competitiveness of local agricultural products, he said.

The locality should encourage enterprises to invest more in rural areas, helping transform the rural economic structure and creating more jobs for local labourers, he said.

The PM also asked Tra Vinh to exert more efforts in ensuring social welfare for locals. In particular, the province should apply effective and synchronic measures to reduce poverty in a sustainable and rapid way.

Meanwhile, it is also necessary to boost healthcare, cultural and education development, improving both the spiritual and material lives of locals, while bettering social security, safety and order in the locality, especially during the upcoming Lunar New Year (Tet) holiday, he said.

Covering an area of 222,515 hectares, Tra Vinh is home to over one million people with a large population of Khmer people.

According to a report by the Tra Vinh People’s Committee, the province recorded a number of socio-economic achievements in 2013.

Last year, its GDP growth reached 10.53 percent. The ratio of poor households decreased by 2.64 percent, while the programme of building new-style rural areas was implemented in all 85 communes, said the report.

In 2014, the province targets a GDP growth rate of at least 11 percent and a 3 percent decrease in poor households. The locality will also strive to create 22,000 additional jobs in the year.

To fulfil the goals, Tra Vinh will focus on carrying out a plan of action to realise an economic restructuring proposal for the 2013-2020 period, especially in aquaculture.

It will also strengthen trade promotion and enhance the quality of human resources, while better performing policies on ethnic minority groups and religions, the report said.

The same day, PM Dung inspected a project of constructing a passage for large capacity vessels to enter the Hau River , handling 21-22 million tonnes of goods each year and 450,000-500,000 TEU containers per year by 2020.

The 46.5 km passage has a total investment of nearly 9,800 billion VND (460.6 million USD).

The PM also inspected the progress of the Duyen Hai power centre project, which includes four power plants with a total capacity of 4,288 MW.

Also on January 3, PM Dung visited and presented New Year gifts to dignitaries of the Tra Vinh Buddhist Executive Committee at Angarra Japuri (Ang) pagoda.-VNA