State President Nguyen Minh Triet has asked the southern province of Ben Tre to step up the development of agricultural and industrial production and exports.

Stable agricultural production produces materials for the processing industry and products for export, thus bringing home foreign currency to serve the province’s socio-economic development, President Triet said while working with provincial authorities on July 29.

The leader said stable agricultural production brings stable incomes to the local people. This, in turn, helps stabilise other small and medium-sized enterprises, ensuring jobs for tens of thousands of workers beyond the agricultural sector.

The move improves the province’s investment environment so as to attract investors both at home and abroad to exploit its agricultural potential more effectively, he added.

Ben Tre should encourage farmers to join hands to apply the model of Good Agricultural Practices (GAP) in order to create products that meet export requirements and that are of high economic value, President Triet noted.

He also urged the province to continue speeding up a project to grow 10,000 ha of cacao trees in coconut palm orchards to raise incomes for farmers.

During his trip, President Triet visited and presented gifts to several families of social welfare beneficiaries and called at a number of local companies and establishments./.