Can Tho city finishes building new-style rural areas

Can Tho (VNA) - Can Tho city has become the first provincial-level locality in the Mekong Delta to complete the task of building new-style rural areas.

The municipal People’s Committee held a ceremony on September 16 to announce the Prime Minister’s decision to recognise Thoi Lai and Co Do districts as new-style rural areas.

So far, all four outlying districts in Can Tho have earned the title, with Phong Dien doing so in 2015 and Vinh Thanh in 2018.

This makes Can Tho the first provincial-level locality in the Mekong Delta and the third in Vietnam to have completed the task, one year ahead of schedule.

Secretary of the city’s Party Committee Tran Quoc Trung said Co Do and Thoi Lai districts had low starting points in the building of new-style rural areas, with high household poverty rates, low economic competitiveness, and modest living standards.

Thanks to the municipal administration’s direction and the efforts of local authorities and people, the two districts have seen success in rural development, he noted.

The national target programme on building new-style rural areas, initiated by the Government in 2010, aims to develop rural regions around Vietnam. Its 19 criteria cover a wide range of fields, including infrastructure development, production capacity improvements, environmental protection, and the promotion of cultural values, among others./.