Can Tho looks to complete new-style rural area plan in 2019

Can Tho (VNA) – The Mekong Delta city of Can Tho expects to recognise four additional communes as new-style rural areas in 2018 and three more in 2019, fulfilling its plan to turn 36 communes into the new-style rural areas a year earlier than scheduled.

The target was made during the working session on March 13 between the city’s National Assembly delegation led by deputy head of the delegation Nguyen Thanh Xuan and Vice Chairman of the municipal People’s Committee Dao Anh Dung, head of the Steering Committee for the national target programme on new-style rural area building of the city.

Xuan, also head of the city’s supervision team for the implementation of the programme, noted that by the end of 2017, 27 of 36 communes fulfilled all criteria of the programme, completing 75 percent of the city’s plan.

Dung said the most difficult criteria for the remaining communes include those in health insurance, poor household ratio, income and environment.

He pointed to a lack of resources for development, especially infrastructure building, as hampering progress.

Dung proposed that the Government give more incentives for enterprises to encourage them to invest more in production facilities in rural areas, thus creating jobs and improving incomes for locals.

The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development should provide more investment to pilot models of concentrated agricultural production, he said, adding that the city needs resources for maintaining education, health care and cultural works in recognised communes.

Xuan pledged that he will propose the National Assembly, Government, ministries and sectors tackle issues related to mechanisms and policies, as well as adjusting some new-style rural area criteria to suit the conditions of each locality.

The national target programme on building new-style rural areas, initiated by the Vietnamese Government in 2010, sets 19 criteria on socio-economic development, politics, and defence, aiming to boost rural regions of Vietnam.     

The list of criteria includes the development of infrastructure, the improvement of production capacity, environmental protection, and the promotion of cultural values.      

Under a decision issued by the Prime Minister in April 2016, a district must have all communes meeting all of the criteria to be designated as a new-style rural district. Earlier, those with at least 75 percent of the communes satisfying the 19 criteria were eligible.

According to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, as of February 21, 2018, there were 3,160 communes recognised as new-style rural areas, 35.4 percent of total communes.-VNA