The Central Highlands has been urged to focus on high-tech agriculture and make it the spearhead for local economic development.

The recommendation was made at a recent discussion on a development strategy for the Central Highlands until 2020 with a vision to 2030, which was held in the Central Highlands province of Dak Lak by the Steering Committee for the Central Highlands in coordination with Ho Chi Minh City’s Nguyen Tat Thanh University.

Delegates said in the long run, the region needs an economic development strategy taking into account its specific characteristics, with a focus on further improving the living conditions of local ethnic minority groups.

The Central Highlands covers the five provinces of Dak Lak, Dak Nong, Gia Lai, Kon Tum and Lam Dong with a total area of 5.4 million hectares, with 47 ethnic groups.

It holds an important strategic position in security-defence, and great potential to develop the high-tech agricultural economy, ecological and cultural tourism and the mining industry.

Participants concentrated on assessing and predicting changes in population, society, environment and natural resources, and their impacts on the region’s sustainable development.

They also discussed hydroelectric development in the region, which is estimated to hold about 15 billion kWh per year, accounting for 22 percent of the country’s total reserves. Caution is needed in this field, they said, adding that the mass development of small- and medium-scale hydro power plants in the region has impacted the overall development, causing water shortage in dry season while increasing floods in the rainy season and reducing forest coverage.-VNA