Over 40 percent of communes in the capital Hanoi will meet new-style rural area standards by 2015, the city has pledged.

The goal was set during an August 15 conference reviewing the implementation of the rural upgrade programme, which began five years ago after officially adopted it as a resolution.

To meet the target, Hanoi will focus its investment on building the necessary infrastructure systems and introducing more vocational training programmes.

At the same time, it will strive to increase the annual income of rural residents to 25 million VND per capita.

Hanoi is likely to have 48 communes meeting the national standard by the end of this year.

Since the resolution in 2008, Hanoi ’s total agro-forestry output has reached 37 trillion VND, an increase of 84.6 percent.

The number of poor households in rural areas has declined seven percent since 2009 and as many as 135 of 401 communes across the city have met the criteria on poverty reduction.-VNA