Kien Giang has all it needs to be economically strong province: PM

Kien Giang (VNA) – With its distinctive potential and competitive edges, Kien Giang has all it needs to become an economically strong province, particularly in sea-based economy, and a major tourist centre of the regional and the world, said Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh in a meeting with key leaders of the Mekong Delta province on March 6.

The event, which also saw the presence of leaders of various ministries, discussed the province’s socio-economic development in 2021 and plans and tasks for 2022 and the following years.

As one of the provinces of the Mekong Delta Key Economic Region, Kien Giang is strategically important to Vietnam in terms of economic and social affairs, defence-security and diplomacy, Chinh highlighted in his speech. The province has a coastline of more than 200km and water area of over 63,000 sqkm, and the popular resort island of Phu Quoc, the first island city of Vietnam.

Kien Giang is among the few provinces blessed with abundant natural resources and cultural diversity, he said, adding that it has advantages in developing agriculture, forestry, fishery, industry, construction and services.

The PM urged the province to learn from good practices and success stories, strengthen solidarity and uphold self-reliance to accomplish this year’s tasks and the socio-economic development plan for 2021 – 2025.

He wanted the province to further promote decentralisation, increase accountability and enhance supervision and power control while encouraging innovation among its officials.

Kien Giang must flexibly live with COVID-19 and effectively control the pandemic, he continued, requesting the province to accelerate COVID-19 vaccine rollout, which is deemed to provide a good foundation for the local economic recovery.

He ordered the province to stop under-performing projects and prioritise high-performing ones, develop vocational training centres for engineers, and put an end to illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing for the removal of the European Commission’s “yellow-card” warning against Vietnamese seafood.

Earlier, PM Chinh made a fact-finding trip to sea encroachment projects in Kien Giang’s Rach Gia City and checked coastal sluices and the power grid supplying electricity to island communes of Kien Hai district. These projects reflect the province’s strategy to boost its sea-based economy and tourism./.