Foreigners visit Sa Pa in northwestern Lao Cai province (Source: VNA)Yen Bai (VNA) – Leaders of the Steering Committee for the Northwestern Region and regional localities have expressed their hope that the heads of Vietnamese diplomatic missions abroad will help promote the potential and advantages of the region in trade, investment and tourism to the world.
At a meeting in Yen Bai province on May 27, they requested diplomats introduce potential businesses and investors to the region and create favourable conditions for regional provinces to access official development assistance (ODA) and aid from non-governmental organisations (NGO).
The diplomats were also asked to facilitate the exports of northwestern enterprises to their host countries.
The heads of diplomatic missions, who are undertaking their duty in the 2016-2019 tenure, vowed to tighten connections in investment, culture and people-to-people diplomacy between their host countries and northwestern localities.
Over the past years, the northwestern region has enjoyed positive economic growth. In 2015, its Gross Regional Domestic Product (GRDP) grew 8.63 percent annual per capita income averaged 27.4 million VND (1,224 USD), up from 12.4 million VND in 2010.
Last year’s state budget collection exceeded 30 trillion VND, 2.5 times higher than that of 2010. The proportion derived from agricultural production was 20.4 percent, down 12.3 percent from 2010.
Regional provinces are also stepping up cooperation with Laos and China, and gradually expanding their partnership with Japan, the Republic of Korea and the European Union.
By last year, the region attracted over 4 billion USD in ODA, 9 billion USD in foreign direct investment and 160 million USD from NGOs.
The same day, the diplomats had a working session with leaders of Yen Bai province.-VNA
