The party committees of Bac Giang, Ninh Binh and Thanh Hoa provinces need to pay special attention to reinforcing grassroots political systems to make their political engines stronger, said a Politburo member.

Nguyen Tan Dung, who is also Prime Minister, held working sessions with these provincial party committees in Hanoi on August 20 and 23 to examine their preparations for the National Party Congress scheduled for early next year.

These sessions were joined by Politburo member Nguyen Van Chi, who is also Head of the Party Central Committee’s Inspection Commission and Party Secretary Tong Thi Phong, who is also National Assembly Vice-Chairwoman.

Dung also asked these party committees to concentrate on stepping up the implementation of the drive, “Studying and following the moral of President Ho Chi Minh”, fighting corruption, training young officials, building up unity and consensus, firmly grasping the principle of centralized democracy, and promoting the strength and unity of local people.

He showed them weaknesses and shortcomings they need to tackle in the future.

The localities have not yet developed infrastructure facilities to meet their socio-economic development requirements, have failed to connect effectively with key economic zones, and still retained a high proportion of agricultural workforce.

While struggling with a high percentage of poor households, especially in mountainous districts, these localities have met with difficulties in improving the quality of advisory and forecasting capacity and summing up practical experiences, the Politburo member stressed.

He asked these party committees to focus on instructing the provincial authorities to maximize their strength and potential so they can put an end to these shortcomings and develop sustainably.

These localities were urged to adopt measures to lure more investment in hi-tech industries, apply scientific and technological advances to farming, raise the quality of human resources, improve the quality of education, training and health care services, and build more infrastructural facilities to service local people.

These provinces’ major and key task in the coming time is to focus on developing their rural areas, said Dung.

In the 2006-2010 period, Bac Giang province posted a GDP growth rate of 8.9 percent, Ninh Binh, 16.5 percent, and Thanh Hoa, 11.3 percent. They have moved to gradually raise the proportion of industries and services and reduce the share of agriculture in their economies.

These provinces have worked to improve the people’s living conditions and curbed the poor households markedly, maintained political stability, ensured security, and created a favourable environment for socio-economic development./.