Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung has emphasised the necessity for the Central Highlands province of Lam Dong to make the most of its potential and advantages such as its temperate climate and natural resources to quickly achieve sustainable development.

The PM stated this while meeting with the province’s leaders in Da Lat City on July 22.

For the past five years, Lam Dong’s GDP has recorded an annual average increase of 14 percent. Its per-capita income is estimated at 19 million VND this year, an increase of 2.8 fold over 2005 and its poverty rate has fallen to less than 5 percent.

However, the PM pointed out the province’s low competitiveness and poor infrastructure.

He went on to say that a number of pressing social issues, including unemployment and environmental pollution, have not been dealt with and the poor state of rural ethnic people’s living conditions has remained.

There also remains weaknesses in a number of Party organisations, including the quality of some leaders and Party members, he noted.

According to the PM, the province has the potential and strengths to develop agro-industries, tourism and services. The province has a temperate and subtropical climate which is suitable for tourism and services. Tourism should be turned into the province’s spearhead sector, he said.

He suggested that Lam Dong focus on forest protection and management, maintain and increase its forest coverage, promote rubber plantations in poor abandoned land, tap into its mineral resources and develop a large-scale tea and coffee processing industry.

The province should also invest into health care, education, hunger eradication and poverty reduction for ethnic people, he said.

The PM asked the provincial Party committees and authorities to fulfil their targets to increase the people’s confidence in them.

Lam Dong should pay more attention to central regulations to make provincial and district Party congresses more successful and focus on capable young people, women’s cadres and the province’s socio-economic targets for the next five years, he said./.