President Truong Tan Sang has praised the northern mountainous province of Bac Kan for improving significantly the living conditions of locals by making full use of its advantages.

Working with key leaders of Bac Kan on August 20, the President, however, said more investment should be poured into the development of resources, especially human resources to serve both short-term and long-term requirements.

The President suggested that Bac Kan should pay more attention to farming and breeding, making itself a goods production hub, while recording breakthroughs by closely combining agriculture with the processing industry.

He spoke highly of efforts made by Bac Kan farmers in agro-forestry development, paving the way for the programme to build new-style rural areas.

Covering an area of 485,721 hectares, Bac Kan is home to more than 300,000 people, including those from ethnic minority groups.

According to the Secretary of the provincial Party Committee Ha Van Khoat, from one of the poorest provinces in the country without any transport infrastructure, the province has recently reached an annual growth rate of 10 percent.

In 2012, its industrial production was 15 times that of 1997, he noted, adding that 90 percent of locals can now access the national power service.

During his stay, President Sang also visited the largest wood processing factory in Bac Kan – SAHABAK – which is expected to employ 3,600 local workers when it finishes the second phase of its expansion.

Bac Kan is part of the State President’s tour of northern mountainous provinces, including Thai Nguyen and Cao Bang, from August 19.-VNA