Authorities from central Quang Nam province need to do more to increase the number of local ethnic minority people escaping poverty and fully benefiting from the State’s social welfare policies.

Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung made the emphasis at a working session with the provincial senior officials on September 27 to get updated on the locality’s socio-economic situation.

The Government leader asked the province to pay more attention to the issues of health care, education, and culture development, especially among ethnic minority people, a majority of them remains poor.

The province needs to help businesses overcome difficulties, while improving the investment climate to enhance competitiveness, supporting farmers in modernising rural areas, and enhancing environmental protection.

Proper policies should be devised to draw hi-tech, energy-saving and environmentally friendly investment projects and human resources development and vocational training should be given a focus, PM Nguyen Tan Dung said.

For a rapid and sustainable growth, the province should continue capitalising on its strengths of agriculture, forestry, aquaculture and tourism, he added.

The Prime Minister asked authorities to work harder to realise the 2014 growth targets and prepare plans for the following years.

He also heard proposals about local key projects such as the building of a gas-power centre at Chu Lai Open Economic Zone and the expansion of National Highway 1A.

In the first nine months of this year, Quang Nam recorded positive outcomes in industrial production, food, and services, which registered a year-on-year increase of 20 percent, 6.2 percent and 21 percent, respectively, in revenue.-VNA