Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc (standing) chairs the meeting on the establishment of Sa Pa town (Photo: VNA) Hanoi (VNA) – Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc onMarch 15 chaired a meeting on the plan to set up the district-level town of SaPa in the northwestern province of Lao Cai, highlighting the establishment’snecessity to local development.
Over the past years, Lao Cai has been mobilisingresources for developing Sa Pa district into a big tourism centre of theprovince, as well as Vietnam. The number of tourists there grows by 23.4percent annually, surpassing 2.5 million in 2018.
There are 571 services establishments in Sa Pa districtat present, including one- to five-star hotels, and 34 travel agencies. Manytourism projects have been put into use like the Fansipan tourism andentertainment complex and the Sa Pa cultural park. Meanwhile, transport, powerand water supply, and telecom infrastructure has also been improved to meetlocal development demand.
At the Hanoi meeting, officials shared the viewthat as Sa Pa is developing rapidly and comprehensively, it is necessary toestablish a town on the basis of Sa Pa district so that it can truly hold thekey role in terms of defence and security along the Vietnam-China borderline.
They said the establishment will create thelegal foundation to change the local government model from the one of a ruralarea to that of an urban area, which will help with the administrativemanagement in a locality with rapid urbanisation.
Lao Cai officials affirmed that the future townwill have the size of and funding for its apparatus unchanged compared to thoseof the current district. The upgrading is meant to have a suitable governmentapparatus for Sa Pa’s development.
Echoing the view, PM Phuc said upgrading Sa Painto a district-level town is an objective requirement as a result of economicdevelopment and defence-security ensuring demand.
He agreed that the plan to set up Sa Pa town andits wards will be submitted to the National Assembly Standing Committee forconsideration.
He asked Lao Cai to keep good management of SaPa, uphold ethnic groups’ culture, protect and develop forests, ensuredefence-security, promote solidarity among local communities, and maintain itsimage as a hospitable destination in visitors’ eyes.-VNA
VNA
