Soc Trang province, home to the largest number of Khmer ethnic minority people in the Mekong Delta, recorded an economic growth rate of 11.9 percent in the first half of 2014, the highest year-on-year rise in the past three years.

During January-June, aquatic product yield increased by 24.5 percent, and rice output is predicted to exceed the set target.

Industrial production value reached 4.3 trillion VND (202 million USD), equivalent to 51.4 percent of the yearly target and up 20 percent from the same period last year, while exports brought the locality 314.4 million USD, a year-on-year surge of 79 percent.

In the period, the province collected 1.1 trillion VND (51.7 million USD) to the State budget, up nearly 30 percent year-on-year, while its budget spending totaled at 2.7 trillion VND (126.9 million USD) and investment disbursement for construction amounted to 970 billion VND (45.6 million USD).

Soc Trang is striving for an economic growth of 10-11 percent this year. To that end, the province has directed its authorities to continue speeding up support packages to develop the fields of agriculture, fisheries, industry, trade and services, and coordinate with ministries, sectors and other localities to successfully organise the Soc Trang-Mekong Delta Economic Cooperation Forum later this year.

Local enterprises have been urged to boost business and production, and authorities asked to effectively implement social welfare policies, speed up the National Target Programme on Sustainable Poverty Reduction, and work out measures to deal with unemployment and raise income for labourers, especially those in rural areas.-VNA