President Truong Tan Sang has asked the mountainous province of Cao Bang to focus on agro-forestry and processing industry to further develop the socio-economy in order to fulfill an economic growth target of 13.5 percent.

At a working session with Cao Bang’s leaders on August 21 as part of his tour to the mountainous province, President Sang said the locality has the potential to achieve the target, as it has now become self-sufficient in food.

The province’s economy has been growing at more than 9 percent annually over the past five years.

First of all, Cao Bang should take drastic measures to soon finish key transport projects to facilitate economic and trade activities, the President said, adding that the province should focus on tapping its advantages in agro-forestry and border gates.

He also asked the province to assess its potentials in mining and tourism in order to take suitable measures to attract investors.

Cao Bang is a poor province with a poverty rate of 28.22 percent. About 95 percent of the population is ethnic minority people. Per capita GDP stood at 15.2 million VND, only half of the national average.

Secretary of the provincial Party Committee Ha Ngoc Chien reported to the President the province’s solutions to overcome difficulties and accelerate economic growth, which give priorities to agro-forestry and mining together with border economic development.

During his working trip, the President visited Ta Lung Economic Zone and Ta Lung border gate’s frontier post, which is managing 22km of shared border line with China and four border communes.-VNA