President of the Vietnam Fatherland Front (VFF) Central Committee Nguyen Thien Nhan hailed the efforts made by the Steering Committee for the Southwest Region to improve the material and spiritual lives of locals while holding a pre-Tet meeting with the committee on February 12.

On the occasion of the quickly-approaching Lunar New Year (Tet), Nhan extended his best wishes to the committee staff and residents in the region.

According to the committee’s Permanent Deputy Head Nguyen Phong Quang, last year the region saw an 8.98 percent economic growth rate, 1.5 times higher than the national average.

The poverty rate decreased to 5.6 percent as aquatic output reached 3.2 million tonnes and the value of rice exports hit 2.6 billion USD.

The region also worked to effectively implement social welfare policies while focusing on ethnic and religious affairs and maintaining political security, social order, and safety.

The same day, the VFF leader also visited Can Tho city’s Party Committee. He asked local authorities to focus resources on developing high-quality agriculture and narrowing the income gap between labourers in agriculture and other fields.-VNA