Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc (second, right) presents a gift to Thanh Hoa authorities at the working session on December 23 (Photo: VNA)Thanh Hoa (VNA) – Prime MinisterNguyen Xuan Phuc had a working session with officials of Thanh Hoa on December23, asking the north central province to carry out industrialisation faster tocontribute more to national development.
Local officials reported that in 2018, Thanh Hoarecorded the gross regional domestic product (GRDP) of 15.16 percent, thefastest-ever pace, with industry and construction making up the biggestproportion in its economy – 44 percent. Per capita income is estimated at 1,999USD, up 1.3-fold from 2015.
With big investments in infrastructure, theprovince has enjoyed breakthroughs in tourism. It welcomed about 8.25 milliontourist arrivals, including 230,000 foreigners, and earned over 10.6 trillionVND (453.7 million USD) from the sector this year. That has helped the visitornumber and tourism revenue respectively increase by 14.3 percent and 27 percentannually.
Meanwhile, budget revenue rises by about 12.3percent each year, reaching some 23.5 trillion VND (1 billion USD) in 2018 – up2.1 times from 2015.
PM Phuc said Thanh Hoa has developed rathercomprehensively over the last three years. He lauded efforts by provincialauthorities and relevant ministries and sectors to put the Nghi Son refineryand petrochemical complex, worth 9 billion USD, into commercial operation.
He also pointed out that local growth has yet tomatch potential, and the number of big enterprises investing here is stillmodest.
The most important solution is enhancing unityamong authorities and the public since this is the source of strength, henoted.
Aside from accelerating industrialisation, thePM also requested Thanh Hoa develop important infrastructure systems while expandingforest coverage in western areas and applying science-technology inagriculture.
Stressing the decisive role of human resources,he said if over 2 million people of working age in the province are welltrained, they will become a great driving force of development.
The Government leader also told Thanh Hoa toimprove the investment climate, noting that this is an “easier said than done”issue. Additionally, it needs to ensure people will be the biggest beneficiaryof investment attraction.
The province has rich culture and history aswell as a strategic economic location, which is the great potential that localadministration and residents must capitalise on to boost development, PM Phucadded.
Later on December 23, PM Phuc attended aceremony marking the commercial operation of the Nghi Son petrochemicalcomplex.
The Nghi Son oil refinery and petrochemical projecthas been carried out since 2013 with a total investment capital of over 9billion USD.
It is invested by a consortium of Kuwait InternationalPetrochemical Company (KPC, 35.1 percent), and the Japanese firms IdemitsuiKosan (IKC, 35.1 percent) and Mitsui Chemicals (MCI, 4.7 percent). The rest iscontributed by the state-run Vietnam National Oil and Gas Group (PetroVietnam).
On December 22, the leader visited the specialnational relic site of Lam Kinh in Xuan Lam commune of Tho Xuan district – thehometown of national hero Le Loi, who led the Lam Son uprising against the Minginvaders in the 15th century. After the victory of the 10-year uprising in1428, Le Loi became king and named the country Dai Viet.
The same day, the PM visited the Lam Son SugarJSC and the construction site of Tho Xuan Airport in Tho Xuan district. –VNA
VNA
