Can Tho (VNA) – Fifty percent of all communes across the country are expected to berecognised as new-style rural areas in 2020, the Ministry of Agriculture andRural Development (MARD) stated at a conference in the Mekong Delta city of CanTho on December 8.
According to the ministry,so far, Vietnam has 2,853 recognised new-style rural communes, accounting for31.96 percent of total communes. Of which, 295 communes fulfilled all criteriaof the programme’s new standards for the 2016-2020 period.
At the same time, 42districts in 24 provinces and cities also earned the recognition, up 11 districtscompared to the end of 2016.
After six years ofimplementation, one of the outstanding outcomes of the National Target Programmeon new-style rural area building is the development of infrastructure system inrural areas.
At the end of 2016,99.4 percent of communes were accessible by car, and all communes wereconnected to the national power grid. More than 99.5 percent of communes hadkindergartens, primary schools and health care stations.
MARD Deputy MinisterTran Thanh Nam held that in order to reach the target, all localities shouldfocus on improving the living conditions of locals, protecting the ruralenvironment, ensuring clean water access and maintaining social order andsafety.
Nam added that in thecoming time, the ministry will effectively implement pilot projects innew-style rural building, prioritising economic development with production chains,contributing to transforming rural economic structure and raising people’sincome in a sustainable way.
Meanwhile, DeputyMinister of Public Security Lieut. Gen. Nguyen Van Son suggested that public securityforces of cities and provinces nationwide should consider the programme astheir major and regular task and work hard to ensure social security and order.-VNA