Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc described poverty reduction as the leading political task of the northern mountainous province of Ha Giang. At a working session with the Standing Board of the provincial Party Committee on November 27, the PM said although poverty rate in Ha Giang dropped by 5%, the number of poor households in the locality has remained high. Pointing to shortages and backwardness in local socio-economic infrastructure, along with small economic scale, PM Phuc asked Ha Giang to continue to apply information-technology, build trademarks and seek resources for infrastructure development. At the same time, Ha Giang should make all-out efforts to improve budget contributions, he stressed. The leader also asked the province to better spread start-up spirit, strongly restructure the economy and revamp the operational apparatus. Taking into account Ha Giang’s proposals, PM Phuc assigned the Ministry of Transport to roll out a plan to mobilize capital for the construction of a route linking Ha Giang with Hanoi-Lao Cai Expressway. Earlier, the PM made a field trip to the Thanh Thuy International Border Gate to examine the implementation of export-import procedures and administrative management at the border gate. As of October 2017, total export-import turnover via the border gate reached nearly $2.53 million, up 266.7% year-on-year. While in Ha Giang, PM Phuc visited a $110 project on milk cow breeding and high-tech milk processing in Phong Quang commune, Vi Xuyen district. Once operational, the project is expected to generate job for thousands of laborers, both directly and indirectly. He also visited and presented gifts to a number of families of revolutionary contributors, social beneficiaries and war invalids in Ha Giang city. (english.vov.vn Nov 27)
