Can Tho (VNA) – The Mekong Delta city of Can Tho expects to recognisefour additional communes as new-style rural areas in 2018 and three more in2019, fulfilling its plan to turn 36 communes into the new-style rural areas ayear earlier than scheduled.

The target was made during the working session on March 13 between thecity’s National Assembly delegation led by deputy head of the delegation NguyenThanh Xuan and Vice Chairman of the municipal People’s Committee Dao Anh Dung,head of the Steering Committee for the national target programme on new-stylerural area building of the city.

Xuan, also head of the city’s supervision team for the implementation ofthe programme, noted that by the end of 2017, 27 of 36 communes fulfilled allcriteria of the programme, completing 75 percent of the city’s plan.

Dung said the most difficult criteria for the remaining communes includethose in health insurance, poor household ratio, income and environment.

He pointed to a lack of resources for development, especiallyinfrastructure building, as hampering progress.

Dung proposed that the Government give more incentives for enterprisesto encourage them to invest more in production facilities in rural areas, thuscreating jobs and improving incomes for locals.

The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development should provide moreinvestment to pilot models of concentrated agricultural production, he said,adding that the city needs resources for maintaining education, health care andcultural works in recognised communes.

Xuan pledged that he will propose the National Assembly, Government,ministries and sectors tackle issues related to mechanisms and policies, aswell as adjusting some new-style rural area criteria to suit the conditions ofeach locality.

The nationaltarget programme on building new-style rural areas, initiated by the VietnameseGovernment in 2010, sets 19 criteria on socio-economic development, politics,and defence, aiming to boost rural regions of Vietnam.     

The list of criteria includes the development ofinfrastructure, the improvement of production capacity, environmentalprotection, and the promotion of cultural values.      

Under a decision issued by the Prime Minister inApril 2016, a district must have all communes meeting all of the criteria to bedesignated as a new-style rural district. Earlier, those with at least 75percent of the communes satisfying the 19 criteria were eligible.

According to the Ministry of Agriculture andRural Development, as of February 21, 2018, there were 3,160 communesrecognised as new-style rural areas, 35.4 percent of total communes.-VNA