An Giang (VNA) – PartyGeneral Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong has commended An Giang for defining clearorientation for development, noting that the Mekong Delta province has good potentialof growth and the local contingent of officials have high determination.

The Party leader held a workingsession with An Giang’s key officials on April 15 as part of his two-day tripto the province to inspect the implementation of socio-economic anddefence-security tasks as well as the performance in building the Party andpolitical system.

Stressing that An Giang has astrategic position in the Mekong Delta, General Secretary Trong acknowledgedthat the province has made important achievements in the recent time, as seenin improved infrastructure, better living conditions of residents and lowerpoverty rate among households.

He also noted that the localleadership has constantly been strengthened, helping the province wellimplement the Party Central Committee’s resolutions and accelerateadministrative reform.

He expressed hope for theprovince’s stronger development in its chosen direction of developinghi-quality and high-value agriculture, considering many untapped advantages andpotential.

The Party General Secretaryshared with local officials worry that the tasks ahead are heavy with highrequirements while there are many shortcomings in existing policies and mechanismsplus the difficulties in sourcing capital, adding that those problems are notonly of An Giang but also many other localities.

Therefore, An Giang shouldstrive to have more creative ideas and effective measures to carry out theParty’s policies, he said. In order to do that, the province needs a contingentof capable officials, Party members and civil workers, and a strong Partyorganisation and political system, he said.

He noted and welcomed the province’sfive proposals on transport connectivity; erosion prevention; response toclimate change and rising sea level; policies to create land fund forattracting investment and developing agriculture; and support for borderlocalities.

The Secretary of the provincial PartyCommittee Vo Thi Anh Xuan reported to the Party leader that the poverty rate inthe province has dropped to 5.24 percent.

The province has adopted aproject on creating a land fund for hi-tech agriculture, which helped attractedmany investors in agriculture. During two years 2016 and 2017, An Giangattracted 45 investment projects in this sector with total capital of over 7.2trillion VND (316.8 million USD), up 30 projects and 6 trillion VND compared tothe figures in 2015.

Also during the trip, PartyGeneral Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong toured My Phu commune in Chau Phu district, andvisited the construction site of Cao Lanh Bridge across Tien River, one of thetwo tributaries of Mekong River. He also visited and presented gifts toVietnamese Heroic Mother Le Thi Tai in Long Xuyen city. –VNA