Phu Tho (VNA) – From a small-scale economy and disaster-prone province, Phu Tho hasgrown to become the second most developed province in the northern midland andmountainous region after implementing the local 18th Party Congress’resolution for only half of the 2015-2020 tenure.

The announcementwas made at the 15th meeting of the province’s 18th-tenure PartyCommittee in the beginning of October.

In his remarks atthe event, Secretary of the provincial Party Committee Hoang Dan Mac said theprovince’s 18th Party Congress for the 2015-2020 tenure outlined four key breakthroughsin economic development, which are infrastructure investment, publicadministrative reform, human resources development, and tourism. It has alsoset 20 main objectives, five tasks, and nine key solutions to boost localsocio-economic development towards sustainability.

The provincialParty Committee has adopted 43 resolutions related to individual sectors, 12action programmes, and a number of guiding documents, tailored to fit thecontext of each district.

Half way of thetenure, Phu Tho has achieved and exceeded nine out of 20 objectives, while the implementationof 11 others are in progress and are expected to be completed by 2020.

The local economyhas seen strong growths over the last three years with positive economicrestructuring and the GDP expanding 1.32 times compared to 2015. Investment ininfrastructure development has also increased to create a great push for theprovince’s socio-economic growth.

Last year, the province’s total export valuerose 36.8 percent year-on-year to 1.3 billion USD, with the highest figuresseen in shipments of garment and textiles, sport shoes, plastic, and processedtea. This was the second time that its export revenue had surpassed 1 billionUSD. Of the total amount, 1.1 billion USD was contributed by foreign-investedcompanies.

Notably, the localculture has also marked a remarkable achievement as the unique art of Xoansinging was transferred to the UNESCO RepresentativeList of Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity in December 2017 inrecognition for efforts by the local communities to reinforce its popularity.

Closely linked to the worship of the Hung Kings, Xoan singing is areligious practice rooted in the ancestral worship of the Vietnamese people. Itis traditionally performed during the first two months of the lunar calendar inholy places such as temples, sanctuaries, and communal houses.

There are three forms of Xoan singing: worshipsinging for the Hung kings and village guardian spirits; ritual singing forgood crops, health, and luck; and festival singing where villagers alternatemale and female voices in a form of courtship.

The musical tradition used to be inscribed onthe UNESCO List of Intangible Cultural Heritage in Need of Urgent Safeguardingin 2011 due to the declining appreciation of the genre amongst young people. 

According to theParty Committee, the province has accelerated public administrative reform and cutback thousands of jobs in the public service sector to enhance efficiency. Some17,300 part-time civil servants working for residential areas and 570 full-timegovernmental employees across the province have been let go of, whilegovernmental units have been merged or dissolved to reduce the total from 97 to32.

Phu Tho has focusedon capacity building for grassroots Party committees and recruiting new Partymembers. More than 3,200 people have joined the Communist Party each year,exceeding the congress’ target.

It has also workedhard to maintain and consolidate local defence and security, as well as promotingthrift and the prevention of wastefulness and corruption.

Inspection and supervision at Party committeesat all levels have been strengthened in a regular and comprehensive manner withthe focus on “sensitive” areas or “hot” issues of public interest.

Chairman of the provincial People’s CommitteeBui Minh Chau said Phu Tho will further strive to implement four breakthroughsand foster better coordination between relevant state agencies to removebarriers for enterprises, encourage the application of new technologies,diversify products, and improve local competitiveness.

The province will also continue to developcommercial farming and forestry in tandem with supply chains and agriculturalrestructuring, as well as build new-style rural areas with sustainable povertyreduction. Additionally, it plans to promptly settle complaints anddenunciations over Party members and organisations. –VNA