HCMCity (VNA) – Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc worked withauthorities of the Mekong Delta province of Bac Lieu in Ho Chi Minh City onJanuary 12 to evaluate its socio-economic performance and discuss a number ofmajor projects in the locality.

Afterthree year implementing the resolution adopted at the 15th provincial Party congress, Bac Lieu’s gross regional domestic product (GRDP)has grown 6.74 percent per year averagely and 8.36 percent in 2018, the highestfrom the beginning of the tenure.

Percapita GRDP has reached 42.05 million VND per year, rising by an average 9.87percent per year.

BacLieu has made renewable energy, including wind, solar and gas-fired power, oneof the five key pillars of the province’s socio-economic development. Theprovince has put Bac Lieu wind power plant into operation for the first and secondphases, with total power generated so far reaching 639 million kWh.

Theprovince plans to launch four more wind power projects with total capacity of320MW soon, while asking for permission to include a number of other solar andwind power projects into power development plans.

Particularly,the province has lured a 4.3 billion USD liquefied natural gas (LNG)-fueled power projectwith a capacity of 3,200MW. Bac Lieu has submitted a proposal on adding theproject into the National Power Development Plan to 2020.

Recognising the importance of the project, Prime MinisterNguyen Xuan Phuc asked the Ministry of Industry and Trade to work with relevantagencies to give final conclusion on it, while requesting Bac Lieu and otherministries and agencies to coordinate with the investors to evaluate and launchthe project when all necessary requirements and conditions are met.

He lauded Bac Lieu’s socio-economic performance so far, withbudget collection hitting 3.2 trillion VND in 2018 thanks to local efforts toexpand hi-tech shrimp farming and attract investment, especially in power area.

In the future, the PM asked Bac Lieu to design action plansto implement the Government’s resolutions on socio-economic development andbusiness environment improvement with targets higher than those in 2018.

Bac Lieu should work harder in climate change response anddesign measures to prevent river bank and coastal erosion, he said.

The Government leader also advised Bac Lieu to focus onboosting shrimp sector’s growth with a goal of 1 billion USD in export revenue,along with developing tourism and services and luring more green power projects.

At the working session, the PM also responded to theprovince’s proposals regarding coastal erosion and flooding in nationalhighways and the northern session of the Highway 1A.-VNA