President Võ Văn Thưởng speaks at the ceremony.

LÀO CAI – President Võ Văn Thưởng on September 23 attended a ceremony in Lào Cai to celebrate 65 years since Uncle Hồ’s visit to the northern mountainous province.

During his visit to the province on September 23, 1958, Uncle Hồ asked the provincial Party Organisation and ethnic groups to promote solidarity, step up production, ensure social order, protect their cultural identity, and make efforts to turn Lào Cai into a more prosperous and happier province.

More than 30 years since its re-establishment, Lào Cai has been developing strongly, from a war-ravaged locality and one of the country's six poorest provinces, to lead the Northwestern region in terms of socio-economic development, with average economic growth during 1991-2022 reaching nearly 10 per cent, and GRPD per capita hitting nearly VNĐ90 million (US$3,690) per year.

Congratulating Lào Cai on its major achievements over the past years, President Thưởng asked the province to exert greater efforts to realise its set goals as the achievements had yet to be commensurate with its potential and strengths.

Weak competitive capacity, asynchronous socio-economic infrastructure, and poor structure and quality of human resources and environmental protection have failed to meet sustainable development requirements, he said, adding that more work should be done to narrow income gap between rural and urban areas, improve livelihoods of people in mountainous areas, and stabilise local security and order.

He asked local officials, party members and people to follow President Hồ Chí Minh’s thought, morality and lifestyle, and strive to build Lào Cai into a developed province in the nation by 2045.

Due attention should be paid to bolstering socio-economic development, enhancing the application of scientific-technological advancements, and capitalising on local potential and strengths to build Lào Cai into a growth pole of the northern mountainous and midland region, a centre to connect trade and investment between Việt Nam and other ASEAN countries with China’s southwestern region, and a key area for tourism development, border gate services, metallurgical and chemical industries, and medicinal materials, he said.

Additionally, the province should focus on the preservation and promotion of ethnic cultures and healthcare, reduction of the number of poor households, and boosting environmental protection.

He particularly stressed that the province must pay heed to the party building work; enhance party rectification, criticism and self-criticism; promote the responsibility for setting examples of officials and party members; and strengthen anti-corruption work.

At the event, 65 exemplary individuals in following President Hồ Chí Minh’s Thought, morality and lifestyle were commended and rewarded.

The same day, President Thưởng visited and presented gifts to teachers and students of Lào Cai boarding high school for ethnic minorities. VNA/VNS