National Assembly (NA) Chairwoman Nguyễn Thị Kim Ngân delivers speech during her visit to the northern mountainous province of Cao Bằng yesterday. — VNA/VNS Photo Trọng Đức

CAO BẰNG – The northern mountainous province of Cao Bằng should redefine its development priorities and focus investment on agriculture and rural areas, National Assembly (NA) Chairwoman Nguyễn Thị Kim Ngân suggested.

The NA Chairwoman and her entourage had a working session with provincial leaders yesterday to examine the locality’s achievement of socio-economic targets, its construction of new-style rural areas from 2010 to 2016 and agriculture restructuring. 

Though Cao Bằng made efforts to connect the producers of farm products with export markets, it should take measures to address the slow pace of economic restructuring, she said.

The province’s proposal on promoting regional connectivity as part of transport connections to create more trading opportunities needs to be considered thoroughly, she noted. 

The legislator said the combined modern rural area construction and agricultural restructuring programme is a hard nut to crack for Cao Bằng when only two of its 177 participating communes have met the set criteria over the past five years. 

She said the National Assembly will consider allocating funds for the programme for localities nationwide in the future.

The locality made progress in developing agricultural and forest production, as well as holding dialogues with enterprises to help them overcome business and production challenges.

In the first half of 2016, its industrial production value is estimated at VND1.08 trillion (US$48.4 million). 

The same day, the top legislator visited Nam Tuấn Commune in Hòa An District and asked the district to exert more effort to improve locals’ living conditions, citing the high percentage of poor households at 35.7 per cent of the population. 

Earlier, she visited the Pác Bó national special relic site in Hà Quang District, where late President Hồ Chí Minh lived and worked from February 8, 1941, to late March 1941. – VNS