HÀ NỘI — Party Secretary General Nguyễn Phú Trọng has urged the northern mountainous province of Lai Châu to develop agro-forestry towards industrialisation and modernisation. 
He made the call during a working session with local authorities yesterday as part of his two-day visit, which began a day earlier, to inspect the implementation of the Resolution adopted by the 12th National Party Congress and another by the 13th provincial Party Congress. 
Lai Châu must continue investing in infrastructure and new rural construction and reducing the number of poor households, he said, adding that it must also focus on ethnic and religious work, crack down on drug crimes and maintain political security and social safety and order.
On the occasion, the Party leader suggested that the province improve personnel work and develop human resources while launching more external activities, partly by increasing co-operation with China’s Yunnan Province and northern Lao localities. 
Currently, ethnic minorities make up 87 per cent of the local population. With the goal of ridding its status as an especially disadvantaged province, Lai Châu has built new models of high-yielding rice and tea cultivation. 
All 96 communes now have proper road access to town centres, while 84 per cent of households have been connected to the national power grid and 75 per cent of the rural population has access to clean water. 
A number of major hydropower plants, such as Lai Châu, Bản Chát and Huổi Quang, have been built. 
The provincial Party Committee has devised an action plan in which three key programmes have been identified, focusing on agriculture, new rural construction and the improvement of human resources and the grassroots political system. 
A programme on building new-style rural areas will continue. 
On Thursday, the Party chief paid a working visit to Bản Bo Commune. — VNS