Prime Minister Nguyễn Xuân Phúc urged Bình Định to make breakthroughs in tourism while addressing a working session with officials of the south central province on Saturday.— VNA/VNS Photo Thống Nhất

BÌNH ĐỊNH — Prime Minister Nguyễn Xuân Phúc urged Bình Định to make breakthroughs in tourism while addressing a working session with officials of the south central province on Saturday.

Bình Định has a lot of potential thanks to its favourable geographical location, which is in the centre of the North-South road, railway, sea and aviation routes. It is also the nearest gateway to the sea for provinces in the Central Highlands, southern Laos, and northeastern Cambodia.

The province is rich in cultural and historical traditions and boasts many scenic sites along its 134km-long coastline.

In 2017, Bình Định welcomed more than 3.7 million tourist arrivals, up 15.6 per cent year on year. Many tourism investment projects have been implemented and put into operation, helping to increase accommodation and entertainment facilities to serve tourists.

Phúc said Quy Nhơn City’s tourism had become an impressive brand. He asked the province to make tourism breakthroughs by improving service quality, promote local tourism, and enhance connectivity with domestic and international tourism hubs.

Notably, it needs to tap local cultural identities to develop tourism.

Bình Định should make better planning for its 134km-long coast with a focus on tourism, so that this sector will provide economic momentum for the province in the near future.

Recognising local attainments in 2017, he also pointed out certain problems such as growth slowdown, failure to attract investors to industrial and economic zones, wastefulness of socio-economic development resources, deforestation, and high poverty rate.

He told provincial officials to adopt an inclusive growth viewpoint, which he described as an important factor in creating a driving force for the whole province.

The Government leader said the province should plan the development of its industry in the greater context of the entire central key economic region, which Bình Định is part of, and the Central Highlands, so as to capitalise on the regions’ advantages.

The province also needed to concurrently develop fishing and fisheries processing and logistics, build a brand name for local offshore tuna fishing, and boost hi-tech and intensive shrimp farming, he said. — VNS