Ghềnh Đá Đĩa (Cliff of Stone Plates) in the south-central province of Phú Yên. — VNA/VNS Photo Trọng Đạt

PHÚ YÊN — Prime Minister Nguyễn Xuân Phúc called the tourism potential in the south-central province of Phú Yên “rough diamonds” that need the polishing of skilled craftsmen to truly shine, urging the province to facilitate private investment into this sector.

The Government leader made the statement as he met with Phú Yên leaders during a working visit to the province on Saturday.

He urged the province to capitalise on its 189km of coastline, which has and will ‘shape the province’s future.’

The Phú Yên coastline remains largely unexplored, with many beautiful sights such as the Xuân Đài bay, Ghềnh Đá Đĩa (Cliff of Stone Plates) the lagoons of Cù Mông and Ô Loan. In addition, the locality boasts a major fishing ground with diverse fisheries resources, and age-old fishing villages with their own unique festivals and cultural features. The deep-water port of Vũng Rô could easily accommodate large cargo ships.

After listening to feedback from investors, key provincial leaders and ministries’ representatives, PM Phúc said Phú Yên remained an economically challenged locality in the central region despite its potentials.

PM Phúc praised local authorities’ strong determination to promote socio-economic development, saying that the province had concentrated on the planning work, applying information technology, proposing mechanisms, and improving its business and investment environment.

Phú Yên had done well in implementing core strategies, including developing economic and industrial zones, transport, airport and seaport infrastructure, he noted.

Despite difficulties facing the locality amid the COVID-19 pandemic, Phú Yên still completed and even exceeded important socio-economic development goals, particularly in poverty reduction, the PM noted.

He urged Phú Yên Province to exert efforts so as to attract more investment into key projects, thus creating breakthroughs for the locality’s development.  

He also emphasised the importance of proper planning and vision in attracting investment and prompting sustainable development in the locality.

PM Phúc said the province needed to work hard to accelerate the implementation of investment projects, especially in agriculture, real estate and tourism, in order to fully tap its strengths and potential in these fields, while paying attention to sustainable development and green growth.

Tree planting campaign

PM Nguyễn Xuân Phúc joins in the tree-planting festival held on Saturday in Phú Yên Province. — VNA/VNS Photo Thống Nhất

Earlier in the day, PM Phúc attended the launch of a tree-planting festival in Phú Yên Province, for the Lunar New Year, which is part of a programme to plant 1 billion trees initiated by the Government leader.

Addressing the ceremony, PM Phúc said that along with action plans of the agricultural sector and localities in preserving and expanding forest coverage, the programme is expected to contribute to turn barren hills green as well as urban and rural areas across the country. Furthermore, with such a low cost, the programme is hoped to yield great benefits.

He called on all Vietnamese people, including those in Phú Yên, to engage in the programme.

The PM lauded Phú Yên’s goal of planting 15 million new trees in the next five years.

At the ceremony, he presented Phú Yên with a number of plants of different resilient varieties.

Following the ceremony, the PM planted trees in Phú Thạnh Ward, Tuy Hoà City of Phú Yên Province. Green trees will also be planted in Thanh An Thổ historical relic site in An Dân Commune of Tuy An District, the homeland of Trần Phú, the first Party General Secretary, and a relic site commemorating President Hồ Chí Minh in Sơn Hoà District

In the 2016-20 period, Phú Yên planted more than 32,000 hectares of forests, with forest coverage expanding from 36.4 per cent in 2015 to 45.09 per cent in 2020.

In 2021, along with the implementation of the 15-million-tree programme, the province will encourage locals to plant and take care of green trees, striving to raise forest coverage to 46 per cent.  

At the ceremony, many companies and investors, including the budget carrier Vietjet Air, committed to present billions of đồng to the tree-planting programme of Phú Yên.

In November 2020, speaking at a National Assembly session, PM Phúc suggested a programme to plant 1 billion green trees in five years to 2025. On December 31, 2020, he signed a directive on the organisation of the tree-planting festival and the strengthening of forest protection and development from the beginning of 2021.

He has also asked ministers, heads of ministry-level agencies and the People’s Committee of centrally-run cities and provinces to hold the festival in commemoration of President Hồ Chí Minh for having inspired the nation in tree planting efforts. — VNS