HÀ NỘI — Prime Minister Nguyễn Xuân Phúc has suggested the Mekong Delta province of Sóc Trăng further promote tourism development and agricultural restructuring, and study to produce high-value products, towards becoming a medium-income locality in the region. 
During his working session with key officials of Sóc Trăng in Hà Nội yesterday, the PM highlighted the potential and advantages for Sóc Trăng to further develop in the future.
He asked the locality needs to review its development plan, saying that this should focus on agriculture restructuring, poverty reduction and climate change adaptation. 
Sóc Trăng needed to consider developing it into the country’s second or third largest shrimp material area, and study to produce products with high value such as cow breeding along with rice cultivation, he added. 
Attention should be paid to attracting businesses to invest into the locality, and promote processing industry, thus creating more jobs for locals, he stressed. 
He also urged Sóc Trăng to build a national startups programme towards developing start-up enterprises in the locality. 
At the session, leaders from several ministries recommended the locality to devise solutions to climate change and drought, mobilise resources to upgrade transport infrastructure, and attract more foreign-invested projects. 
Concluding the session, PM Phúc praised the local authorities and people for their efforts in implementing the national target programme on new-style rural area building. 
However, the locality had yet to fully tap potential and advantages for development, he noted, adding that Sóc Trăng should take more drastic measures to reduce the rate of poor households in the coming time. 
Local officials said Sóc Trăng was working to foster tourism and service development, while calling for investment in industry and in building a high-speed train to Côn Đảo, aiming to develop spiritual tourism. 
Sóc Trăng is a disadvantaged locality in the country with its economy mainly depending on agriculture and aquaculture.
The province has been affected by saline intrusion and prolonged-drought early this year, severely causing damage to agricultural production. These make it diffult for the locality to realise 8-per cent growth target this year. — VNS