Deputy PM asked for closer coordination in building rural areas

Speaking at a meeting on March 12 in Hanoi to review the programme in 2013 and plan its implementation in 2014, Ninh said ministries should continue reviewing the 19 new rural area criteria and adjust unreasonable regulations to aid progress.

Breakthrough steps should be made in the development and renovation of production methods, a key part of agriculture sector restructuring, added the Deputy PM, who is also head of the Steering Committee for the National Target Programme on Building New-Style Rural Area. This year, the whole country will aim to get all rural communes fulfilling at least 10 of the updated criteria. While this will be difficult, it is expected that communes fulfilling fewer than five will be reduced to less than 5 percent. Meanwhile, members of the committee held that it is crucial to combine the reduction of poverty with the upgrade of the infrastructure system, improving people's living standards. The restructuring and re-organisation of production methods are needed to increase the application of science and technology in the work, they said. So far, as many as 93.1 percent of the 9,000 communes nationwide have completed general planning for the programme, with the central northern region reaching nearly 100 percent, according to a report at the meeting. There are 144 communes which have fulfiled all 19 criteria, accounting for 1.6 percent, while 256 others, equivalent to 6.2 percent, reached between 15-18 criteria, said the report. Last year, the localities recorded strong performance in mobilising resources for infrastructure construction and the restructuring of agriculture, it said. However, the report also pointed out some problems in the implementation of the programme. Many provinces have failed to adjust production plans for each district to make full use of their advantages, while the plans of some communes have yet to pay adequate attention to the improvement of production and protection of the environment, the report said. Worryingly, there are seven communes in the northern mountainous region that currently don't reach any of the 19 criteria, it added.

(Source: Nhandan Newspaper Online)