Bac Giang (VNA) – Viet Yen hasbecome the first district in the northern province of Bac Giang to earn thestatus of a new-style rural district, in 2018, two years ahead of schedule.  

A ceremony was held on December 14 night tohand over the certificate to the district and honour collectives andindividuals who have made outstanding contributions to new rural area construction.

In his remarks, Vice Chairman of thedistrict People’s Committee Nguyen Dai Luong said since the new-style ruralarea building programme was launched in Viet Yen eight years ago, the localityhas all 17 communes recognised as new rural areas and completed all ninecriteria set for a new rural district.

Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc signed adecision to recognise the district’s status on November 8, 2018, he said.

Viet Yen’s annual per capita income isestimated at 36 million VND (1,548 USD), 2.3 times higher than the number recordedin the past, and the rate of poor households drops to over 4.2 percent.

The district’s vegetable and fruitproduction areas are using high technologies, and there are new and upgradedmedical, educational and cultural facilities.

More than 2.9 trillion VND (124.7 millionUSD) has been mobilised for new rural area building in Viet Yen since 2011.

Addressing the ceremony, Deputy Minister of Agricultureand Rural Development Le Quoc Doanh congratulated Viet Yen and Bac Giangprovince in general on the achievements they have gained in new-style ruralarea building, and urged Bac Giang to make greater efforts to improve the new-stylerural area criteria.

Viet Yen should step up agriculturalrestructuring, complete infrastructure for agricultural production and formhigh-tech production areas, he said.

The NationalTarget Programme on New-style Rural Area Building, initiated by the VietnameseGovernment in 2010, sets 19 criteria on socio-economic development, politics,and defence, aiming to boost rural regions ofVietnam.     

The list of criteria includes the development ofinfrastructure, the improvement of production capacity, environmentalprotection, and the promotion of culturalvalues.      

According to the Central Coordination Office forthe Programme, as of the end of the first quarter of 2018, 3,289 communesnationwide earned the recognition as new style rural areas, up 220 communescompared to the end of 2017.

Forty-eight districts in 26 centrally-run citiesand provinces were recognised as new-style rural areas.-VNA