Lao Cai (VNA) – Prime MinisterNguyen Xuan Phuc has instructed Lao Cai province to focus on developing itstourism, which is considered a key economic sector in the fight against povertyand the promotion of cultural identities of ethnic groups in the northwesternregion.
Talking to local authorities at theirworking session in the northern mountainous province on April 12, he said thattourism should contribute 30 percent to gross domestic product (GDP).
In the 2011-2015 period, the sectorcontributed to 11.5 percent of the province’s GDP. Last year, Lao Cai served2.77 million tourists, up 33 percent from the previous year.
It is striving to welcome more than 6million tourists, and become a key tourism centre of the northwestern region by2020, with Sa Pa becoming a national tourism site.
At the event, the Government leader alsoinstructed the province to boost border gate economic development.
Promoting border gate economic developmentis a way for Lao Cai to build the locality into a commodity entrepôt forcountries in the Mekong sub-region and China as well as a modern logisticscentre for the region, connecting with seaports, airports, railways, and roadtransport, he stated.
He required the locality to deal withissues related to the environment and social security and strive to fulfil itssocio-economic tasks in 2017, particularly in completing the disbursement ofinvestment capital for infrastructure development.
Responding to the province’s proposals, PMPhuc agreed to invest in developing the Lao Cai border gate economic zone intoa commodity entrepôt for countries in the Mekong sub-region.-VNA
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The Vietnamese Embassy in Israel has advised Vietnamese people living there to proactively prepare and seek ways to leave the country via land border crossings, especially toward Jordan or Egypt, when security and safety conditions allow.
Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc (Source: VNA) 
