Phu Tho (VNA) - Politburo member and PrimeMinister Nguyen Xuan Phuc has suggested that the northern midland province ofPhu Tho turn tourism into a spearhead economic sector by enhancing the addedvalue and quality of services and diversifying tourism products.

With two UNESCO-recognised intangible culturalheritages - Hung Kings worshipping andXoan singing - Phu Tho should coordinate with Hanoi and other nearby localitiesin promoting tourism development and boosting services and industry, the leadersaid at the opening of the 19th provincial Party Congress on October27.

Discussing the province’s shortcomings,including the modest development of the service and tourism sectors, he asked itto optimise its potential and advantages to bolster economic restructuring.

He said he hopes it willwork to gradually ease its demand for support from the central budget and withinthe next five years join localities able to balance their budget.

A report presented at thecongress showed that Phu Tho met 19 out of the 20 socio-economic targets in the2015-2020 period, with economic growth reaching 7.86 percent per year andeconomic scale expanding 1.7 times against 2015.

Annual per capita GDP isestimated at 52.5 million VND (2,260 USD). Export revenue has increased 30.2percent each year and the rate of poor households has fallen 1.5 percent each year.

The province has seen 116communes fulfilling all criteria in the new-style rural area building programme,while 59 others have basically reached the criteria, along with four districtsrecognised as new-style rural areas.

The province mobilised 50trillion VND for infrastructure building in the period, up 1.38 times comparedto the 2011-2015 period. Phu Tho has also conducted 199 projects in eightdifferent sectors, including 25 in infrastructure development.

More than 238,000 workershave received training over the last five years.

From a locality standing inlast place out of the 63 localities in the provincial competitiveness index(PCI), Phu Tho has risen to the 26th position and is third out of the14 northern mountainous localities.

In the next five years, the provinceaims to focus on improving its investment and business environment to attractmore investment, while speeding up administrative reform and enhancing humanresources quality.

In the 2020-2025 period, PhuTho targets economic growth of 7.5 percent per year and export revenue of over3.8 billion USD. Total social investment in the five years is expected to reachover 190 trillion VND, while budget collections by 2025 are projected at 10trillion VND./.