(VOVworld) – Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung has urged Lao Cai province to become a socio-economic center for the northern mountain region. During a working session with provincial leaders on Tuesday, he said the province should take advantage of its border trade to boost the development of services, tourism, and industry.

He said that priority should be given to rapid and sustainable poverty reduction, new rural development, residential resettlement, forest protection, and loans for local people to develop husbandry. The government leader said that infrastructure development played a decisive role in turning Lao Cai into the socio-economic center for the northern mountain region. He also called for greater efforts to build up the party, consolidate the political system, defense, and security, and implement external activities on the basis of mutual understanding and respect, peace, solidarity and the mutual benefits of economic cooperation.