(VOVworld) –Nguyen Xuan Phuc, Deputy Prime Minister and Head of the National Steering Committee for the Northwestern Region chaired an online meeting in Hanoi on Monday to review activities in the first half of the year and discuss the tasks for the remaining months.

Since the beginning of the year, 12 northwestern provinces have recorded a stable average growth rate of 8% and contributed 420 million USD to the State budget. Truong Xuan Cu, Deputy Head of the Committee, said: "For the rest of the year, the Committee will enhance the responsibility of the provincial authorities and Party Committees in ensuring security and national defense. We’ll strengthen internal political affairs, defend security in border and rural areas to prevent reactionaries from inciting the people and sabotaging national unity".
Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc asked the northwestern provinces to boost socio-economic development, guarantee security and defense, and be ready to deal with unexpected incidents.