As of August this year, 90.7 percent of the 8,902 communes nationwide had completed targets set for rural power supply as part of the National Target Programme on New-Style Rural Area Building, according to insiders.

The figure represents a rise of 45.94 percent over 2010 and 8.32 percent over 2015, heard a conference held by the Ministry of Industry and Trade on October 2 in Thanh Hoa province to review 10 years of implementing the programme.

Meanwhile, 7,867 of the 8,902 communes had finished criteria on rural trade infrastructure, surpassing the target assigned by the Government by 18.4 percent and the ministry’s goal by 38.4 percent.

However, the ministry also pointed to a number of problems in realizing the two targets.

During the implementation of power supply work, problems included unequal  distribution, loss and uninsured supply quality as well as complicated problems in high-voltage networks.

For rural trade infrastructure, capital demand for market building was high while local budgets remained limited, that is why sourcing funding faced many difficulties.

According to the ministry, activities to encourage industrial development, trade promotion and science-technology application had been supported by the programme.

Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Cao Quoc Hung said that in order to complete the ministry’s target following 2020, the sector would need to continue enhancing the quality of building new-style rural areas, while strengthening communications to raise public awareness of the significance of the programme.

Local Departments of Industry and Trade should coordinate with ministry agencies to supervise the implementation of the two areas, while collecting ideas and proposals to adjust regulations to suit specific localities, he said.

He also stressed the need for businesses and cooperatives to be supported in developing production and expanding markets, forming supply chains, creating more jobs and improving incomes for locals.