Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh speaks at the meeting with the Standing Board of the Lao Cai provincial Party Committee on August 28. (Photo: VNA)

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh asked the northern border province of Lao Cai to make greater efforts to promote fast and sustainable socio-economic development, maintain national defence and security, and speed up international integration during his working session with local key officials on August 28.

Meeting with the Standing Board of the Lao Cai provincial Party Committee, the PM requested local authorities continue to effectively implement COVID-19 prevention and control, and create the most favourable conditions for socio-economic recovery and development.

Attention should be paid to accelerating the disbursement of public investment, developing the transport infrastructure system, promoting digital transformation, green and clean energy transformation and climate change adaptation, and strengthening cross-border economic development, he said.

Lao Cai needs to persify types of services and trade with its strengths such as tourism, transportation and logistics, along with expanding financial, banking and information technology services, he added.

The border gate economy must be turned into a economic breakthrough of Lao Cai and the northern midland and mountainous provinces, he stressed.

The PM also asked Lao Cai to mobilise all resources for development, maximise the efficiency of investment attraction and use, and pay heed to human resources development and administrative reform, and Party building.

Earlier, the PM visited the provincial Border Guard Command.

On the same morning, PM Chinh visited a number of schools in Lao Cai city, and presented 1,000 sets of textbooks to students in Lao Cai on the occasion of the new school year 2022-2023.

The day earlier, PM Chinh made an inspection tour to key projects in Lao Cai province.

While inspecting the progress of Sa Pa airport project, PM Chinh requested the Ministry of Transport, the provincial authorities and investment units to coordinate in planning and investing the project with taking into account long-term development.

Besides, he asked the local authorities and investors to ensure better living conditions for people in resettlement areas who gave land for the project's construction.

The PM also also suggested local people continue to support the policy of the provincial Party Committee and authorities towards promoting socio-economic development, ensuring security and order, and supporting the airport’s operation in the future.

Approved by PM Chinh in late October, Sa Pa airport has a total investment of nearly 7 trillion VND (306.54 million USD), of which 2.7 trillion VND comes from the State budget. The first phase of the 370-ha airport is scheduled to be completed before 2025, serving 1.5 million passengers each year.

At the construction site of the project to connect the Noi Bai-Lao Cai expressway with Sa Pa town, PM Chinh asked the constructor unit to both speed up the progress of the project and ensure the quality and technique of the work.

The project is implemented under Decision No. 1215/QD-TTg dated September 20, 2018 of the Prime Minister in the BOT form, meeting the increasing demand for transportation, and helping reduce the risk of traffic accidents on National Highway 4D, and shorten the travel time from Lao Cai to Sa Pa and vice versa.

Regarding the proposal to invest in expanding and completing the Hanoi - Lao Cai expressway, the section passing through Lao Cai province, Chinh requested ministries, sectors and the local authorities, and investors consider the direction of building a new route which can reduce ground clearance, avoid affecting residential areas and the forest land.

Inspecting locations of the Kim Thanh - Ban Vuoc cross-border economic cooperation zone and Kim Thanh landscape, cultural and tourist park in Lao Cai city, PM Chinh said the planning must bring into full play local potential, towards a balanced and harmonious development.

On the evening of the same day, PM Chinh attended an art programme within the framework of the “Tinh hoa Tay Bac” (The Quintessence of the Northwest) festival from August 26-28 in the locality.