President Nguyen Xuan Phuc attends the ground-breaking of monument commemorating people officials, soldiers and students from the south who gathered in the northern region during the war. (Photo: VNA)

President Nguyen Xuan Phuc attended a ceremony in Sam Son city of the central province of Thanh Hoa on August 28 to launch the construction of a monument commemorating people, officials, soldiers and students from the south who gathered in the northern region during the war.

From mid-October, 1954 to May, 1955, Quang Tien commune (now Quang Tien ward) in Sam Son city received nearly 1,700 wounded and sick soldiers, more than 47,300 officials, 5,900 students and the families of nearly 1,450 officials from the South.

The monument site, which covers 15,500sq.m, has a total investment of nearly 255 billion VND (10.88 million USD). It's construction is expected to complete in 270 days.

Addressing the ceremony, President Phuc expressed his hope that the site will become an attractive destination for domestic and foreign visitors and a venue for the education of the revolutionary tradition and patriotism for generations of Vietnamese people.

He asked Thanh Hoa to focus on implementing the Party Central Committee’s resolution on developing agriculture, farmers and rural areas to 2030 with a vision to 2030, concentrating on building new-style rural areas in line with urbanisation.

Also at the ceremony, Deputy Prime Minister Le Van Thanh presented the Government's decision recognising Thanh Hoa's completion of the tasks in new-style rural area building.

Meanwhile, President Nguyen Xuan Phuc presented the Labour Order, third class to the Party Organisation, authorities and people of Sam Son city for their outstanding achievements in building new-style rural areas in the 2016-2020 period.

Also on August 28, President Phuc attended a ground-breaking ceremony for Van Thien-Ben En road, which has a total length of 12km. The four-lane road has a total investment of over 1.18 trillion VND (50.39 million USD).

Once completed, it will be connected to the North-South Expressway, National Highway 45, and the Nghi Son-Sao Vang road, and expand linkages of Nong Cong and Nhu Thanh districts, creating favourable conditions for the investment attraction and tourism development of Ben En area.

The same day, he also cut the ribbon to inaugurate the Nghi Son 2 thermal power plant, which is invested by KEPCO power firm of the Republic of Korea and Tohuku company of Japan with total capital of nearly 2.8 billion USD.

The 1,200MW plant is the second largest project in Thanh Hoa after Nghi Son Oil Refinery complex.

Earlier in the morning, President Phuc and his entourage offered incense to President Ho Chi Minh at the late leader's monument in Thanh Hoa city. He also visited and presented gifts to Heroic Vietnamese Mother Le Thi Inh in the city, and wounded veteran Luong Anh Tuan in Sam Son city.