While meeting with the provincial Party Committee during his January 18-19 visit, the Party leader urged the province to focus on rapid and sustainable development and environmental protection as well as developing its processing industry, forestry projects, cattle breeding and aquaculture.

The province should synchronously combine the resettlement of people with creating new rural areas with a focus on preserving cultural identities of ethnic groups and the characteristics of ethnic people, he said.

The Party leader praised the province for its socio-economic achievements over the past few years, with its high economic growth and its effective resettlement programme.

In the 2006-2009 period, Son La achieved a GDP growth rate of 14 percent and its per capita income was VND10.5 million per year, higher than the average level for the midland and mountainous region.

To speed up land acquisition for the Son La hydro-electric power plant, by the end of 2009, the province re-housed more than 11,600 households, accounting for 93.3 percent of the total number and the remaining work will be completed in the first quarter of this year.

Currently, all the communes have nursery, primary and secondary schools while 203 out of 2,006 communes also have health centres.

The poverty rate fell from 46 percent in 2005 to 29 percent in 2009 and nearly 81 percent of all households have access to electricity and 74 percent clean water.

During his stay, Mr Manh visited and presented gifts to employees working at the hydropower plant construction site and residents in the Huoi Hao resettlement area of Muong Bu commune.

The first turbine in the plant is expected to be operational by December 2010, two years ahead of schedule.