VietNamNet Bridge – HCM City will spend VND17.58 trillion (US$837 million) under a programme to build new rural areas in its five outlying districts by 2020, the steering committee set up for it has said.


Nguyen Van Xuan receives between US$1,000-1,500 a month from selling orchid flowers from his 3,000 sq.m farm, a successful new rural area model in Tan Thong Hoi Commune, Cu Chi District, HCM City. (Photo: VNS)
Cu Chi District's Tan Thong Hoi, one of 11 communes selected countrywide for a national pilot pro-gramme, will, by the end of this year, become the city's first commune to meet all 19 criteria set for new rural areas.

The 19 include proper transportation and irrigation facilities, housing development, poverty alleviation, environmental protection, and social and political stability.

By the end of next year, five other communes – Thai My in Cu Chi District, Xuan Thoi Thuong in Hoc Mon District, Nhon Duc in Nha Be District, Tan Nhut in Binh Chanh District, and Ly Nhon in Can Gio District – will fulfill the criteria.

By the end of 2015, another 22 communes – nine in Can Gio, five in Hoc Mon, four in Binh Chanh, two in Nha Be, two in Can Gio – will get into the list.

The remaining ones will do so by 2020.

Speaking at a seminar last Saturday on launching emulation movements for implementing the programme, Le Thanh Liem, director of the municipal Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, said the 58 communes would tweak their economy structure to reduce the ratio of agriculture and increase the ratio of services and industry.

They would apply bio-technology and high technology in agriculture and create high-quality animal and plant strains, he said.

By 2020 they would reach average annual output of VND300 million ($14,500) per ha, with 95 per cent of their produce guaranteed outlets, he said.

Le Thanh Hai, secretary of the municipal Party Committee, said the implementation of the programme in the last two years had confirmed the necessity of building new rural areas and the programme had received an enthusiastic response from local residents.

The Steering Committee and district authorities needed to continue educating local residents about building new rural areas and mobilising all resources, including those from local residents and businesses for the task, he said.

VietNamNet/Viet Nam News