Leaders of Central Highlands localities require issues like farmland, jobs and the lives of ethnic minority groups to be settled promptly and effectively in the coming time. They made the request at a meeting convened by the Steering Committee for the Central Highlands region in Da Lat city, Lam Dong province on July 22 to review its performance during the January-June period and set tasks for the rest of 2013. Addressing the event, Head of the Committee, General Tran Dai Quang urged the committee to work closely with ministries, departments and localities to maintain socio-political stability while firmly defending border and regional sovereignty and security. The committee will also do all it can to make locals better-off by raising their income and fulfilling the economic growth target. Quang suggested closely watching how deals reached at the second Central Highlands investment promotion conference are going, particularly licensed projects and credit commitments to economic development and social welfare. He proposed relevant agencies check if existing infrastructure is good enough, and how ethnic residents are using land and earning a living so that long-term policies and measures will be introduced in time. The local economy grew by nearly 9% in the first six months of the year. It earned $899 million from exports and contributed over $320 million to the State budget. Social welfare was ensured, and infrastructure, education and medical quality were improved. As many as 36,000 people took part in vocational training and 51,000 people got new jobs. Positive changes were also seen in forest management and protection, and several hydropower projects harmful to the environment and local lives came to a stop. In the drive to build new-style rural areas, the whole region raised nearly $1.5 billion to build new infrastructure and stimulate production. (vov.vn July 23)
