At the meeting, Duong said that besides industry, Bac Giang has always paid attention to agricultural development. The province has some agricultural goods named among top products in the country.

Chairman of the provincial People's Committee Le Anh Duong speaks at the meeting.

However, the agricultural development of Bac Giang still faces many challenges that need to be solved in short and long terms.

He emphasized that over the past years, Bac Giang has welcomed a number of projects using ADB loans, investing in the construction of medical stations, schools, and infrastructure; and ADB-GMS sub-projects. Particularly, in the field of climate change adaption in agriculture, the province has not yet received any support from the bank. In the 2021-2025 period, Bac Giang proposes ADB finance a number of projects to combat climate change, including those on developing infrastructure of smart agricultural value chain adapting to climate change; flood risk management; renovating and upgrading five pumping stations of Cau River irrigation system, four pumping stations under Nam Yen Dung irrigation system; preventing landslides and upgrading river dykes, with an estimated total investment of over 3 trillion VND (130.3 million USD). Therefore, it is expected that ADB will provide the province with loans to facilitate the implementation of the projects, thus contributing to local socio-economic development.

Stefania Dina, senior agricultural and resources expert of ADB, talks about proposed projects of the province.

At the meeting, Stefania Dina also pointed out three issues that ADB is concerned about: green recovery, especially after the Covid-19 pandemic; economic development and social security; business and private economy development. The bank acknowledges the issues the province has mentioned and will focus on them. She affirmed that in the past, the bank paid attention to supporting poverty reduction. Thanks to this, the lives of Vietnamese people have been greatly improved, with the rate of poor households falling. Therefore, in the future, it will focus on socio-economic development. Regarding agriculture, ADB has held a working session with the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development during which it found that the country is paying heed to quality of agricultural development, not quantity. This view is in line with the policy of the bank. At the same time, ADB also prioritizes investment in projects on irrigation, flood prevention, climate change adaptation, new technologies, and new initiatives.

The ADB delegation and provincial authorities survey the Ngo Khong 2 pumping station in Chau Minh commune (Hiep Hoa district).

Stefania Dina added that, through the trip to survey some irrigation works in the locality, she found that the works are seriously degrading, so it is necessary to rebuild them, not repair and upgrade. She emphasized the need to continue to study the issues raised by the province and consider them in many aspects in order to have detailed plans for implementation in the future.

Previously, the ADB delegation, together with leaders of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, surveyed some pumping stations in Hiep Hoa district and Bac Giang city.

Stray dog delays landing at central Vietnam airport

A plane flying from HCMC to central Thanh Hoa Province had to delay landing due to a stray dog in an empty apron.

General election - A chance to exercise people’s right to mastery: Top leader

Party General Secretary and State President Nguyen Phu Trong on January 21 stressed the significance of the election of deputies to the 15th National Assembly (NA) and all-level People’s Councils for the 2021-2026 tenure, describing this as an important political occasion and a chance to exercise the people’s right to mastery.

Truong Son