Thua Thien-Hue will be built into a national cultural and tourism centre, said…
Thua Thien-Hue will be built into a national cultural and tourism centre, said Ho Xuan Man, Secretary of the provincial Party Committee.
In an interview with a Viet Nam News Agency correspondent on the occasion of the 29th liberation anniversary of the central province, Man said Thua Thien-Hue has invested in infrastructure, focusing on productive forces in order to better exploit the potential of each area, branch and sector, particularly industry, tourism and fishery.
He said the local economic restructuring has been progressing, with higher proportions of industry-construction and service-tourism in the province`s GDP. At the same time, the proportion of agricultural production is decreasing, from 41 percent in 1990 to 22.5 percent at present, he added.
Man said since 2000, Thua Thien-Hue`s economy has been growing at an average 9.2 percent a year, as compared to 3.4 percent in the 1976-1989 period. The province has more than 4,500 ha of water surface under aquaculture, mostly shrimp raising.
Thua Thien-Hue also saw the construction of many major projects of national and regional levels, including the tunnel under Hai Van pass, the Ho Chi Minh highway, the Phu Bai industrial zone, the Thuan An fishing port, the Hong Van-Cu Tai border gate, the Lang Co tourism area. Transportation in the province has also been improved with the upgrading of the Phu Bai airport and the building of many large bridges.
The province has made primary education compulsory, and by 2005, junior high school education will also become compulsory. Thua Thien-Hue is building its own conservatoire.
In health care, it is building a large-scale medical centre for the whole central region. At present 71 percent of medical stations in Thua Thien-Hue are staffed by doctors, and the rate of doctor is 9 per ten thousand. Living standards of local people are improving, with the number of poor households now accounting for only 11 percent of the local population.
Asked about the approaching Hue Festival 2004, Man said, this year`s festival takes the theme Cultural heritage with integration and development. He stressed that events in the festival should be combined with the tourism-service development programme to attract visitors, giving a new impetus for socio-economic development. The festival also aims to introduce the culture of Viet Nam in general and of Hue in particular, and honour Hue`s Nha Nhac (Royal Music), recognised by UNESCO as a world oral and intangible heritage of humanity last November.
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