Binh Thuan Province urged to work towards modernisation HA NOI (VNS) - Southern Binh Thuan Province should utilise its potential strengths in energy, minerals, and tourism services to become a modernised and industrialised locality by 2020. Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong made the statement during a meeting on Saturday with the provincial Party Committee held to discuss the implementation of Party resolutions over the past three years. Trong said that the province should bring its socio-economic infrastructure in line with that of the rest of the country, while promoting effective environmental protection, strengthening national defence and security, maintaining social order and purifying its political system. The Party leader recommended that the province take measures to encourage co-operation and collaboration between economic sectors on developing the province's potential and strengths. The Party leader suggested a focus on developing agriculture, forestry and fishery processing, along with its tourism industry. To become a centre of marine tourism and sports, the province should exploit the potential of eco-tourism, diversifying tourism products while ensuring the environment was protected, he said. It was also asked to speed up the implementation of wind and solar energy projects as well as have a suitable roadmap to exploit its titanium reserves,to step-by-step develop itself into a large national centre of energy and titanium ore processing. He also asked the province to develop agriculture comprehensively and sustainability, and to build new rural areas. He urged the Provincial Party Committee to further improve Party building work, to enhance the Party organisations' leadership capacity and to improve the quality of the Party membership. The provincial Party Committee Secretary Huynh Van Ty said over the past threes years, the province reached an annual economic growth rate of 8.82 per cent. The rate of poor households reduced 1.5 per cent per year. After hearing the province's report on its three-year implementation of Party resolutions, future targets, tasks, solutions and suggestions, Trong assigned relevant agencies of the Party, the National Assembly, ministries and industries to continue to work with the province, supporting it and creating favourable conditions for its rapid and sustainable development. - VNS