Ba Ria-Vung Tau must push ahead with sustainable development    Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong (L) meets officials and residents of Dat Do district of Ba Ria - Vung Tau (Photo: VNA) Ba Ria – Vung Tau – Ba Ria – Vung Tau province must press on with sustainable development and focus on sea-based economic activities and marine sovereignty protection, Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong said.  The Party leader had a working session with local officials on June 18 as part of his two-day tour of the southern province.  He stressed that Ba Ria – Vung Tau, holding a strategic position, has made great strides over the past years and boasts huge potential for stronger development in the near future.  He applauded the province’s sound development orientations that have tapped into local advantages in gas – power – fertiliser industries, seaport services, tourism, and agriculture.  Mapping out appropriate development directions is critical, as is fine-tuning the orientations while realising them, he said.  Ba Ria – Vung Tau should adopt only investment projects using modern technology, generating high added values and being environmentally friendly. It needs to ensure a stable investment climate where people’s strength is promoted, General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong noted.  He lauded the locality’s attention to the Party and political system reinforcement, along with studying and following late President Ho Chi Minh’s moral example. The Party chief asked the province to enhance personnel training and State officials’ sense of responsibility.  At the working session, the provincial Party Committee reported that Ba Ria – Vung Tau is now home to 15 industrial parks covering 8,706ha. Local industrial production grew by more than 7 percent in the first five months of 2016.  The province plans to have 57 ports, 28 of them have been operational and are able to handle 98.9 million tonnes of goods per year. It has applied itself to developing the Cai Mep – Thi Vai deep-water port system into an international transit port.  Between January and May, the Cai Mep – Thi Vai port complex dealt with 19.7 million tonnes of goods and contributed some 5.72 trillion VND (256.9 million USD) generated from its activities to the State budget.  Meanwhile, Ba Ria – Vung Tau welcomed 7.9 million tourists and collected 245 billion VND (11 million USD) in tourism revenue for the State budget. It has also ensured security – order, environment and food safety, local officials said.  On June 17, Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong visited Long Tan commune which fulfilled all new-style rural area criteria in late 2014. He also laid a wreath and offered incense at the monument, temple and memorial house of Heroic Martyr Vo Thi Sau in Dat Do district.-VNA