PM would like Quang Nam to build 300,000 cars a year

Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung has worked with the central province of Quang Nam on an auto-making project capable of making over 300,000 units annually.

Dung emphasised at a working session with provincial authorities during his visit yesterday that the potential auto plant, to be located within the Chu Lai open economic zone, should follow a roadmap which would commit the plant to a 40 per cent localisation rate.

He also called on the province to earmark investment of at least VND6 trillion (US$312 million) for relocating over 40,000 tenants from natural disaster-prone coasts to safer sites.

The Government and local leaders also looked deeper into other major projects such as the construction of 36 village roads for the 2011-15 period with a cost of at over VND4.3 trillion ($227 million) and the upgrading National Highway 1A.

Poverty reduction was of the Prime Minister’s concerns as the provincial poverty rate remained higher than the national average.

A considerable sum of money should be geared to poverty reduction in eight mountainous districts in an effort to drastically improve living conditions in this disdvantaged region, he said.

In developing the next five-year plan, the province should prioritise investment in hi-tech industry and auto-manufacturing support industries, Dung said.

He also urged the province to tap its tourism potential to develop the hospitality industry as a key economic sector.

Quang Nam boasts a long, superb coast line and is home to My Son sanctuary and Hoi An old town, which have been recognised by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) as world cultural heritage sites.

Dung, however, reminded the province of the need to protect forests and the environment during economic development.

“Those that pollute the environment should be punished,” the Government leader emphasised.

Quang Nam was reported to record an average GDP growth of 12.8 per cent in the last five years up to 2010.

The Chu Lai open economic zone has attracted 61 projects capitalised at some $1.6 billion, of which 36 are operational, providing permanent jobs for around 8,500 local people.