Vietnam News Agency
December 1, 2005

Prime Minister Phan Van Khai talks up the Son La hydroelectric power project, expected to be the biggest of its kind in Southeast Asia, with a forecast capacity of 2,400 MW.

Son La: Prime Minister Phan Van Khai urged northwestern mountainous Son La province to fully develop its potential and strengths to maintain its annual growth rate of 16 percent and narrow its development gap with other localities nationwide.

Speaking at a working session with key leaders of Son La on Dec. 1, PM Khai instructed the provincial Party Committee and authorities to regularly care for local ethnic minority people’s living conditions, ensuring the supply of food and clothes, housing and healthcare for them and education for their children. All households of ethnic minority people in the province should be given land to develop production, particularly industrial crops and large-scale livestock breeding, he said.

PM Khai said that the policy on relocating local households for the construction of the Son La hydroelectric power project aims at helping the people have better living conditions than they had in the former residential areas. On socio-economic development, PM Khai said Son La should promote economic restructuring, focusing on development of the
industrial and building sectors and services. On agriculture, the province should encourage people to develop production of such cash crops as tea, sugarcane, maize, and industrial crops, the PM said. In addition, medium and small hydroelectric power projects should be built to provide electricity and water for local production.

The PM has allowed the province to implement a number of special policies to develop local economic zones. PM Khai will attend a Da River damming ceremony to begin construction
of the Son La hydroelectric power project, the biggest of its kind in Southeast Asia, with a planned capacity of 2,400 MW.