Khanh Hoa (VNA) – NA Chairwoman Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan had a working session withofficials of the central coastal province of Khanh Hoa ༺on December 16 to reviewthe province’sﷺ 2017 socio-economic development plan.

Ngan laudedthe joint efforts made by local authorities to address the consequences causedby storm Damrey in November, urging the locality to take comprehensive measuresto help its residents stabilise their lives and businesses resume theiroperation. Reporting tothe NA top leader, Chairman of the provincial People’s Committee Le Duc Vinh saidthe province’s GRDP expanded by 7.9 percent year on year and GRDP per capitareached 57 million VND (2,500 USD) in 2017. Its exportvalue was estimated at 1.22 billion USD, a slight rise from 2016, while theimport value was around 680 million USD, falling 3.5 percent year on year. The localitywelcomed 5.43 million visitors, including over 2 million foreigners, earning 17trillion VND (748 million USD) from tourism, up 30.8 percent year on year. However, damagescaused by storm Damrey were serious and extensive, thus affecting therealisation of its 2017 socio-economic targets, including industrial and fishery-agriculturalproduction, and poverty reduction. Totalfatalities due to the storm reached 44, while one remains missing and 229others were injured. The total damage was estimated at over 14.7 trillion VND(616 million USD) with 2,810 houses totally destroyed, 115,580 others damaged andover 36,000 hectares of crops inundated. Over 370,000 heads of livestock andpoultry were killed or washed away. Thousands of ships were sunk, and thousandsof hectares of fish farms along with numerous infrastructure facilities wereruined.  Vinhreported that the province has earmarked 18.5 billion VND (814,000 USD) for providingaid in cash and rice to storm-affected residents, adding that over 176 billionVND (7,744 USD) was also mobilised from the local budget and donors to helplocal people repair their houses. Theprovince’s authorities made several proposals to the NA on local socio-economicdevelopment, including the adjustment of the area of its Bac Van Phong SpecialAdministrative-Economic Zone. The province also asked the NA to allow it keepall the import-export taxes collected within the Zone from now to 2030 tofinance the implementation of policies designed specifically for the zone. The NAChairwoman agreed with the proposal on the scope and area of the Bac Van PhongSpecial Administrative-Economic Zone, saying that the locality needs to preparea detail proposal to submit to the NA Standing Committee. During theoccasion, Nguyen Hanh Phuc, Chairman of the NA Office presented 500million VND (22,000 USD) donated by the staff of the NA Office and Partyorganisation to help storm victims in the province.-VNA