Photo: VGP/Nhat Bac

The Government chief made that statement at his working session on the local socio-economic situation with leaders of the province on September 20.

Report showed that the locality’s economy was estimated to expand 13.7% over the past nine months of 2014 and the number of tourists increased 33% compared to the same period last year.

Lao Cai is blessed with an abundance of scenic spots, including Sa Pa and a treasure chest of biodiversity.

Over the January-July period, the number of tourists to the northern mountainous province of Lao Cai topped 800,000, up a whopping 25 percent thanks to the locality’s tourism stimulus drive for 2014

Lao Cai’s transport system, including roads and railroads, is offering better convenience to visitors. In particular, Noi Bai – Lao Cai expressway that opened to traffic recently has halved the time to travel from capital Ha Noi to Lao Cai.

The province planned to build a road connecting the Noi Bai-Lao Cai expressway to Sa Pa and is calling for foreign investment for the construction of an international airport there to give a strong boost to the local tourism.

On the same day, the PM also inspected the construction site of the cable car system which will connect Sapa to Muong Hoa Valley and the Fansipan peak. The project, scheduled to be completed by April 2015, is the first three-wire cable car system in Asia and the longest, highest and most complex three-wire cables in the world./.

By Thuy Dung