PANO - A defence mission, led by Deputy Defence Minister Senior Lieutenant General Nguyen Thanh Cung, paid a visit to Ly Son island district of Quang Ngai province on July 30th. Vice Admiral Pham Ngoc Minh, Deputy Chief of the General Staff of the Vietnam People's Army and representatives of the ministry's and the locality's functional organisations also joined the mission.

Senior Lieutenant General Nguyen Thanh Cung (2nd from right) hands over gift to Vietnamese heroic mother Tran Thi Pham in Ly Son island district.

At the working session, local leaders briefed the mission on the district's socio-economic development and national defence tasks. Accordingly, the district's GDP reached VND 448 billion in first half of the year, up by 24 per cent compared to the same period last year. Additionally, the district's national defence and military tasks have always been enhanced, notably the information dissemination on national defence and security for the locals and the annual recruitment, to name but a few.

Addressing the session, General Cung praised the district's achievements over the past time and asked them to use their combined strengths to aid economic development, especially the sea-based economy, to associate the economic growth with national defence and security tasks, and build plans to uphold combat readiness. Besides this, General Cung also urged the local armed forces to provide appropriate staff work for the local party organizations and authorities on building strong defensive areas in close attachment with the population defence posture and the people's security posture.

On the same day, the mission visited the local war martyrs' cemetery and presented gifts to Vietnamese heroic mothers living in the area.

Translated by Trung Thanh