In order to increase the value of agricultural products, Son La province has actively called on businesses to invest in the agricultural processing industry, closely linking production, processing and sale of products.

Since the beginning of this year, Van Ho district has maintained intensive farming of over 1,430 hectares of tea, mainly Shan Tuyet tea, in Van Ho, Chieng Khoa, To Mua and Chieng Yen communes.

So far, Son La province has paid due attention to the rural trade infrastructure system, with seven wholesale markets built at a total cost of 14.3 billion VND (572,630 USD) in 2022-2023.

In July, Son La province continued directing relevant agencies and localities to focus on agricultural development, building new-style rural areas, and implementing the three national target programmes.

Son La province has 16 commercial housing and urban area projects with approved investors, primarily located in Son La city, and Moc Chau and Mai Son districts.

To ensure sustainable agricultural development, biotechnology is one of the four science-technology fields prioritised by Son La province, aiming to create varieties of plants, animals, microbial strains, and products with high productivity, quality, competitiveness and economic efficiency.

Son La province’s total export value in the first seven months of this year reached 106.8 million USD, an increase of nearly 19.6% over the same period last year.

Towards sustainable agricultural production, Dong Sang commune in Moc Chau district has encouraged farmers to promote production development in the direction of proactively adapting to climate change and applying science-technology to minimise risks, bringing high economic efficiency.

Son La has 83,757 hectares of fruit and hawthorn trees, of them 63,207 hectares harvestable with an estimated output of over 379,000 tonnes.

Son La province has disbursed more than 1.5 trillion VND (59.74 million USD) worth of public investment so far this year, equal to 34.69% of the assigned plan and 40.57% of the detailed allocation plan.

In July, all-level agencies and localities in Son La province continued offering consultations on policies regarding labour, employment, and unemployment insurance for 1,896 people.

Last month, the volume of goods transported throughout Son La province was estimated at over 645,000 tonnes, an increase of 16.42% over the same period last year.

Son La city has supported businesses, cooperatives, and production and business establishments to optimise scientific and technical advances in production and trade promotion, putting up products on e-commerce platforms and social networks for sale.

In July, credit institutions in Son La province saw stable operations, with total cash collection through bank funds estimated at 8.6 trillion VND (341.6 million USD) and total cash expenditure at 8.2 trillion VND.

In the first seven months of this year, Son La province granted in-principle approvals to six projects with a total registered capital of nearly 128 billion VND (5.1 million USD).

Over the past time, Son La province has issued and applied many mechanisms and policies to support the establishment of cooperatives and create favourable conditions for them to develop and expand production and business.

Under credit programmes, more than 510 households in Muong Khoa commune, Bac Yen district, have accessed concessional loans worth over 24 billion VND (950,589 USD) from the Vietnam Bank for Social Policies, while over 230 others got loans worth 21 billion VND from the Vietnam Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development for production and business.

In the first seven months of 2024, Son La province had 13 main products showing increases in production compared to the same period last year, reported the provincial Statistics Office.

Son La province currently has 154 one commune one product (OCOP) products rated three to five stars.

Since the beginning of this year, trade and services in Moc Chau district have seen good developments, with total retail sales of goods and services in the first six months reaching 2.29 trillion VND, up 11.4% over the same period last year.