Ly Son island. — Photo baotayninh

HA NOI (Biz Hub) — Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung has decided to spend more on key projects in Ly Son island district in the central province of Quang Ngai.

Priority will be given to unfinished State-funded and key investment projects on the island. This includes the port of Ly Son, a road through the southeastern part of the island, and water supply in the district's centre.

Ly Son district is striving to become a maritime economic centre by 2025, with a focus on tourism and aquaculture.

Dung said authorities should prioritise funding projects in line with the State budget, including ring roads and embankments on large and small islands, sea-dyke systems, Ben Dinh port, hospitals and preventive medical centres, water supplies and a fisheries information centre.

Investors will be given financial support in accordance with legal regulations.

Ly Son district lies 18 nautical miles off the Vietnamese coast and covers an area of 10km2. It includes three communes: An Hai, An Vinh and An Binh.

The island district has a population of about 2,100. Most residents earn a living farming garlic and spring onions - and fishing.

Archaeologists have found relics from the Sa Huynh culture on Ly Son Island dating back 3,000 years. Ethnic minority groups started migrating to Ly Son from the mainland in the sixteenth century and have inhabited the island ever since.

The island also boasts numerous forms of intangible cultural heritage, such as traditional boat races and the Hoang Sa Soldier Feast and Commemoration Festival, which was recognised as national heritage in April 2013. — VNS