(VOVworld) - The Prime Minister has ordered the People’s Committees of provinces and centrally-run cities to allocate the State budget for the implementation of the national target program on building new-style rural areas in 2016.

The national target program on building new-style rural areas, initiated by the Vietnamese Government in 2010, sets 19 criteria on socio-economic development, politics, and defense, aiming to modernize rural areas. The criteria cover the development of infrastructure, the improvement of production capacities, environmental protection, and the promotion of cultural values. Vietnam aims to have 50 percent of all communes nationwide meeting all the requirements by the end of 2020.