Nearly 30 tourism agencies Thursday announced plans to conduct more tours to the central province of Thua Thien - Hue to coincide with a popular local festival from June 3 - 11.

The fourth biennial Hue Festival, themed “Cultural Heritage with Integration and Development,” is expected to be an impressive festival with hundreds of displays showcasing the unique cultural values of Vietnam and the ancient capital of Hue.

The new tours were developed after the tourism agencies and the Department of Tourism surveyed tourists about the province’s places of interest, including Duyet Thi Duong theater, Hue’s folk song singing on the Huong (Perfume) River, My Khanh’s Cham Tower, Le Ba Dang gallery and the ancient village of Phuoc Tich.

The prime minister urged ministries and agencies to work harder at curbing inflation and ensuring the economy posted an increase of more than 8 percent this year.

The government leader asked the finance minister and the Governor of the State Bank of Vietnam to report promptly on the current economic situation so the government could make any necessary adjustments to its macroeconomic and monetary policies.

Dung said the rise in consumer prices has been triggered partly by world price hikes and partly by inappropriate monetary policies that needed to be improved.

In addition, he said ministries and agencies must act to speed up production acceleration, increase exports and reduce the trade deficit.

In the first two months of this year, the consumer price index rose by 6 percent.

The financial and monetary market also experienced an increase in interest rates on savings of dong, a fall in stock indexes and the appreciation of the dong against the US dollar.

Industrial production increased by 16.3 percent from the same period last year but failed to fulfill a government-set target of 17.5 percent.

Reported by Thuy Trang ( Vietnamnews)