Updated

Poland's government is holding its first ever away session in the coal mining region of Silesia, where it is to approve a major plan to stimulate industry and the job market.

Prime Minister Ewa Kopacz convened the weekly session Tuesday in the southern city of Katowice, to stress her government's concern for the key industrial region where people say they have been laid off and neglected. The visit is part of the ruling team's electoral campaign ahead of fall general elections in which the opposition is favored.

Starting the session, Kopacz said the government was about to adopt a program that will be the "flywheel" of the region's development.

The program comes in defiance of the worldwide drive to fight global warming by reducing the use of coal.