Ample room for investment in Mekong Delta: Official

 

The Mekong Delta region, the country’s rice and fruit granary, holds huge potential for further investment in agriculture, Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Tran Thanh Nam said on October 30.

At a conference held in Can Tho city to promote agriculture investment in the region, Nam highlighted that as an important agricultural economic hub in the country, it makes  up more than 33% of the nation’s GDP from agriculture, and has lured investment to areas of its strengths, namely fruit, rice and aquatic products.

However, Nam suggested domestic and foreign firms consider injecting capital in the region’s maritime cultivation and agricultural services such as plant protection products and animal feed, and agricultural by-products.

Calling on enterprises to step up investment in logistics for agricultural products, Nam said that his ministry is submitting to the Prime Minister a project on developing the logistics system to improve the quality and competitive edge of Vietnamese farm produce by 2030 with a vision to 2050, with a focus given to development of three kinds of logistics centres – in material areas that features a warehouse and provides technical consultancy for farmers, one big cities for deep processing, and in border gates for goods storage for export.

The logistics centres are expected to help reduce production costs and improve income for both businesses and farmers, Nam added.

 

The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD) is giving priority to investments that help enhance the values of agricultural products as well as develop green economy and digital economy, he said, asking localities and businesses to focus on branching out human resources and improving production capacity to ensure that they are able to join the international market.

Nam also expressed his hope that enterprises will join hands with the State to build a professional workforce, invest in international-standard agricultural processing, and develop an agricultural value chain to create high-value products and form a strong linkage with farmers.

At the event, businesses discussed mechanisms and incentives when they land investments in the Mekong Delta region’s agricultural sector.

AusCham Vice President David Whitehead said he hopes local authorities will understand investors’ need and create the best condition for them to operate there, suggesting them give detailed instruction on investment registration process, land-use registration process and timeline for investment plans, as well as remove bottlenecks in a timely fashion.

Meanwhile, General Director of BODE Group Nguyen Thi Hang recommended the MARD, competent ministries and localities publicise planning, land use plans, prioritised investment projects, and special incentives in the long term./.