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Delta to get new economic zone
Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung on Thursday approved an ambitious plan that would create a key economic area in the Cuu Long (Mekong) Delta.
Under the plan, the new area would comprise Can Tho City and the three provinces of An Giang, Kien Giang and Ca Mau.
The plan’s main objective is to make the key economic area a centre of rice production, farming, fishing and processing of marine products in the delta.
Emphasis on this key economic area would help the region reach the national economic growth rate.
Under the proposal, the Delta’s average GDP growth rate would be 1.2 times higher than the country’s average level between 2009 and 2010. It is projected to be 1.25 times higher from 2011-20.
Under the plan, the Delta’s contribution to the national GDP would increase from the current 10.5 per cent to 11.6 per cent in 2010 and 13.3 per cent in 2020.
The new economic area would be a centre of bio-technology, a supplier of plant seedlings and breeder animals, technical services, and processor and exporter of agricultural products.
The area would help develop the plains as well as coastal areas and the sea-based economy in the delta.
As part of the plan, the Government will increase investment in important infrastructure project, including the No1 National Highway, roads on Phu Quoc Island and airports in and around the area.
The capital would come from the State budget, Government bonds and official development assistance (ODA).
Building a capable workforce would be a priority, including the expansion of vocational training establishments and vocational secondary schools.
The delta, the country’g biggest rice basket, covers nearly 4 million hectares, accounting for 12 per cent of the country’s total land mass.
Ninety per cent of rice exports comes from the Delta, which also supplies most of the national market.
VietNamNet, VNS
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