Mekong Delta asked to invest more in infrastructure

Nhan Dan

The Mekong Delta cities and provinces should focus their investments on traffic and irrigation systems, education, and healthcare when pursuing their new rural programme, said a senior government official. Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Sinh Hung, Head of the Steering Committee for the south-western region, made the suggestion on June 28 while chairing a committee meeting in Bac Lieu province to review its performance in the first half of the year and discuss major tasks for the rest of the year. Leaders from relevant ministries and agencies, and 13 cities and provinces in the region attended the meeting. As the country’s biggest granary, the Mekong Delta needs to invest more into building comprehensive infrastructure, rural roads and irrigation networks to ensure the nation’s food security as well as the supply of rice and aquatic products for domestic consumption and exports, Deputy PM Hung said. He asked the region to pay due attention to training and education, especially in isolated areas and those inhabited by ethnic minorities where a large number of students have dropped out of school and vocational training is lacking in both terms of availability and quality. On health care, the Deputy PM said, the region should speed up the disbursement of investment for the construction and upgrading of medical infrastructure and equipment, and must strive to provide better healthcare services to local people, particularly regarding severe diarrhea and seasonal diseases in children are occurring in several localities. Reports delivered at the conference show that, despite various difficulties in the first six months of this year, the region has recorded many socio-economic achievements, with high growth rates in industrial production, trade and the service industry. Its rice output for the winter-spring crop reached 10.3 million tonnes, 420,000 tonnes higher than the same crop last year, while the aquatic product output hit almost 649,000 tonnes and industrial production value was estimated at VND 57.61 trillion (over US$3 billion), up 16% from the same period last year. During the review period, the region’s cities and provinces earned US$2.66 billion from exports, a year-on-year rise of 10.6%, making up 10% of the nation’s total export turnover. The Mekong Delta contributed half of the country’s total rice exports and 60% of aquatic export earnings. The conference noted that a comprehensive co-operation programme has helped enhance the connections between Meking Delta cities and provinces with Ho Chi Minh City, the largest southern economic hub. Provinces bordering Cambodia such as Kien Giang, An Giang, Dong Thap and Long An, have also carried out programmes to strengthen co-operation with their Cambodian counterparts, boost cross-border trade, develop border gate economic zones, and organise trade fairs in the neighbouring country. (VNA)