Mekong Delta forum seeks to connect cities

The Mekong Delta Economic Co-operation-Ca Mau 2011 Forum later this year would focus on building better connections between provinces and cities in the region, organisers said at a HCM City press conference on Thursday.

The annual MDEC forum would start with a conference in HCM City in July, followed by four seminars in Ca Mau in October.

The provincial People’s Committee chairman, Pham Thanh Tuoi, said the forum aimed to boost investment and business activities, while promoting the strength of the region and each of the 13 individual localities.

It would aid the process of restructuring the local economy and facilitating integration into the global economy, the head of the organising board said.

Themed “The Cuu Long (Mekong) Delta – Links for Sustainable Development”, the forum would bring together local and foreign scientists, economists, businesses, managers, and organisations to work out ways to connect the provinces and cities in the Delta.

The forum would centre on inter-regional links among the Cuu Long (Mekong) Delta region and Can Tho City, and the connection between the region and HCM City; and co-operation to map out promotion plans for trade, tourism and investment for the whole region by 2015.

Luu Phuoc Luong, deputy head of the Steering Committee for the Southwestern Region, said the Cuu Long (Mekong) Delta had a host of potential for developing agriculture and tourism with more than 700km of coastline and 28,000km of rivers and canals.

The region contributes over 50 per cent of Viet Nam’s paddy output, 90 per cent of rice export, 65 per cent of seafood output and 70 per cent of fruit.

However, Luong said that agricultural mechanisation in the Delta was slow and temporary, with few scientific and technological advances, which held it back competitively.

He also noted unplanned development, the unstable market and prices, diseases and epidemics, and food safety issues that directly impact the lives of Cuu Long (Mekong) Delta people.

Although tourist arrivals increased steadily by 11 per cent year-on-year, there was little variety in the Cuu Long (Mekong) Delta’s tourism products, he said.

Luong said that the quality of local tourism staff needed improvement and there was lack of co-operation between the region and HCM City.

The MDEC forum was first held in Can Tho City in 2008 and in Kien Giang Province last year.

Tags: MDEC forum, Mekong Delta forum