Can Tho (VNA) – The Mekong Delta region, the country’s rice andfruit granary, holds huge potential for further investment in agriculture,Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Tran Thanh Nam said onOctober 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’sGDP 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 inthe region’s maritime cultivation and agricultural services such as plant protectionproducts and animal feed, and agricultural by-products.

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

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

The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD) is giving priority toinvestments that help enhance the values of agricultural products as well asdevelop green economy and digital economy, he said, asking localities andbusinesses to focus on branching out human resources and improvingproduction capacity to ensure that they are able to join the internationalmarket.

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

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

AusCham Vice President David Whitehead said he hopes local authoritieswill understand investors’ need and create the best condition for them tooperate there, suggesting them give detailed instruction oninvestment registration process, land-use registration process and timeline forinvestment 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./.