The Mekong Delta city of Can Tho continually prioritises foreigninvestment in its environment in an effort to enhance its agriculturalproduction efficiency, said Dao Anh Dung, Vice Chairman of the cityPeople’s Committee, at a reception for a delegation of businesses fromNagasaki prefecture in Japan on March 11.

During the event, a representative from the Aquatic Product Associationhighlighted the financial and technical difficulties local farmers facein improving product quality, primarily due to environmental factorssuch as waste water and muddy sediment.

Theprefecture, home to numerous aquatic product cultivation and processingfirms, has in-depth experience in treating waste water and muddysediment, said Takayuki Miyanishi, head of the delegation.

Japan is willing to help the regional farmers address these issues toimprove the value and competitiveness of their products in the domesticand international market, he added.

Can Tho haszoned off 14,000 hectares, or 6.3 percent of its total aquaculturearea, to raise “tra” fish, amounting to over 70 percent of its totalaquatic product output.

The locality is leading the nation with an annual export of nearly 197,000 tonnes of “tra” fish.

However, it has been unable to penetrate strict markets like Japanand the Republic of Korea as a result of insufficient food safetystandards.-VNA