Bac Lieu (VNA) – Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc has called on investors to pourmore investments into the Mekong Delta province of Bac Lieu which holds greatpotential for super-intensive shrimp farming and renewable energy.

PM Phucdelivered the call at an investment promotion conference in Bac Lieu provinceon January 30, which saw the participation of hundreds of domestic and foreigninvestors, diplomats, experts, researchers and policymakers and representativesof financial organisations.

To turn Bac Lieu into a shrimp farming centre ofthe whole country, the PM suggested the province apply climate change adaptivemodels; maintain clean production and water resources by applying strictproduction procedures and new technologies; and develop a closed value chain toproactively control the quality and reduce production costs.

At the same time, it is necessary to promoteshrimp production in all aspects from varieties, management capacity,processing and food safety, he recommended.

PM Phuc reminded local authorities to payattention to developing human resources and holding dialogues with businessesin addition to creating a healthy environment for investors by improvinginstitutions, policies, and adjusting schemes for sustainable development.

He affirmed that the Government of Vietnam willcreate more favourable conditions for businesses to invest in the Mekong Deltaprovince, but it will not welcome investors who damage the country’senvironment.

Underlining development pillars that Bac Lieushould focus on, the PM advised the province to pay more attention tohigh-quality rice production and shrimp farming.

Bac Lieu should also develop renewable energy –a potential field in the province - as well as processing industry, tourism andservices, he noted.

The government leader asked the province tostrengthen coordination with other localities in the Mekong Delta and thesouthern economic hub of Ho Chi Minh City, particularly forging connectivitybetween Bac Lieu, Ca Mau, Kien Giang and Soc Trang.

At the conference, local authorities grantedinvestment licences to more than 10 projects and investment registrationcertificates to over 20 projects, with a combined investment capital of around110 trillion VND (4.85 billion USD).

The same day, PM Phuc attended a ceremony to startthe construction of a hi-tech agricultural application park for shrimpdevelopment, release shrimps in a greenhouse of Vietnam-Australia Group, andbuild a symbol of Vietnamese shrimp.

Bac Lieu has an aquaculture area of 1,290 sq.km.With a coastline of 56 km, three seaports and an economic exclusive zone of20,742 sq.km, the province has favourable conditions to develop agriculture,fishing and fishery logistics. 

Agriculture accounts for 43.1 percent of theprovince’s gross regional domestic product. Each year, the locality harvestsabout 210,000 tonnes of aquatic products, of which 115,000 tonnes are shrimp,with shrimp export turnover exceeding 527 million USD. 

Last year, the province’s economy grew by 6.5percent and per capita income reached 37.5 million VND (1,650 USD). Thelocality contributed more than 2.8 trillion VND (132.2 million USD) to theState budget. However, climate change and sea level rises caused greatlosses to local agriculture in recent years.-VNA