The Mekong Delta region is calling for investments to boost mechanisation in agriculture and improve its competitiveness.
The Mekong Delta region is calling for investments to boost agriculture
The call for a total of USD1.38bn investments for 50 agriculture projects was made during an annual conference to encourage investment into the region. The conference also held activities to help tighten the relationship between technology manufacturing enterprises and manufacturing and processing factories.
Truong Hoai Nam, vice chairman of Can Tho City said they had over 115,000 hectares of cultivated land and 64% are rice fields. However, productivity was low and the company lacked technology to produce better quality products.
"Mechanisation is very important to boost productivity and limit pre-and post-harvest losses," he said.
The Mekong Delta is vital to Vietnam's economy. Rice output in the region alone accounted for 56% of the country’s entire output. About 6 million tonnes of rice and 3.62 million tonnes of aqua products are exported each year.
Despite the potential, management, science and technology limitations have prevented the region from attracting large investment. Post-harvest losses reach an estimated VND3.2trn (USD143m) to VND3.6trn each year.
As of October, about 50 projects worth USD2.9.64m had invested, showing that the Mekong Delta still has huge potential for more growth.
Kenta Noguchi from Japan's Business Innovation Company said agricultural machinery was the huge opportunities for investors and they hoped to follow up on opportunities presented in Vietnam.
