Mekong Delta to Have Centralised Aquaculture Complex

The Mekong Delta is one of seven major economic regions of Vietnam. Its agricultural production value leads the nation, with 33.2 percent of the country’s total; its rice export value accounts for 90 percent; fisheries output makes up for 58.7 percent; and fruit production contributes more than 70 percent to the country’s value. The huge resources and abundance of this land are seen in its twin strengths of agriculture and fisheries. With trade surplus, these two sectors are major forex earners for Vietnam. Big regional exporters include Can Tho City, Long An, An Giang and Ca Mau provinces.

 

However, most attending enterprises agreed that agricultural and fisheries development of the Mekong Delta region is short of its potential and contains hidden elements of non-sustainability. Particularly, agricultural and aquatic products have low added value and production is poorly planned. Worse, regional businesses and localities lack association. Mr Tran Van Quang, Chairman and General Director of Minh Phu Seafood Joint Stock Company, said Mekong Delta aquatic processors outnumber other regions in the country but they lack business linkage. As a result, they do not have good buying and selling prices. He said Ca Mau province has 27 seafood companies, with nearly 100 export shrimp processing facilities. This mushrooming development is leading to severe shortages of input materials, forcing many companies to break export orders. Even the Vietnam Association Seafood Exporters and Processors (VASEP) cannot do anything to improve the situation.

 

The same thing has also happened in the sugar industry. Unfair competition as a result of insufficient input sources has weakened the competitiveness of the regional industry. All sugar factories have their own material zones, but not large enough to meet operating demand. Due to material undersupply, these factories usually fuel up price wars to rake in inputs.

 

To address these shortages, Hsien Wen Chu, a representative for Taiwanese companies in Vietnam, proposed the formation of centralised industrial parks and export processing zones for the Mekong Delta region which will specialise in producing rice, seafood and other agricultural products for export. He explained that infrastructure systems in the Mekong Delta region are very poor, resulting in high transport and logistics expenses in total production costs; thus, the presence of such facilities will help reduce these costs and increase the region’s magnetism to investors. He said many companies supported this suggestion.

 

In response to requests from businesses, Deputy Minister of Planning and Investment Dang Huy Dong said, to deal with the fact that Mekong Delta-based companies are rapidly expanding operating scale but lacking business linkage, the Ministry of Planning and Investment is planning to establish a fisheries complex for the entire region which will include research institute, laboratory, breeding facility, production zone, and sales networks. The ministry is now working with Mekong Delta localities on this issue and expects to come to the final decision soon. This complex will be in a prime location where access to traffic routes is very convenient. Once this plan is realised, businesses will play a vital role. Mr Dong said, “If the fisheries complex for the entire Mekong Delta region is formed, it will help improve the competitiveness of Vietnamese agricultural and aquatic products on the market.”

 

Remarking on this issue, Mr Phan Chanh Duong, Former Deputy Director of Management Board of Ho Chi Minh City-based Tan Thuan Export Processing Zone, said, in addition to focusing on building a synchronous transportation system, Mekong Delta provinces also need to build high-tech industrial parks and develop particular mechanisms and policies for the development of such facilities.