Soc Trang Expands both Local and Foreign Trade Markets

2:39:20 PM | 9/11/2005

Over the past few years, Mekong Delta Soc Trang province has increasingly tapped its potentials in order to boost commodity production and circulation. The province has also built a booming trade market with the participation of several economic sectors during the time and the expansion of its business network which has also helped the province to integrate into the regional and global markets.
 
High export values
 
The province has registered a high growth in export turnover in recent years, from US$219.32 million in 2001 to US$300.6 million last year. The figure is expected to reach US$325 million this year. Apart from its major export items such as rice and seafood, the province has also exported mushrooms, onions, salted duck eggs, and salted buffalo skins.
 
Proper investment in upgrading and equipping facilities has mostly been attributed to diversification and high quality of products made by the local processing factories. Over the period, the province has also strengthened its trade relation with several countries and territories worldwide including Japan, Hong Kong, Singapore, Indonesia, and Taiwan, while also penetrating into such difficult markets as the EU and the US.
 
With more than 72km of coastalline and abundant aquatic resources, local farmers have owed a lot of favorable conditions in aquaculture, offshore fishing, and seafood export processing. The province has to date grown as many as 315,205 hectares of paddies, which will also supply straw for mushroom cultivation. Salted duck eggs are widely favoured in the world market thanks to its high content and quality of yolk. Vinh Chau district is reported to be the biggest export supplier of purple onion. Over the years, further advanced science and technology application into husbandry and farming has helped the province raise productivity of domestic animals and cultivated crops, providing a plentiful input material source for production.  
 
Lively domestic market
 
The domestic market has also seen an expansion in both size and operation scales. Total commodity circulation value reached VND6,300 billion last year and is expected to increase to VND7,200 billion this year.
 
In addition, Soc Trang province is considered the largest consumption market for groceries and other commodities supplied by Ho Chi Minh City and other provinces nationwide. The province has also become one of major farm produce suppliers in the Mekong Delta region.
 
As defined in the province’s socioeconomic strategy between now and 2010, the provincial trade sector will expand retail network in rural and remote areas, boost im-export activates, and further enhance cooperation and investment. 
 
The province is calling on more investment in industrial production projects with emphasis on developing its food and vegetable processing industry, recovering salted mushroom processing factory, and building more fruit canning firms.
 
Hoa Binh