A container is loaded onto a ship at a port in Cần Thơ City. — VNA/VNS Photo Thanh Liêm

CẦN THƠ — The Cửu Long (Mekong) City of Cần Thơ hopes to promote trade cooperation and export its agricultural products to the Dutch market and Europe. 

Trần Việt Trường, chairman of the municipal People’s Committee, delivered this statement during a reception for businesses from the Netherlands and Vietnamese enterprises who are involved in import-export activities to discuss cooperation opportunities relating to the import and export of agricultural products and logistics on Monday. 

Cần Thơ has more than 114,000ha of agricultural land, accounting for about 80 per cent of its natural land area. Of which, over 78,000ha are cultivated with rice with an annual output of over 1.3 million tonnes and nearly 31,000ha of fruit trees with an output of 170,000 tonnes of all kinds.

There are 40 rice processing enterprises in the city, along with 45 seafood processing facilities for export and about 478 agricultural and aquatic product production and processing establishments for domestic consumption. Its major export items are rice, aquatic products, fruits, and other processed agricultural products.

Trường said the logistics infrastructure of Cần Thơ City and the Mekong Delta is still limited. Due to the sedimentation at Định An estuary, ships of over 500 tonnes cannot enter local ports. Therefore, the Government has advocated dredging the estuary so that ships from 10,000 to 20,000 tonnes can dock at Hoàng Diệu port in Bình Thủy District and Cái Cui port in Cái Răng District.

The city leader also said that Cần Thơ boasts an international airport, but it mainly carries passengers. Logistics services have not been developed, affecting the import and export of agricultural products of the city as well as the Mekong Delta region. Thus, the city is inviting investors with strengths in logistics and aviation sectors to come to the locality to explore investment opportunities.

Cần Thơ has planned to set up a logistics centre for linkage, production, processing and consumption of agricultural products in the region, which will cover an area of 3,300 ha, he said, adding that the project is expected to be approved by the Prime Minister next month.

At the reception, representatives of Dutch investors and Vietnamese import-export enterprises said that they would conduct further study to have a better view of projects in this regard. — VNS