HCM CITY — HCM City and Cửu Long (Mekong) Delta provinces should diversify the way they solicit investment from each other and promote trade and tourism, and draft specific plans to improve co-operation, according to the Southwest Steering Committee.

Speaking at a conference on investment, trade and tourism between the delta and the city in HCM City yesterday, Sơn Minh Thắng, deputy head of the committee, said the delta plays a very important role in the country’s economy by producing a lot of agricultural products consumed domestically and abroad.

It accounts for more than 50 per cent of the country’s rice output and 90 per cent of exports, besides 70 per cent of fruit and 60 per cent of aquatic produce, he said.

But investment there, especially foreign, remains modest, he said.

Nguyễn Thành Phong, Chairman of the HCM City People’s Committee, said, "The Comprehensive Economic Co-operation between the Mekong Delta and HCM City aims to create attractive investment opportunities for businesses in Việt Nam’s largest agricultural region.

“Many solutions, especially in food production, agricultural and fisheries processing and fruits, have been deployed in past years, yielding positive economic effects for the region.”

Having long-term links between HCM City and the delta, which accounts for 18.5 per cent of GDP, is the right way to go, he said.

Thắng said, "Trade co-operation between the delta and HCM City has increased significantly, but remains modest compared to the potential.

"In terms of tourism, there are not many tours combining HCM City and the delta.”

The conference offered a good chance for the two sides to introduce their potentials and strengths to promote trade, investment and tourism co-operation, he said.

"Businesses have a chance to raise the difficulties and obstacles they face with respect to administrative and investment procedures and others when investing in the region, so that central and local authorities could take immediate measures to resolve them.”

Trần Hữu Hiệp, member of the steering committee, said since the delta’s infrastructure and human resources are still underdeveloped compared with other regions in the country, transport infrastructure, irrigation and human resource training are among the promising sectors for investors.

Thắng called on the city and delta to promote consumption of agricultural products and share experiences in hi-tech agricultural production.

They should join hands to develop tourism products and set up tours taking in both the city and delta, he said.