Prime Minister Phạm Minh Chính at a conference to promote investment in the Mekong Delta province on Thursday morning. — VNA/VNS Photo Dương Giang

SÓC TRĂNG — Prime Minister Phạm Minh Chính has told Sóc Trăng Province’s administration to build transparent institutions, mechanisms and policies to develop an attractive investment environment toward openness, transparency and sustainability in the future.

Chính also pointed out 12 other things that the province needs to do at a conference to promote investment in the province on Thursday morning.

He said the province must adhere to the guidelines and policies of the Party, especially the programme of building the country in the transition to socialism with three pillars of building a socialist democracy; a rule-of-law socialist State and a socialist-oriented market economy, he said.

“Việt Nam identifies people as the driving force for development; we do not sacrifice social justice and the environment for economic growth,” he added.

The province has to make strategic breakthroughs in infrastructure and human resources in the coming time, he said.

It should develop transport infrastructure synchronously and modernly, starting with highways and seaports, while the volume of goods for export in the Mekong Delta region is very large, he said.

At the same time, it needs to promote administrative reform, digital transformation and e-Government, he said.

Next, the province must pay more attention to zoning work.

“Zoning work must be one step ahead, it should be inherited, innovative and developed by breakthrough thinking and strategic vision," he said.

It is necessary to have a long-term strategic vision to reach sustainable development, he said.

The zoning work must find out and promote distinct potentials, outstanding opportunities and competitive advantages of the province, he said.

It also has to overcome shortcomings and actively create new development opportunities and new attractions through science, technology and innovation, he said.

Investors will consider these things before deciding to invest. If they think it is suitable for their vision, they will come to invest, he said.

The province has to satisfactorily solve global issues such as responding to the COVID-19 pandemic and climate change, he said.

When the issues are well handled, investors will feel more secure, he said.

Chính also said that cooperation with relevant ministries, the companionship of enterprises and the support of local people are also necessary things to develop an investment environment towards openness, transparency, equality, safety, efficiency and sustainability.

Five pillars to attract investment

Speaking at the conference, chairman of the provincial People's Committee, Trần Văn Lâu, said the province will focus on attracting investment under five aspects.

Accordingly, it will focus on developing logistics services to take advantage of its location as the gateway seaport of the Mekong Delta region and promote the advantages of synchronous transport infrastructure that will be invested in the near future such as the Châu Đốc – Cần Thơ – Sóc Trăng Expressway, Đại Ngãi Bridge and its coastal roads, he said.

The province also plans to lure investment in infrastructure development in industrial zones and clusters, he said.

There are some projects attracting investment, including infrastructure investment projects in industrial parks of Kế Sách, Vĩnh Châu and Long Phú, with a total area of nearly 700 ha and projects in building new urban areas in the districts of Trần Đề and Long Phú, as well as Sóc Trăng City, he said.

It will also lure investment in high-tech agriculture, organic agriculture and agricultural production, combined with processing, supply chain and consumption of agricultural products to improve the quality and value of local agricultural products, he said.

The province will develop tourism in the direction of exploiting the strengths of ecotourism, festival and spirituality. At the same time, promoting investment in floating-market tourism in combination with the development of cultural models along the Hậu River and the coastal area associated with the Trần Đề - Côn Đảo high-speed train route, he said.

Additionally, the province now has the potential to develop the renewable energy sector with 72 km of coastline. Soon, after the Power Plan VIII is approved, the province will attract investment in offshore wind power projects with a total expected capacity of 5,250 MW, he said.

Coastal city

Also at the conference, Minister of Transport Nguyễn Văn Thể said the province has great potential and strengths for development when it is scheduled to have a synchronous infrastructure system in terms of road, air and maritime in the next five to seven years.

Trần Đề deep-water port, which is scheduled to be put into operation by 2030, will be a breakthrough. When it is put into operation, no other port in the Mekong Delta region will compare, he said.

The port’s location is believed to be the best deep-water port in the region, he said.

“This is also a common breakthrough of not only the province but also the whole region,” he said.

The area around the port has great potential for the development of industrial zones because it is close to the deep-water port and the transportation costs are very low, he said.

Sóc Trăng City under the province can become a developing coastal city like Hải Phòng and HCM City, he said.

At the conference, the province gave investment registration certificates for four projects with a total registered investment of VNĐ12 trillion (US$521.7 million) and signed a memorandum of investment research and survey with 19 enterprises with a total registered investment capital of over VNĐ200 trillion ($8.69 billion). — VNS