Fishing boats dock at the Định An fishing port in Trà Vinh Province’s Trà Cú District. – VNA/VNS Photo Thanh Hoà

TRÀ VINH – Trà Vinh Province aims to become one of the Cửu Long (Mekong) Delta’s key marine economic hubs.

Located between the Tiền and Hậu rivers, two tributaries of the Mekong, and with a coastline of 65km, Trà Vinh enjoys some major advantages for developing a marine economy.

Coastal districts and towns account for nearly 65 per cent of the province’s total area.

Lê Văn Hẳn, its chairman, said the province targets coastal districts and towns accounting for 70-75 per cent of its economy by 2025.

The province has various targets for marine economic development by then: average income in the region will be 1.2 times the overall average, marine tourism will grow at an average of 15 per cent a year and account for 10 per cent of its revenues and build adequate transport infrastructure.

It also plans to complete by then comprehensive zoning of the Định An economic zone in Trà Cú and Duyên Hải districts and targets its industrial production to account for 50 per cent of the province’s total industrial production value.

To achieve the targets, the province is taking various measures like giving priority to renewable energy and developing new marine economic sectors.

It will review all existing solar- and wind-power projects and invest in power transmission infrastructure.

The province will develop aquaculture in coastal localities towards developing industrial farming, applying advanced techniques, adapting to climate change, and breeding aquatic species with high value and competitiveness.

It aims to have 15,000ha of intensive and semi-intensive aquaculture areas that are farmed to certified clean standards and have geographical indication.

Trà Vinh also aims to have 1,000ha of hi-tech aquaculture areas for breeding black tiger shrimp, white-legged shrimp, crabs, and bivalve molluscs.

It will develop tourism in coastal areas.

In the past the Government has supported the province with a number of national-level projects to develop its marine economy.

The Định An passage running from the province’s Định An Estuary to Cần Thơ City, for instance, allows cargo ships to enter the Hậu River and transport goods to and from ports along the river, enabling its key products to reach domestic and foreign markets.

The Định An Economic Zone is one of the country’s eight major ones for developing the marine economy and manufacturing.

The province has advantages in aquaculture and fishing with 34,000ha of farms and nearly 1,200 fishing boats.

It has four thermal power plants with a total capacity of 4,500MW, nine wind power plants generating 666MW and one 140MW solar plant.

It is asking the Government to add its 17 wind power projects with a total capacity of 2,400MW to the national power plan. – VNS