Tourists experience clam harvesting at a breeding site in the Gò Công Sea in Đồng Tháp Province. – VNA/VNS Photo Hữu Chí

ĐỒNG THÁP – Đồng Tháp Province is positioning its eastern coastal region as a hub for maritime economic development, aiming to transform it into a dynamic economic zone.

The Cửu Long (Mekong) Delta province has a 32-kilometre coastline to the east and two main river mouths, Cửa Tiểu and Soài Rạp, which serve as key waterways linking to the East Sea and connecting with other provinces both nationally and internationally.

These features give it significant potential and advantages for developing the maritime economy, including aquaculture and fishing, fisheries logistics, marine eco-tourism, industry, and seaports.

The coastal communes benefit from a mangrove ecosystem well-suited to bivalve mollusc cultivation.

The province now has 2,300 hectares for clam farming and nearly 4,000 hectares for shrimp, yielding around 16,000 tonnes of the latter and 15,000–17,000 tonnes of the former each year, mainly for export.

In the specialised clam farming zone in Tân Thành Commune, traders buy commercial clams at VNĐ20,000–25,000 per kilogramme, depending on size (50–60 per kilogramme).

With yields reaching 15 tonnes per hectare this year, farmers earn VNĐ300–400 million (US$11,500–15,300) per hectare.

Nguyễn Tuấn Duy, chairman of the Gò Công Đông Commune People’s Committee, said: “To improve the value chain of commercial clams sustainably, the province has worked with the International Collaborating Centre for Aquaculture and Fisheries Sustainability, Oxfam, and the Gò Công Đông Commune People’s Committee to set up a clam harvesting management area on the Gò Công coast following Marine Stewardship Council standards.”

In 2023 clams from Gò Công Đông were awarded Aquaculture Stewardship Council certification, enabling them to be sold to demanding markets such as Europe and Japan.

The 350-hectare clam farming zone in Gò Công Đông is the fourth in Việt Nam to obtain this certification.

Clam farming has developed along the Gò Công coast for many years, generating jobs and incomes for locals while supplying clams for both domestic consumption and export.

It currently provides employment for about 100,000 workers in the area.

Besides clam farming, the coastal communes of Tân Điền, Tân Phú Đông, and Gò Công Đông are also expanding prawn cultivation.

Farmers in these areas grew prawns across 4,895 hectares in the first half of this year, with an estimated output of 19,850 tonnes.

Lê Thanh Đằng, chairman of the Tân Phú Đông Commune People’s Committee, said that with provincial support, the commune’s coastal areas had received major investment in irrigation projects to support aquaculture and fishing, helping restructure the local economy and improve livelihoods.

The expansion of prawn farming and the use of marine resources from riverine islets and mudflats had generated considerable income for households and driven local development, he said.

Trần Thị Bé Bảy, deputy director of the province's Department of Agriculture and Environment, said the province would expand aquaculture models using new, environment-friendly technologies suited to climate change, including ecological farming.

It would also promote aquaculture that meets Good Aquaculture Practice and international sustainability standards, alongside integrated and recirculating farming systems, she said.

Investment attraction

According to Trần Văn Dũng, deputy chairman of the provincial People’s Committee, the province has identified maritime development as the main economic focus of its eastern region, with emphasis on building industrial infrastructure and attracting projects aligned with industrialisation and modernisation.

The region currently includes the 285-hectare Soài Rạp Petroleum Industrial Park, and the Gia Thuận 1, Gia Thuận 2, and Phước Trung industrial clusters, covering 50, 50, and 30 hectares respectively.

The development of these clusters and the attraction of investment play a vital role in socio-economic progress, creating jobs for thousands of local workers and promoting a structural shift from agriculture to industry and services in line with provincial strategy.

The province will align closely with national and local maritime strategies that prioritise outward-facing development. By 2030, it aims to achieve a major breakthrough in the marine economy by expanding key coastal sectors such as tourism and maritime services.

The province will foster production linkages through co-operatives and co-operative groups, adopt scientific and technological advances in aquaculture and seafood processing, and create high-quality, flagship products.

Plans include setting up high-tech prawn farming zones and developing sustainable, community-based clam farming models.

The province also seeks to attract investment in key sectors such as seaports, logistics, processing, and mechanical engineering.

Efforts are focused on developing infrastructure in the Soài Rạp Industrial Park and Gia Thuận 2 Cluster, with the aim of forming a coastal economic zone and ecological urban area.

Connectivity and technical infrastructure have largely been completed, laying the groundwork for further investment and sustainable development in the eastern region. – VNS