An Giang's authorities grant investment permission to investors at the ceremony on Sunday. — VNA/VNS Photo

AN GIANG — The southern province of An Giang, home to Phú Quốc special zone, announced the provincial master plan and held an investment promotion conference on Sunday.

Under the theme 'An Giang: New Horizon - New Vision - New Success', the conference announcing the master plan marked a strategic turning point aimed at reshaping the province’s economic landscape and attracting a new wave of investment.

Hồ Văn Mừng, chairman of the An Giang Province People’s Committee, said the plan is not only a comprehensive blueprint for the future and a political and legal foundation for reorganising development space and reshaping the growth model, but also a forum for An Giang to introduce its potential, advantages and cooperation opportunities to domestic and foreign business communities.

The master plan announcement ceremony is a concrete step toward implementing the resolution of the 14th National Party Congress and the first provincial Party Congress for the 2025-30 term, with the core target of achieving double-digit economic growth during 2026–30, following orientations set by Party General Secretary and State President Tô Lâm during a working session with the province in 2025. 

An Giang possesses a unique development space combining 'delta, forest, sea, border and inland areas'.

To maximise these advantages, the province’s new master plan reorganises the socio-economic space along strategic development corridors and divides the province into five specialised sub-regions.

Besides the special zone of Phú Quốc serving as a breakthrough growth pole, the mainland area will be scientifically structured into the western sub-region focusing on the marine economy, green technology and clean energy; the northern sub-region as a centre for eco-tourism, cultural tourism and border trade; the eastern sub-region specialising in integrated high-tech agriculture and the Long Xuyên knowledge urban area; the southern sub-region centred on the coastal urban area of Rạch Giá, clean energy and key agricultural production and the island sub-region including Phú Quốc, Thổ Châu and Kiên Hải, focusing strongly on world-class tourism services.

The province has chosen a fast and sustainable growth scenario, targeting average GRDP growth of 11 to 11.2 per cent annually during the 2026-30 period.

Phú Quốc Special Zone seen from a cable car. — VNS Photo Khánh Dương

By 2030, An Giang aims to become one of the country’s relatively developed provinces, serving as a major service centre, a strong marine economy hub and a logistics gateway connecting the Mekong region with international markets.

The simultaneous implementation of 21 projects serving APEC 2027 in the Phú Quốc special zone, with total investment exceeding VNĐ137 trillion (US$5.3 billion), is expected to drive major infrastructure breakthroughs and create spillover momentum across the Mekong Delta region.

Since July 1, 2025, the province has successfully attracted 29 projects worth a combined VNĐ161.908 trillion.

During the conference on Sunday, provincial authorities granted investment policy approvals and investment certificates to 19 projects totaling VNĐ66.952 trillion, signed comprehensive strategic cooperation agreements with four partners, and awarded 24 memoranda of understanding for investment research and project surveys with an estimated total capital of around VNĐ1.5 quadrillion.

Mừng reiterated the province’s consistent message that An Giang considers the success of businesses as the success of the province. The efficiency of investors is the driving force for local growth. The trust of the business community is the foundation for An Giang’s sustainable development.

He pledged that the province would continue accompanying investors and creating the most favourable conditions possible, from administrative reform and site clearance to workforce supply and ensuring security and asset safety.

Addressing the conference, Deputy Prime Minister Phạm Gia Túc said An Giang now possesses highly favourable development conditions thanks to its large spatial scale and the full range of components of a comprehensive economy, including border areas, seas, islands, plains, border gates and seaports, enabling it to pursue open, multi-centre and deeply integrated development.

However, he noted that the province still faces challenges, including underdeveloped transport and logistics infrastructure, unsustainable growth quality, uneven administrative reforms and an investment environment that has yet to create a major competitive edge due to weak and low-lying terrain leading to high investment costs.

To realise the provincial master plan, the Deputy Prime Minister instructed An Giang to focus on five key tasks, including quickly developing action plans and implementation programmes for the provincial plan; removing bottlenecks in inter-regional transport infrastructure and logistics systems; strengthening connectivity among economic zones.

He also urged the province to effectively tap the potential of the marine economy, border trade, processing industries and high-quality services and continuing administrative reforms and improvements to the investment climate.

He also asked local authorities to address challenges related to construction materials and weak ground conditions in order to reduce investment costs and enhance its attractiveness to foreign direct investment and strategic investors. — VNS