MEKONG DELTA — The Mekong Delta province of Trà Vinh will make every effort to achieve its economic growth target of 12 per cent this year, the Secretary of its Party Committee, Trần Trí Dũng said.

Speaking at a meeting held to review socio-economic performance in the first nine months of the year on Wednesday (27 September), he said provincial authorities would step up efforts to attract investment, restructure agriculture and build new rural areas.

The province would focus on manufacturing, improve the quality of its goods, promote exports, and deter production models that do not focus on quality and efficiency, he said.

He called on the People’s Committee to enhance guidance on infrastructure development, speed up disbursements of bank loans for development, and prioritise investment in infrastructure to speed up economic restructure.

The departments of Agriculture and Rural Development, Planning and Investment, and Industry and Trade, should join hands to seek partners for searching the markets for the province’s products and to attract more investment, especially in new rural areas, he said.

He urged Trà Vinh farmers to work with official agencies, traders and scientists to restructure the plants in the province, adopt the latest technologies, embrace organic farming to create clean products, and add value to their goods, thus increasing their income.

Trà Vinh faces challenges, especially in agriculture and trade since the prices of items such as shrimp, dried coconut, vegetables, and other foodstuffs remain low, he said.

Elsewhere, disbursement of capital for infrastructure development is slow, the progress of many licensed investment projects have been delayed and the targeted number of new businesses has not been incorporated, he said.

So far this year Trà Vinh has disbursed 37 per cent of the capital from the infrastructure development sources from the State coffers, while only 259 new businesses have been established against a target of 500.

The province achieved economic growth of 7.52 per cent in the first nine months, 3.72 percentage points lower than in the same period last year, Dũng added. — VNS.