The Mekong Delta province of Dong Thap will concentrate on developing the flower village of Sa Dec into a flower city in the future.

Accordingly, the province plans to upgrade its infrastructure and apply scientific technology to better serve the work of preserving and packaging post-harvest flowers and diversifying products.

At a workshop on October 26, Deputy Director of the provincial Department of Agriculture and Rural Development Nguyen Thanh Tai recommended building centralised manufacturing zones, organising flower fairs, and establishing groups of goods distributors for flower exports.

Meanwhile, Dr. Phan Chanh Duong, lecturer of Fulbright Economics Teaching Programme, shared his idea of turning Sa Dec into a resort city with various genres of tourism such as sightseeing tours through flower farms, restaurants serving local cuisines, and services along the flower roads, markets, and trade villages.

He also suggested building a centre for applied biology to study and create new plants, and at the same time providing local farmers with flower planting techniques and seeking ways to persuade domestic and foreign scientists and businesses to invest in the field.

Sa Dec is one of the three largest flower growing areas in the Mekong Delta with 355 ha. The area produces more than 2,000 varieties of flowers to supply to the domestic market and also export to Laos , Cambodia and China , with total turnover of more than 170 billion VND (8 million USD) each year./.