The Mekong Delta key economic zone, including Can Tho city and An Giang, Kien Giang and Ca Mau provinces, is striving to raise its industrial proportion to 40 percent by 2020, up 8.3 percent against this year’s figure.

According to the Steering Committee for the Southwestern Region, in order to fulfil the target, the localities will rearrange State-owned enterprises operating in seafood processing, which is seen as the regional spearhead industry.

The enterprises will receive support to upgrade their equipment and technologies while increasing their processing capacity, using on-the-spot materials in Ca Mau and Kien Giang.

The localities will expand seafood exports to countries in Asia, Europe and North America, contributing to raising the export value by 13.5 percent annually to 20 trillion VND ( 940 million USD ).

Apart from fisheries, the economic hub will also focus on building canned food facilities in Can Tho and fish oil processing plants in Kien Giang, Ca Mau, An Giang and Can Tho.

More large-scale rice processing centres equipped with cutting-edge technologies will be established in An Giang, Kien Giang and Can Tho while a number of new storehouses will be set up in Can Tho, An Giang, Kien Giang and Ca Mau with capacity ranging from 18,000 tonnes to 450,000 tonnes.

Three power plants , including O Mon, Ca Mau and Kien Luong, with a total capacity of between 9,000 and 9,4000 MW will be developed in the service of industrial production.

The localities will also invest in infrastructure, especially the transport network, to connect the key economic zone with the Southeastern region and other regions nationwide.

They will also make its easer for enterprises and economic sectors to engage in infrastructure projects under Build-and-Transfer (BT) and Build-Operate-Transfer (BOT) agreements.-VNA