Fishing boats dock at Binh Thang fishing port in Ben Tre province's Binh Dai district (Photo: VNA) Ben Tre (VNA) - The Mekong Delta province of Ben Tre will develop its maritimeeconomy over the next decade, focusing on fishing, tourism and renewableenergy, according to the provincial People’s Committee.
A plan it has drafted for the purpose envisages,by 2030, the maritime economy accounting for 30 percent of the overall provincialeconomy.
It will focus on aquaculture models that useadvanced techniques and are biologically safe and environment-friendly.
It plans to increase the area under aquacultureto 42,000ha and annual output to 136,000 tonnes. Around 5,100ha will be farmedusing advanced techniques.
All intensive farming areas raising key aquaticspecies will meet Vietnamese good agricultural practices (VietGAP) or otherstandards such as GlobalGAP and Aquaculture Stewardship Council (ASC).
The province targets annual revenues of 450million VND (19,400 USD) per hectare from aquaculture by 2030.
It plans to set up five or six new seafoodprocessing plants, including two to three for shrimp. It will develop a marineeconomic industrial park in Thanh Phu district before the end of the plan.
The province targets construction of onerenewable power plant this year and linking it with the national grid. Its production of wind power will reach 1,285MWand solar power, more than 200MW by 2030.
It will develop marine tourism together withagricultural services in the three coastal districts of Binh Dai, Ba Tri andThanh Phu districts. It plans to increase tourism revenues three fold by 2030.
Cao Van Trong, Chairman of the provincialPeople’s Committee, said to achieve the targets more investments would be madein infrastructure to develop aquaculture areas that use advanced techniques inthe three coastal districts. Models that help adapt to climate change would beexpanded, he said.
The focus would be on the use of advancetechniques in aquaculture, fishing and processing and preservation of seafoodthat have high value and demand, Trong said.
The province has 11 seafood processing plantswith an annual output of 72,000 tonnes, mostly frozen tra fish, clam andshrimp.
The area under aquaculture in the province hasincreased rapidly in recent years, with the key items being marine shrimp, trafish and clam.
More and more farmers and companies in the provinceare adopting good agricultural practice standards such as GlobalGAP and ASCstandards for exports.
The province had nearly 22,000ha underblack-tiger shrimp in the first quarter of this year, according to itsDepartment of Agriculture and Rural Development.
Fishermen’s catches totalled 48,569 tonnes inthe first quarter, a 5.25 percent increase year-on-year.
The department attributed the increase to theupgrading of fishing boats used for offshore fishing.
The province has focused on developing offshorefishing activities, advanced fishing methods and logistic services for fishingboats at sea.
The People’s Committee has ordered theDepartment of Industry and Trade and other relevant agencies to enableinvestors to quickly build the wind and solar power projects that have beenlicensed.
With a coastline of 65km, Ben Tre has greatpotential in renewable energy, marine tourism, aquaculture, and fisheries.-VNA
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