The Mekong Delta city of Can Tho continually prioritises foreign investment in its environment in an effort to enhance its agricultural production efficiency, said Dao Anh Dung, Vice Chairman of the city People’s Committee, at a reception for a delegation of businesses from Nagasaki prefecture in Japan on March 11.

During the event, a representative from the Aquatic Product Association highlighted the financial and technical difficulties local farmers face in improving product quality, primarily due to environmental factors such as waste water and muddy sediment.

The prefecture, home to numerous aquatic product cultivation and processing firms, has in-depth experience in treating waste water and muddy sediment, said Takayuki Miyanishi, head of the delegation.

Japan is willing to help the regional farmers address these issues to improve the value and competitiveness of their products in the domestic and international market, he added.

Can Tho has zoned off 14,000 hectares, or 6.3 percent of its total aquaculture area, to raise “tra” fish, amounting to over 70 percent of its total aquatic product output.

The locality is leading the nation with an annual export of nearly 197,000 tonnes of “tra” fish.

However, it has been unable to penetrate strict markets like Japan and the Republic of Korea as a result of insufficient food safety standards.-VNA