HCM City's Can Gio district to become high-quality ecotourism destination

Hanoi (VNA) – The Party Committee of Ho Chi Minh City has issued a resolution on development orientations for Can Gio by 2030 that aims to turn this coastal district into a high-quality resort and ecotourism city comparable with regional rivals.

In the resolution, HCM City targets the district’s annual growth of 20.7% in production value during the 2021 – 2030 period. The service industry will make up about 74.7% of the production value while annual per capita income will reach 182 million VND (over 7,300 USD), and all public transport vehicles are to be fueled by clean energy by 2030.

The municipal Party Committee has targeted to manage, protect, and sustainably develop the Can Gio mangrove forest ecosystem, which is also a world biosphere reserve. In particular, the strategy for sustainable development of the biosphere reserve for 2021 - 2030, with a vision to 2030 - 2040, will be carried out effectively. The vision is to ensure Can Gio will become a role model in the harmonisation of biodiversity conservation, improvement of the local community’s livelihoods and life quality, with green and sustainable economic growth.

The local economy will be developed by tapping into advantages of Can Gio as a coastal district. In particular, focus will be put on promoting sea-related sectors, including maritime tourism, navigation, aquaculture, and seafood exploitation and processing. Policies will also be promulgated to strongly attract resources for economic development. Priority will be given to major investors with advanced technology and management levels in ecotourism, high-tech agriculture, and urban development.

The resolution underlined the need to diversify products and destinations in Can Gio, which is hoped to welcome 49 million tourist arrivals between 2021 and 2030, up 12.5% annually.

About 50km from the centre of HCM City, Can Gio is the only district of the southern metropolis to be completely surrounded by rivers and the sea. Mangrove forests account for 56.7% of its total area. It is blessed with a unique and rich ecosystem recognised by UNESCO as a world biosphere reserve in 2000, becoming the first of its kind in Vietnam.

The Thanh nien (Young people) daily cited architect Nguyen Xuan Anh, a planning expert, as saying that with methodological investment, Can Gio will become a resort, recreational and tourism city comparable with others of this kind in Southeast Asia.

With special maritime features, Can Gio will create considerable differences for HCM City compared to coastal tourism areas in the central region. A hi-end ecotourism, resort tourism, and service system in the district will not only lay a foundation for HCM City’s development towards the sea but also become a new highlight for the metropolis to make economic breakthroughs, according to former Director of the HCM City Economics Institute Tran Du Lich./.