Mekong Delta provinces have been creating all favourable conditions to lure as many investment projects as possible from both foreign and domestic sectors, said an official from the Steering Committee for the Southwest Region.

According to Nguyen Quang Phong, the Committee’s deputy head, the regional provinces have been speeding up administrative reform to shorten the process of licensing projects, setting up information centres that provide investors with data on the market, procedures and trade promotion policies in parallel with paying heed to train high-quality human resources.

In addition, the infrastructure system and urbanisation have been propelled along with the connectivity of regional provinces to Ho Chi Minh City to be hastened in efforts to expand trade exchange with foreign partners.

Presently, a string of major works have been brought into operation, such as Cai Cui seaport (Ca Mau province), Tra Noc airport (Can Tho city) and Phu Quoc airport (Kien Giang).

Three power centres in O Mon, Ca Mau and Kien Luong with a total capacity of around 9,000 MW to 9,400 MW, and the road network linking the region with the whole country such as National Highway 1A are also being prioritised.

The committee is proposing a particular policy to attract investment in the region, with priority given to the upgrade of seaports and airports.

Mekong Delta provinces now have 802 foreign investment projects with a total registered capital of 11 billion USD. Long An gets the most with 3.5 billion USD in capital, followed by Kien Giang with 3.1 billion USD and Tien Giang, 1.1 billion USD, according to statistics from the Ministry of Planning and Investment.

However, the ministry said the above mentioned outcome is still far from the region’s potential, blaming asynchronous infrastructure, an unqualified workforce and an unattractive investment environment.-VNA