Flooding in Tien Giang (Source: VNA)
Can Tho (VNA) – Over 70 percent of businesses in the Mekong Delta are suffering from the potentially devastating effects of climate change, said Nguyen Phuong Lam, Vice Director of the Can Tho Chapter of the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI).
Among more than 28,000 active firms, mostly small- and medium-sized enterprises, 6.5 percent are operating in agriculture, 20 percent in the processing industry and 47 percent in trade and services, which have been hit the hardest by the changing climate.
A possible scenario shows that 40 percent of the Mekong Delta’s land will flood if sea levels rise by 1m, and about 2 million ha of farming land will be deemed unusable if salinity encroaches another 100m.
Lam asked for a corporate awareness campaign on climate change consequences and for the Government to launch a special project on regional economic development amid climate change.
He also urged private companies to strengthen their climate resilience to disasters and climate change’s implications.
Huynh Quang Vinh, Deputy General Director of the An Giang Fruit-vegetables and Foodstuff Company, said the firm has come up with ways to fight disasters and fires, equip itself with necessary devices, and educate staff on potential threats and cautionary measures.-VNA
