The southern province of Tay Ninh has called on its neighbour Ho Chi Minh City to invest in Tay Ninh’s agriculture, particularly safe vegetable cultivation and dairy cattle, while increasing the consumption of its agricultural products.

At a March 1 meeting with HCM City authorities to review past cooperation between the two sides and discuss how to continue with it until 2020, Tay Ninh’s Party Committee Secretary Vo Van Phuong said the cooperation has been helpful for Tay Ninh’s development. However, specific directions are needed for the ties between the two localities to yield greater benefits for both sides, he said.

Apart from calling for investment in agriculture, Tay Ninh officials also asked for stronger links in tourism and personnel training, particularly for the health care sector.

According to Le Thanh Hai, Secretary of HCM City’s Party Committee, HCM City has very large demands for food, and there are big opportunities for Tay Ninh in tapping the city’s market. He suggested that the two localities work more closely together to remove difficulties for their businesses and map out joint directions for economic connectivity, including transport infrastructure development and cooperation in agricultural production and breeding.

During the 2007-13 period, the two sides have seen fruitful cooperation with HCM City investing in 101 projects capitalising at 17 trillion VND (809.5 million USD) in Tay Ninh.

HCM City has helped implemented several key projects in Tay Ninh such as a 33.5 billion VND road around the Southern Revolutionary Base relic, a 4.4 km long road connecting Loc Phuoc and Song Lo costing 26.5 billion VND, and provision of 23 buses worth 29 billion VND to improve public transport in the province.

In addition, the two localities effectively cooperated in the fields of health, education and training, tourism, science-technology, environment and banking.-VNA