At the working session between the delegation of US legislative assistants and Vinh Long province's officials (Source: VNA) Vinh Long (VNA) - A delegation of US legislative assistants led by Terra Lynn Sabag, Deputy Chief of Staff for Congressman Rick Larsen, visited the Mekong Delta province of Vinh Long on April 19 as part of their on-going working trip to Vietnam.
Secretary of the provincial Party Committee Tran Van Ron received the delegation, during which the two sides exchanged ideas on a number of issues of common concern such as foreign-invested projects in Vinh Long, impact of climate change and the locality’s solutions to the problem.
According to the provincial Department of Natural Resources and Environment, the impact of climate change has greatly affected agricultural production, infrastructure facilities in Vinh Long and locals’ life. Natural disasters and climate change have caused an economic loss of nearly 730 billion VND (31.45 million USD) in the 2010-2018 period.
In order to proactively adapt to climate change, local authorities have adjusted plans on agricultural development, fisheries development, rural clean water development, irrigation construction and provincial traffic network development to 2020, with a vision to 2030.
In 2017-2018, the province spent nearly 2 trillion VND on building over 1,300 irrigation infrastructure projects to respond to climate change.
Regarding foreign direct investment (FDI), Vinh Long is now home to 50 FDI projects with a total capital of 550 million USD, with three of those invested in by US firms worth about 1.2 million USD, mainly in processing agricultural products for export.
Ron said the Mekong Delta has a great advantage of agriculture, stressing that Vinh Long is the second largest fruit production area in the region.
Vinh Long is currently exporting mango and rambutan to the US market, he said, adding that the locality expects to have more products to be exported to the US.
He expressed his hope that the delegation will support the locality in calling on US businesses to invest in Vinh Long, as well as in coping with climate change.
On behalf of the delegation, Terra Lynn Sabag expressed her wish to work to strengthen the Vietnam-US relationship.-VNA
VNA
