A corner of the Mekong Delta
At the conference, experts and scientists also had a session to discuss the multi-dimensional view of socio-economic development in the Mekong Delta until 2030, with a vision to 2045 associated with topics including agricultural economy, marine economy, circular economy; climate change, urban infrastructure, culture - tourism; institutions, policies, education and society.
Economic growth in the Mekong Delta region maintained at a relatively high rate with the region’s Gross Regional Domestic Product in 2020 of VND596 trillion (US$259,557,400), ranking fourth amongst regions in the country.
The region contributes 11.95 percent to the country’s total GDP; moreover, its structure of the industry - construction and trade in services is getting closer and closer to the economic structure of the country.
In comparison with 2004, the per capita income of the region has increased 8 times. In 2020, the region’s capita income was VND46.47 million a year, ranking 3rd in 6 regions of the country.
Besides the achievements, the seminar participants pointed out a series of challenges and bottlenecks for the socio-economic development of the Mekong Delta.
Dr. Dinh Lam Tan from the Institute of Development Strategy under the Ministry of Planning and Investment said that the economic role of the Mekong Delta is decreasing compared to other regions in the country. The region's GDP contribution has also declined sharply over the past three decades.
In addition, the region’s labor productivity is tending to increase slowly compared to other regions in the country. The Mekong Delta has increased labor productivity three times, but it is equal to only 37 percent compared to the Southeast region and only 50 percent compared to the Red River Delta.
Head of the Central Economic Commission Tran Tuan Anh highly appreciated forecasts and proposals of experts, scientists and localities on the economic and social development of the Mekong Delta region. The workshop made an important contribution to strengthening the scientific and practical arguments to serve the project of summarizing Resolution 21-NQ/TW of the Politburo.
The project makers will acknowledge the opinions of organizations and individuals to send their proposals to the Politburo and the Secretariat of the Party Central Committee for orientations towards sustainable economic and social development in the Mekong Delta in the new period.
