An Giang merges with Kien Giang - new growth pole for the Mekong Delta

Launchpad for growth

An Giang and Kien Giang have very favorable geographical locations. An Giang, with a long border with Cambodia, is an important gateway for international trade and border economic development. In 2024, the total export turnover through border gates in the province reached 1.22 billion USD, showing great potential in expanding the market and attracting investment. An Giang is famous as a large rice granary of the country, with an annual rice growing area of ​​over 650,000 hectares, rice output of over 4 million tons. The province also has potential to develop industrial crops, fruit trees and freshwater aquaculture. The aquaculture area for the whole year of 2024 is estimated at 2,010 hectares, with a total output of nearly 701,000 tons.

Hon Son - famous tourist destination of Kien Giang

Meanwhile, Kien Giang with a coastline of more than 200km and a rich island system such as Phu Quoc, Nam Du, Tho Chu... has outstanding strengths in marine economy, especially aquaculture and fisheries. In 2024, the total rice output will reach 4.7 million tons, the aquaculture and fisheries output will be nearly 815,000 tons, contributing significantly to the country's export turnover. Kien Giang also has great potential in the field of renewable energy, especially wind power and solar power.

In addition, An Giang is a land rich in cultural traditions with many historical relics and unique festivals, bearing the imprint of the Kinh, Khmer, Cham and Chinese ethnic groups. Kien Giang also possesses a unique maritime cultural identity, expressed through the Whale Festival, traditional craft villages and typical cuisine. The cultural diversity of the two provinces is an invaluable potential for developing cultural, historical and spiritual tourism.

Resonance of many "spearheads"

Not simply a geographical and administrative merger, this merger promises to create a strong socio-economic entity, unleashing potentials and creating a new growth pole, playing a leading role in promoting the development of the entire Mekong Delta region. After the merger, the new An Giang province will become one of the localities with the largest natural area in the region, with a total area of ​​nearly 9,900km², a population of over 4.95 million people; with 102 communes, wards and special zones. The larger administrative scale creates favorable conditions for overall planning and synchronization of development policies.

Ba Chua Xu Temple on Sam Mountain (Chau Doc, An Giang) attracts millions of tourists every year.

In particular, with the strong potential for border economic development of An Giang and the advantages of marine economy and island tourism of Kien Giang, An Giang province has a complete basis to propose the construction of one or more coastal economic zones or key border economic zones. These zones will enjoy special preferential mechanisms and policies, attracting domestic and foreign investment in the fields of: High technology, logistics, deep processing, complex tourism... creating momentum for the whole region.

The merger of An Giang - Kien Giang brings a diverse and promising economic picture. With high-tech agriculture and deep processing, An Giang continues to affirm its position as a leading agricultural production center with high-quality rice areas, specialty fruit trees and potential for freshwater aquaculture development. The connection with Kien Giang, a locality with strengths in seafood processing and export, will create a strong value chain from raw material production to processing and consumption, increasing the added value of agricultural products in the region. With large rice and seafood output, An Giang has the potential to become the largest agricultural and seafood processing center in the region, aiming to export high-value products.

The strategic geographical location of the new An Giang province with important international border gates such as Tinh Bien, Ha Tien... opens up great opportunities for the development of border trade and logistics services. The connection with Kien Giang's seaport system will create an effective economic corridor, reduce transportation costs, and increase trade with countries in the ASEAN region and the extended Mekong sub-region. The total export turnover through the border gates in 2024 of An Giang and Kien Giang combined will reach over 2.3 billion USD, showing strong growth potential. In terms of renewable energy and green economy, both An Giang and Kien Giang have great potential for renewable energy development, especially solar and wind power. The merger will create conditions for planning large-scale renewable energy projects, providing clean energy sources for economic development and contributing to environmental protection.

Bay Nui Bull Racing Festival - a unique cultural feature of Khmer ethnic minorities (An Giang)

In addition, An Giang has famous spiritual tourism destinations, such as: Ba Chua Xu Temple of Sam Mountain, Cam Mountain Tourist Area... attracting millions of visitors every year. Kien Giang with its long coastline and the pearl island system of Phu Quoc, Nam Du... is a leading tourism destination. In 2024, An Giang welcomed 9.1 million visitors, including 25,000 international visitors, with total tourism revenue reaching 10,250 billion VND. As the leading island tourism center in the country, in 2024, Kien Giang welcomed nearly 10 million visitors, including nearly 980,000 international visitors, with tourism revenue of over 25,100 billion VND. Thereby, it shows that the tourism potential of An Giang province is very large. After the merger, the total number of tourists could exceed 20 million, with total revenue estimated at VND35,350 billion, making the new province an important tourism growth pole in the region. The diversity of tourism products, from spiritual and cultural tourism in An Giang to island tourism in Kien Giang, will attract more tourists, prolong their stay and increase spending. The new An Giang province has enough potential to develop resorts, high-end tourism services, and attract investment in modern tourism infrastructure.

Expectations for a prosperous An Giang

Member of the Party Central Committee, Secretary of the An Giang Provincial Party Committee Le Hong Quang affirmed: "The policy of merging An Giang and Kien Giang provinces is a large-scale policy, opening up a new direction of development. The two provinces have their own strengths, perfectly complementing each other. The combination of An Giang's solid agriculture and spiritual tourism with Kien Giang's economic and marine tourism potential will create a combined strength. An Giang province merging with Kien Giang will have the resources and scale to implement breakthrough development projects, from connecting traffic infrastructure to key economic zones, creating many jobs and increasing income for people, towards An Giang's strong development".

Member of the Party Central Committee, Secretary of Kien Giang Provincial Party Committee Nguyen Tien Hai emphasized: “The merger of An Giang and Kien Giang is a historic decision, opening a new chapter full of promise for the development of the whole region. Together we will build a new, powerful An Giang province, based on the combined strength of prosperous agriculture, dynamic marine economy and rich tourism potential. The ultimate goal is for the prosperity and happiness of the people and the overall development of the country”.

“This merger will create a new growth engine, attract investment, improve the efficiency of State management and optimize resources. The provincial government will focus on building synchronous infrastructure, improving the business investment environment and improving the quality of public services, for a better life for the people” - Alternate member of the Party Central Committee, Deputy Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee, Chairman of the An Giang Provincial People's Committee Ho Van Mung shared.

THU THAO

Source: https://baoangiang.com.vn/an-giang-hop-nhat-kien-giang-cuc-tang-truong-moi-cho-dbscl-a421285.html