Improve the economic growth rate of the Western region.

The Mekong Delta's economy continues to grow steadily, but has yet to achieve a significant leap in productivity and business scale. By 2025, the region's GRDP is projected to increase by approximately 7.24%, contributing 8.39% to national growth and accounting for 12.2% of the national GDP. This is a positive result given the region's continued reliance on agriculture and agricultural and aquatic product processing industries, but this growth rate is lower than that of rapidly industrializing regions.

In 2000, the Mekong Delta accounted for approximately 22% of the total number of businesses nationwide, but by 2024 this figure had fallen to around 7%. Since 2023, the Mekong Delta has had the lowest density of businesses in the country. After the merger, with the removal of Long An province, the number of active businesses in the region decreased by about 20%, to approximately 65,000. Limitations in industry, FDI, and business capacity have become even more apparent. Classified by capital size, by 2024, micro-enterprises in the region still accounted for 42%, the highest percentage in the country.

The region's labor productivity is currently among the lowest in the country, at approximately 133 million VND/worker/year, roughly the same as the Northern Midlands and Mountains region. Industrial labor productivity in the region is only about half the national average, while the service sector only reaches about two-thirds. The percentage of trained workers in the region is only 16.3%. The urbanization rate is only about 29%, lower than the national average of 38%.

According to one assessment, the above facts show that the business sector in the Mekong Delta is not only small in number but also lacks the impetus for innovation, upgrading in scale, and leading units capable of guiding the region's value chains. The old growth model based on resources, raw output, unskilled labor, and small-scale production households may have reached its limit. The Mekong Delta has not yet created industries and businesses with high added value to raise productivity levels.

The Mekong Delta continues to play a strategic role in Vietnam's food security and agricultural exports, contributing over 50% of rice production, approximately 65% of aquaculture production, about 70% of fruit production, and over 90% of the country's rice exports. Regarding state investment, by 2025, the expressway network directly connected to the Mekong Delta, including both operational and ongoing routes, will be approximately 550km long; travel time between Ho Chi Minh City and Can Tho will be reduced from over 4 hours to just over 2 hours... So what must we do to further develop the Mekong Delta?

Many believe that a comprehensive system of solutions is needed to address this problem. Regarding human resources, it's necessary to increase the proportion of trained workers and improve labor productivity. To maximize the effectiveness of the expressway system, it's crucial to strengthen the coordinated infrastructure system, including waterways, cold storage facilities, sorting and inspection centers, digital logistics, and a network of businesses capable of organizing supply chains. At the macro level, public investment should be linked to economic development plans; preferential credit guarantee mechanisms should be implemented for agriculture ; and the value of the Mekong Delta as the nation's rice granary should be maximized, climate change adaptations made possible, and the unique characteristics of the Mekong Delta transformed into a competitive advantage over other regions nationwide.

Source: https://baophapluat.vn/cai-thien-toc-do-phat-trien-kinh-te-mien-tay.html