Chau Doc - Central urban area of ​​the Southwestern border region

Located on the banks of the Hau River, connecting traffic with many localities and neighboring Cambodia, Chau Doc ward is an important trade gateway of An Giang province. Having gone through a journey full of challenges and opportunities to become a prominent urban area, Chau Doc ward is promoting its strengths and potential in the new period.

A corner of Chau Doc ward, seen from the top of Sam Mountain.

The statue of Buddha leaning against Sam mountain cliff, a typical tourist project of Chau Doc is about to be completed.

Dynamic city

Thanks to its special location, Chau Doc ward has many famous scenic spots and relics, which are favorable for developing projects and tours. Grasping these conditions, the locality focuses on promoting its potential and exploiting its existing strengths, combined with mobilizing resources for infrastructure investment.

Chau Doc Ward is also a commercial and service center for the entire Southwestern border region, with the role of a hub of rich and abundant goods, bustling trading activities; modern and synchronous banking and medical services. The locality is also a pioneer in implementing administrative reforms, successfully piloting the Public Administration Center model.

Thanks to the convenience of both waterways and roads, Chau Doc ward has a great advantage, playing the role of a trade connection between provinces and cities in the region with ASEAN countries, such as: Cambodia, Laos, Thailand... Therefore, Chau Doc ward Chau Doc is one of the 5 key driving forces promoting development, with the potential to become a center of trade, services, and tourism of the province and the Southwest region.

Thoai Ngoc Hau Tomb, National Historical Relic.

Deputy Secretary of the Party Committee, Chairman of the People's Committee of Chau Doc Ward Huynh Buu Toan said that merging provincial-level administrative units helps expand development space, creating many opportunities and potentials in various fields. Chau Doc Ward inherits the development achievements of Chau Doc City in the past.

During the past term, the economic structure shifted in the right direction: trade and services accounted for over 70%, industry and construction accounted for 18% and agriculture, forestry and fishery accounted for less than 12%.

Chau Doc market maintains over 2,000 business households, attracting an average of 10,000 - 15,000 visitors per day; import-export turnover through Vinh Xuong International Border Gate and border crossings reaches over 600 million USD/year, contributing positively to the overall growth of the province.

Sam Mountain Lady Festival.

Tourists to Chau Doc in 2024 will be over 5.5 million, with the Ba Chua Xu Festival on Sam Mountain alone attracting more than 2.5 million; tourism revenue in 2024 will reach 3,200 billion VND, nearly 1.5 times higher than in 2020.

Especially with the strength of spiritual tourism, the ward preserves, embellishes and promotes the cultural values ​​of historical and intangible cultural relics, notably the Via Ba Chua Xu Festival of Sam Mountain, which was recognized by UNESCO as a representative intangible cultural heritage of humanity.

Continue to change

Recently, the model of “Civilized market - trade combined with tourism” at Chau Doc market is one of the new features, contributing to both serving trade and promoting local specialties. The program “Friendly and hospitable Chau Doc people” has been positively responded by traders and people, raising community awareness in building a civilized and safe tourism environment.

Chau Doc market is known as the capital of dried foods and fish sauces in the West.

Small traders contribute to building a civilized and friendly image to attract tourists.

Mr. Vo Thanh Giang, owner of a confectionery business in Chau Doc market, shared: “I changed my job from office work to trading nearly 6 years ago, still choosing to stay with the city where I was born and raised. I am very proud to welcome friends and tourists from other places to Chau Doc so they can feel the civilization, friendliness and hospitality of the people. That is not only a necessary image of tourism, but also a part of An Giang people that needs to be spread.”

Besides spiritual tourism, Chau Doc ward also connects to develop new tourism products, such as: Community tourism at Chau Phong Cham Village, river raft village experience tourism, and garden eco-tourism along Hau River.

“I had new and unforgettable experiences, especially visiting the raft village and learning about the typical life of the river dwellers. I will definitely come back to visit this dynamic city again,” said Ms. Thuy Ha, a tourist from Hanoi.

Opportunity to accelerate

Chau Doc Ward Party Committee determined that, on the basis of the establishment of 4 wards of Chau Doc City (old), it inherited and maintained its central position, continuing to be the driving force for the development of the Southwestern border area. Chau Doc Ward determined the key task is to focus on building an urban area oriented towards comprehensive trade - services and riverside eco-tourism, associated with the goal of green, sustainable and modern development.

Transport infrastructure is increasingly improved.

In recent times, tourism infrastructure and urban transport infrastructure have received attention and investment, with many important projects such as: Con Tien Bridge, Chau Doc Bridge, access road to Sam Mountain National Tourist Area, central bus station along with hotel projects, resorts along Hau River... forming the foundation for developing a large-scale and modern tourism - resort service chain.

Large-scale projects of the Central and provincial levels with the nature of connecting inter-regional traffic infrastructure have been completed and put into use, such as Chau Doc Bridge, Chau Doc - Can Tho - Soc Trang Expressway Project which is being urgently implemented... creating opportunities for local development.

After the Chau Doc - Can Tho - Soc Trang expressway is completed by the end of 2025 and with the existing infrastructure conditions of traffic, banking system, wholesale markets, warehouses, accommodation facilities...

The policy of connecting traffic from Chau Doc - Can Tho - Soc Trang expressway to An Phu and Tinh Bien is a favorable condition for Chau Doc to focus on developing trade and tourism services, especially connecting the Chau Doc - Tinh Bien - Ha Tien axis.

Tourists visit historical sites and typical works in Chau Doc ward.

“Taking advantage of the above favorable conditions, Chau Doc ward is determined to play a key role in realizing the goal of making An Giang a fairly developed province in the Mekong Delta region. Developing eco-cultural-spiritual tourism continues to be an important economic pillar. The government focuses on preserving and promoting the values ​​of historical-cultural relics associated with the Ba Chua Xu belief, temples, pagodas, traditional craft villages; encouraging the development of riverside eco-tourism and experiential tourism”, emphasized Deputy Secretary of the Party Committee, Chairman of Chau Doc ward People's Committee Huynh Buu Toan.

Article and photos: MY HANH

Source: https://baoangiang.com.vn/chau-doc-do-thi-trung-tam-vung-bien-gioi-tay-nam-a462198.html