“Golden” opportunity for Can Tho to “take off” Last article: Removing “bottlenecks”, helping Can Tho make a breakthrough

Despite its many potentials and advantages, Can Tho City after the merger still faces many difficulties and limitations that are considered “bottlenecks” hindering development. To develop quickly and sustainably, these “bottlenecks” need to be cleared with practical and feasible solutions.

Resolutely remove "bottlenecks"

The 1st Congress of the Can Tho City Party Committee, term 2025-2030, frankly acknowledged the limitations and weaknesses that the city is facing. One of them is that although the local economic development has improved, it is not commensurate with the potential and advantages, and has not met the requirements and expectations of the Central Government; the contribution to the GRDP of the region and the whole country is still low; the scale of the economy is still small, budget collection is still difficult, and sustainability is not guaranteed; planning has not met the requirements of socio-economic development. On the other hand, the implementation of a number of specific policies, incentives, investment attraction, and encouragement of socialized investment has not achieved the desired results, and has not created a breakthrough in mobilizing, allocating and effectively using resources; disbursement of public investment capital is still slow compared to requirements...

Can Tho City is focusing on developing businesses not only in terms of quantity but also in terms of production scale. In the photo: Workers finishing products at Vi Thuy Import-Export Garment Joint Stock Company (Vi Thuy Commune, Can Tho City).

According to Mr. Nguyen Van Hoa, Vice Chairman of Can Tho City People's Committee, the city's leaders are well aware of the difficulties and challenges and are determined to remove the "bottlenecks". Specifically, regarding the situation of public investment disbursement being slower than required, the city has established 6 working groups to solve difficulties for businesses and speed up the progress of projects, with the goal of disbursing 100% of public investment capital by 2025.

In the basic construction work, especially to accelerate the progress of component projects 2, 3, 4 of Chau Doc - Can Tho - Soc Trang expressway under the direction of the Prime Minister, the leaders of the City People's Committee have repeatedly inspected and directed the drastic implementation; at the same time, required the investor and the project construction unit to develop a detailed plan for inspection and supervision. Contractors mobilized maximum machinery, equipment and human resources, applied new science and technology, took advantage of clearing the source of filling materials and favorable weather conditions, focused on construction, ensured the completion of output according to plan and disbursed the allocated capital. Investors regularly inspected and supervised, coordinated to remove difficulties, promptly corrected, ensuring progress according to the set plan.

According to Mr. Le Quang Tung, member of the Party Central Committee, Secretary of the Can Tho City Party Committee, the city will resolutely remove "bottlenecks" in institutions, policy mechanisms, and unblock resources to create strong and sustainable changes for the city; study the Central report on amending Resolution No. 59 dated August 5, 2020 of the Politburo "on building and developing Can Tho city to 2030, with a vision to 2045" and Resolution No. 45 dated January 11, 2022 of the National Assembly "on piloting a number of specific mechanisms and policies for the development of Can Tho city". At the same time, prioritize the allocation and effective use of resources, focusing on key projects and works on transport infrastructure, urban areas, logistics, health care, education, focusing on science and technology development, digital transformation, application of artificial intelligence, etc.

Advice to help Can Tho break through

According to data from the Vietnam Federation of Commerce and Industry (VCCI) Mekong Delta branch, Can Tho City currently has only 5.4 enterprises/1,000 people, lower than the national average of 9.2 enterprises/1,000 people. And Can Tho must make great efforts to achieve the target according to Resolution No. 68-NQ/TW dated May 4, 2025 of the Politburo on private economic development, which sets out: by 2030, the whole country will have 2 million enterprises operating in the economy, an average of 20 enterprises/1,000 people.

Mr. Nguyen Phuong Lam, Director of VCCI Mekong Delta branch, suggested that the city should focus on developing enterprises not only in terms of quantity but also in terms of scale and capacity of enterprises. Mr. Lam also pointed out the issue of concern is the low attraction of foreign direct investment (FDI). Specifically, after the merger, Can Tho has more than 120 FDI projects with a total registered investment capital of less than 4 billion USD. Except for Tay Ninh, Can Tho ranks 4th among the remaining 5 provinces of the Mekong Delta. Many questions are raised as to why Can Tho - the center of the region - attracts little FDI capital, not attractive enough for investors?

Mr. Lam said that to attract investment, there are two important things to do: infrastructure development and human resource development. In terms of infrastructure, Can Tho City has a significant advantage when inheriting the transport infrastructure network, especially the expressways under construction, contributing to shortening the distance, reducing logistics costs and improving competitiveness. However, to fully exploit this advantage, Can Tho should not only stop at the main roads, but also pay attention to investing more synchronously in infrastructure connecting localities, inter-provincial roads and inner-city roads. In terms of human resources, the city has a system of 11 colleges and universities, the problem is the policy and conditions to attract and create jobs for workers.

Dr. Tran Khac Tam, delegate of Can Tho City People's Council, member of the Executive Committee of the Vietnam Federation of Commerce and Industry, Vice Chairman of the Council of Business Associations of the Mekong Delta, said that the city needs to have a system of policies to encourage agricultural enterprises to boldly invest and develop. According to Mr. Tam, Can Tho City's incentive policies must be truly different and breakthrough to compete with regions such as the Southeast or the Central region. Specifically, incentives for land lease, corporate income tax, credit support, quick settlement of investment procedures, flexible land conversion... Only then can Can Tho City become a priority destination for large domestic and foreign investors.

In addition, the Can Tho City government should prioritize large projects on agricultural processing and high-tech industrial zones. There should be a long-term vision and orientation for local agricultural development. Specifically, it is necessary to avoid fragmented production and overlapping seasons, but to develop large specialized areas for rice, fruits, and aquatic products, aiming for high-quality products, conquering the domestic market and aiming for export.

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Frankly identifying and finding solutions to remove "bottlenecks", the Party Committee, government and people of Can Tho City are determined to turn opportunities and advantages into resources and development driving forces to soon become a growth pole of the country.

Can Tho City is becoming a promising land attracting many large investors to research and invest in many projects. Specifically, the Mekong Resort Urban Area Project with a scale of nearly 3,000 hectares in Chau Thanh commune, with a total investment capital of about 6.2 billion USD, is being researched and studied by investors. Alphanam Group has also proposed to invest in many real estate, urban and social housing projects such as the Mai Dam River New Urban Area Project (139.9 hectares) and the 927C Urban Area (657 hectares); the Apartment and Hotel Complex Project on Le Loi Street, Cai Khe Ward (6.24 hectares); the New Urban Area on both sides of Vo Van Kiet Street, Zone 1, Long Tuyen Ward (270 hectares) and the Social Housing Project in the Resettlement Area of ​​An Binh Ward - Component 2 (1.51 hectares) ...

TRUONG SON - CAM LINH

Source: https://baocantho.com.vn/co-hoi-vang-de-can-tho-cat-canh-bai-cuoi-thao-go-diem-nghen-dua-can-tho-but-pha-a192553.html