Vinh Long economy - strong growth expected

The official operation of Vinh Long province is a political event of special significance, demonstrating great determination in renewing management thinking and the aspiration to rise up. In which, the socio-economy is expected to develop rapidly and sustainably in the new era.

Vinh Long will have more development conditions with newly formed growth drivers. Illustrative photo

Identify potential

The new Vinh Long province has a natural area of ​​over 6,296 km2 (125.92% of the standard), a population of over 4.2 million people (299.62% of the standard) and 124 commune-level administrative units (including 105 communes and 19 wards). According to experts, in terms of administrative geography, Vinh Long province has the characteristics of "three sides bordering rivers, one side bordering the sea", the North and East bordering Dong Thap province and the West bordering Can Tho city, the South and Southeast bordering the East Sea. The presence of Tien River, Hau River and a system of tributaries such as Co Chien, Ba Lai, Ham Luong, Mang Thit... shows the special importance of the province in linking waterway traffic and economic interaction in the region.

Notably, Vinh Long province has a coastline of more than 130km, including important river mouths such as Dinh An, Cung Hau, Ba Lai. This opens up great possibilities for developing marine economy, logistics, seaports, wind power and at the same time strategically repositioning the entire coastal region of the Mekong Delta. Overall, with its large geographical space, central location and diverse ecology - population - resources, Vinh Long province will have many opportunities to become the new center of the Mekong Delta in the future period of sustainable development and integration.

MSc. Nguyen Tien Hung (Massey University, New Zealand) said that, according to in-depth research and analysis, the consulting team proposed 11 potential groups and advantages of Vinh Long province. Of which, there are 5 very potential groups including: marine economy; logistics and waterway transport; water resources and irrigation; agriculture , processing and export; industry and clean energy. There are 6 potential groups: eco-tourism, culture; human resources, education; digital transformation, e-commerce; plant and animal varieties; production, repair and maintenance centers for wind turbines and solar power.

“In terms of marine economy, Vinh Long owns a coastline of more than 130km, bordering the East Sea through the coastal districts of Thanh Phu and Duyen Hai. This area gathers large river mouths such as Ba Lai, Ham Luong, Co Chien, Dinh An - these river mouths are strategic potential for seaport development, coastal logistics and large-scale aquaculture. Coastal lands, salt marshes and alluvial plains are very suitable for offshore wind power and the potential for solar power development in farms” - Master Nguyen Tien Hung argued.

Meanwhile, the potential for developing waterways and logistics has the advantage of a dense river system covering all three provinces, which is a great advantage in waterways, with the potential to exploit cheap and large-volume freight transport. Road routes such as National Highway 60, National Highway 53 and the Dai Ngai Bridge project, the bridge to Dinh An Economic Zone will increase inter-regional connectivity. Vinh Long is fully qualified to become the logistics center of the region.

“Renewable energy and solar power and wind turbines, Vinh Long's coastal area is located in the area with the highest solar radiation in the region (4.8-5.1 kWh/m2/day) and great offshore wind potential. Vinh Long will have the conditions to develop rooftop solar power (homes, factories, farms), solar power combined with agriculture and coastal wind power. In addition, the province can plan ancillary industrial clusters to serve the production, assembly, maintenance of wind turbines and energy storage systems” - Master. Nguyen Tien Hung said.

Expect to promote potential and strengths

Vinh Long province is located in the center of the Mekong Delta, between the Tien and Hau rivers, with a road and waterway traffic system that meets development needs. Connected to provinces in the Mekong Delta region and key economic zones in the South by important arterial traffic routes, creating favorable conditions for exchange, tourism development, trade, and domestic and foreign investment cooperation.

According to Mr. Le Quoc Vien (residing in Cang Long commune), Vinh Long province has truly opened up a new, larger development space in more fields. In particular, the government's leadership will be more focused, contributing to promoting economic development for the province. "The establishment of the new Vinh Long province is not only considered a major turning point in changing administrative boundaries, but also a step forward and vision of the government in focusing on economic development in the future," Mr. Vien commented.

Meanwhile, the abbot, Venerable Kim Tue - Abbot of Phuong Pagoda (Nguyet Hoa Ward) shared that the merger not only facilitates people in handling administrative procedures but also creates conditions to promote the potentials and strengths of localities, combining them into a greater potential. "We always propagate so that people and Buddhists understand clearly the policies and guidelines of the Party and State, thereby increasing the trust of ethnic people. The merger into the new Vinh Long province not only develops the economy - culture - society, but also increases the spirit of great national unity" - Venerable Kim Tue said.

As the owner of a tourist service business in the Ba Dong beach area (Truong Long Hoa ward), Mr. Truong Thanh Binh said that as the owner of a business, he realized that the merger would contribute to promoting tourist attraction, especially tourists in the province. Mr. Binh also has high expectations that the new province will continue to pay attention to investing in the coastal tourism area to create a space for tourism and culture as well as promote the local tourism economy. "I hope that the authorities at all levels will pay more attention to investing in infrastructure and transportation conditions, focusing on promotion so that the province's coastal tourism will develop more and more, creating a buzz in the region" - Mr. Binh said.

Meanwhile, Vinh Long province will have about 15,500 enterprises. With its geographical location as the center of the Mekong Delta, Vinh Long province will create a huge development space for the province's business community. According to Mr. Nguyen Tan Thu - Chairman of Vinh Long Young Entrepreneurs Association, facing great opportunities and new motivations, businesses will strengthen cooperation and trade connections. The business community and enterprises have great confidence in the leadership of the Party and State in the process of arranging and streamlining the administrative apparatus to ensure effective, efficient and effective operations. Bringing our country into a new era, the era of national development.

According to Associate Professor Dr. Nguyen Ngoc Vinh (University of Economics Ho Chi Minh City), Vinh Long has the potential to become a multi-sector, multi-regional development center of the Southwest region. The future development of the province requires a smooth combination of scientific planning, flexible policies and social consensus, thereby actively contributing to the national development strategy in the coming period.

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Nguyen Ngoc Vinh: Vinh Long province needs to develop the value chain of agriculture - processing industry - export, combined with transforming the sustainable production model to adapt to climate change, promoting OCOP products and agricultural e-commerce. Build a specific financial mechanism to mobilize public-private investment, create clean land funds, issue local bonds and attract strategic enterprises in pillar sectors.

Associate Professor Dr. Nguyen Ngoc Vinh also made some recommendations for Vinh Long to issue an integrated post-merger regional plan in the direction of open space, linking functions - sectors - localities, in which the role of the regional center is clearly established and the development clusters are oriented according to ecological sub-regions and economic corridors. At the same time, focus on investing in inter-regional transport and logistics infrastructure, especially coastal routes, river bridges, deep-water ports and inland logistics centers, to improve connectivity and reduce trade costs.

Article and photos: KHANH DUY

Source: https://baovinhlong.com.vn/kinh-te/202507/kinh-te-vinh-long-ky-vong-phat-trien-manh-1d913a2/