Mr Nguyen Thanh Duong, Vice Chairman of Lao Cai Provincial People’s Committee, said, the northern upland area is considered to be rich in soil and forestry in couple with many different ecological sub-regions and advantages for developing a variety of agricultural crops, forests and fishes.
Potential but unimpressive
The northern mountainous area has 1.5 million ha of agricultural land, accounting for 15.8 percent of the country’s total; 5.55 million ha of forest land, equal to 37.6 percent of the country’s total; and 61,100 ha of water surface for aquaculture. Mr Duong said the annual growth of agricultural, forestry and fishery production was 5.18 percent (higher than the national average of 5.12 percent) and the annual output rose over 3.3 percent to 395 kilos per person. Many local products are very famous in domestic and international markets like Oolong tea, Dien Bien rice, Tu Le glutinous rice, Bac Ha plum, Doan Hung grapefruit and Moc Chau milk.
However, due to low starting point, unfavourable economic conditions, limited administrative management, weak marketing and inconsistent localised preferences, the outcome is not very high notwithstanding huge potentials and advantages. Hence, local governments attach great importance and necessity to attracting investment for agricultural and rural development because, according to experts, the investment structure is now irrational. Like the rest of the country, local authorities appreciate real estate, golf course or steel mill projects rather than agricultural development investment. Even, food processing industries are humbly invested. Many FDI projects are involved in real estate. Efficiency of investment projects is not associated with the infrastructure development of key industries that cities are heading like high tech, information technology, finance, banking, insurance, health, education, and high value-added industries.
How to choose?
Former Deputy Prime Minister Truong Vinh Trong said that northern upland provinces need to invest to exploit local strengths and advantages like commercial afforestation, develop high-tech agriculture, animal husbandry and aquaculture in combination with localised processing industries and product consumption, and diversify cooperation between businesses and farmers to promote the efficiency of land and human resources. It also needs investment capital for develop handicraft industry in combination with tourism and service development, especially taking advantages of ecological environment, cultural identity, historical values, revolutionary tradition and hospitality of local people. The region needs to develop border economy, expand the scale and performance of production, import and foreign trade. It also has to invest in improving cultural level of the people, and train human resources.
From the expertise angle, Mr Vo Tri Thanh, Deputy Director of the Central Institute for Economic Management (CIEM), said local authorities in the region should centrally attract investment capital to raise the cultural level of the people, train human resources and foster talents while promoting social potentials, creating a favourable environment for enterprises, economic organisations and social organisations to develop human resources, especially in rural and mountainous areas where ethnic minorities are living, and improving the efficiency of agricultural, forestry and fishery development.
Besides, the State needs an overall national orientation and specific promotion programme. Each locality must base on its local resources to apply most suitable investment promotion measures.
Thanh Hiep
Vietnamese
