Chairman of the Bac Lieu Provincial People's Committee Pham Van Thieu (third from left), tours the booth featuring local agricultural products

The province's gross regional domestic product (GRDP) expanded 7.28% a year in the 2021 - 2023 period and 6.32% year on year in the first nine months of 2024, ranking 8th out of 13 Mekong Delta provinces and cities.

Mr. Pham Van Thieu, Deputy Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee, Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee, said: "The Bac Lieu Provincial Planning for the 2021-2030 period, with a vision to 2050, and the Plan for implementation of this master planning, approved by the Prime Minister, are foundational for agencies and localities to lead and the carry out goals, tasks and solutions of the provincial planning while boosting investment attraction in the province."

Accordingly, the province's agriculture continues to play a "supporting" role and assist local economic growth. The Bac Lieu high-tech shrimp development agricultural zone has attracted investment projects, including a 10-ha high-quality commercial shrimp processing factory with a yearly processing capacity of 5,000 tons, which has been put into operation. Many high-tech shrimp farming models have been expanded to bring in high economic value, enhancing productivity and shrimp output. Total aquatic output increased from 380,750 tons in 2020 to 478,974 tons in 2023, with an average annual growth of 7.95% in the 2021-2023 period. The aquatic output reached more than 367,200 tons in the first nine months of 2024, fulfilling 63.35% of the full-year plan and rising by 9.07% from a year-ago period. Shrimp output alone expanded from 157,940 tons in 2020 to 236,652 tons in 2023, with an average yearly growth of 14.43% in the 2021-2023 period. The shrimp output grew by 15.3% year on year in the first nine months of 2024. The shrimp - rice, rice - fish, and specialty rice forming models have been built and promoted effectively. High quality rice varieties account for about 96.1% of the rice growing area.

Bac Lieu province has adopted high-tech shrimp farming models

The industrial and construction sector continues to be one of the bright spots in the Bac Lieu economic picture, promoting its potential strengths, especially in renewable energy and clean energy. To date, eight wind power projects have been put into operation with a total installed capacity of 469.2 MW. The province has actively supported accelerating wind power projects with investment policies, along with the 500kv and 110kv power transmission systems, to ensure their synchronization with the province's renewable energy development investment projects.

In addition, Bac Lieu province is coordinating with investors and central agencies to tackle obstacles in Bac Lieu Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) Power Plant to fulfill all necessary conditions for starting it. Moreover, the export seafood processing sector plays a key role, with 48 export seafood processing factories with a total designed processing capacity of about 294,000 tons a year. The export value rose by an average of 9.5% a year in the 2021 - 2023 period, mainly focusing on seafood products. For the first time, the province achieved an export turnover of US$1 billion in 2023.

Infrastructure investment has been a focus. Many traffic works have been built and operated. Aquaculture infrastructure has been invested to support production development requirements. Urban, commercial, resort, entertainment and recreation projects have gradually taken shape. Schools, hospitals, medical facilities and other infrastructure have been increasingly improved.

Services have developed with growing scale and quality. Regional tourism development cooperation has initially produced desired outcomes. The province currently has 11 typical tourist destinations recognized by the Mekong Tourism Association. Tourism products have been increasingly diversified and created their own and distinct brands, especially with offshore wind power (Bac Lieu Wind Power Tourism Area and Hoa Binh 1 Wind Power Tourism Area) and religious tourism destinations (like Quan Am Phat Dai Pagoda, Hung Thien Pagoda and Tac Say Church), showing that Bac Lieu tourism has gradually affirmed its important position on the tourism map of the Mekong Delta region and the whole country.

At the same time, social security policies for people with meritorious services, policy families, poor households, near-poor households and socially protected beneficiaries have been well implemented by the province. The poverty rate decreased to 1.7% by 2023. Administrative reforms were carried out as planned. Notably the Vietnam Provincial Governance and Public Administration Performance Index (PAPI 2023) of Bac Lieu province ranked 5th out of 63 provinces and cities nationwide (advancing one place from 2022) and 2nd out of 13 Mekong Delta provinces and cities. Judicial reform and anti-corruption and waste prevention and control were resolutely implemented. Political security and social order and safety were maintained to support economic development.

However, according to Chairman Thieu, due to unpredictable world developments, economic growth is still facing many challenges and industrial production is recovering slowly. In the province, drought and saltwater intrusion, combined with highly volatile raw material prices, have greatly affected enterprises and people. Many companies went bankrupt due to insufficient resources while there is no breakthrough investment attraction and resource mobilization from economic sectors.

"The economic performance of the country and the province is forecasted to be still challenging and affect socioeconomic development tasks in the coming time. However, with the efforts and determination of all levels of authority and sectors, Bac Lieu province strives to achieve the best socioeconomic development goals," he emphasized.