The Mekong Delta city of Can Tho hopes to receive support from the World Bank (WB) and the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO) of Switzerland in institutional building, renovation, development of smart city, climate change adaption, and training human resources, said Chairman of the municipal People’s Committee Le Quang Manh on October 7.

Chairman of the municipal People’s Committee Le Quang Manh

During a working session in the province to discuss potential partnership programmes on economics, trade and urban management between Can Tho and the two agencies, Manh said the city wants to learn from experience and good models in the world in administrative reform, and to perfect policies through the assistance of the WB and the SECO.

Municipal authorities are focusing on promoting economic restructuring and improving quality and competitiveness for its farm produce in regional and global markets through building key production areas and applying high technologies, and fully tapping local resources, he said.

He added that the city hopes the WB will assist in expanding markets for the locality’s agricultural products, applying new technologies in agricultural production and building brands for farm produce and goods, and accessing ordinary capital resources (OCR).

Ousmane Dione, Country Director of the WB in Vietnam, praised the city’s economic growth as well as transition from a rural economy to an urban economy, saying that the WB's expert group will work with local officials and technical staff to determine investment priorities and appropriate areas to serve Can Tho’s socio-economic development goals.

Accordingly, the WB suggested Can Tho participate in technical assistance projects to enhance agricultural competitiveness and hi-tech agricultural technical assistance.

The bank will also support the city in calling for and attracting corporations and enterprises to invest in production, processing and consumption of local agricultural and aquatic products; connecting businesses with cooperatives and households in the production and consumption of products.

Regarding human resources training, the WB is ready to help higher education institutions in Can Tho collaborate with foreign universities to expand education related to knowledge of artificial intelligence trends to apply to the e-government model.

For his part, Chief Representative of SECO in Vietnam Marcel Reymond said the Switzerland will assist Can Tho in urban development in a sustainable and highly adaptable manner to climate change in Vietnam.
 
The official said he hopes that through the budget support programmes from the SECO and the WB, Can Tho will play a leading role in enhancing urban resilience and scaling up models of natural disaster response to other localities in the Mekong Delta.