The report, with the main theme "Mobilizing Investment for Sustainable Development," provides a comprehensive picture of the macroeconomic situation, along with the opportunities and challenges in attracting investment capital to drive sustainable growth in the Mekong Delta (MD).

VCCI Chairman Pham Tan Cong (7th from the left) with leaders from localities in the Mekong Delta region, Fulbright representatives, and domestic and international experts at the Announcement Ceremony of the 2024 Mekong Delta Annual Economic Report, focusing on the theme: Mobilizing Investment for Sustainable Development. Photo: Dinh Dai.

The report highlights that the lack of investment has become one of the core reasons leading to the "downward spiral" of the Mekong Delta economy in recent years. Despite being a key agricultural production and export region, contributing over 50% to Vietnam's trade surplus, the Mekong Delta has a very low investment rate. Specifically, when comparing per capita figures across the six socio-economic regions of Vietnam, the Mekong Delta ranks 3rd for ODA capital, 4th for public investment, 5th for FDI, and 6th for domestic private investment. As a result, the region faces poor infrastructure, reduced employment opportunities, stagnant labor productivity, and weakened competitiveness.

Speaking at the announcement ceremony, VCCI Chairman Pham Tan Cong stated that in recent years, the Party and the State have made many decisions to promote the development of the Mekong Delta. On April 2, 2022, the Politburo issued Resolution No. 13-NQ/TW on the socio-economic development direction, ensuring national defense and security in the Mekong Delta until 2030, with a vision for 2045. On August 19, 2023, the Prime Minister signed Decision No. 974/QD-TTg to establish the Mekong Delta Coordination Council for the 2020-2025 period, chaired directly by a Deputy Prime Minister. These resolutions and decisions highlight the region as an important economic area, receiving special attention from the Vietnamese Party and State.

From this attention, during the 2015-2023 period, public investment in the Mekong Delta doubled compared to the previous period, and international support resources also increased significantly, providing strong momentum for regional development compared to previous stages. The total social investment capital surged, helping the Mekong Delta achieve a fairly high growth rate and maintain stability over the years. Some dynamic provinces even experienced breakthroughs with high growth rates, and local budget revenues improved significantly.

VCCI Chairman Pham Tan Cong speaks at the announcement ceremony - Photo: Dinh Dai.

In addition, the industrial sector has grown at a higher rate than the national average and reached its highest growth in over a decade, making the Mekong Delta a leading center for the production and export of agricultural products, contributing nearly half of the country's total trade surplus each year. Some businesses in the region have become major national conglomerates, contributing significantly to the national economy.

However, VCCI Chairman Pham Tan Cong believes that the Mekong Delta economy has continued to face many challenges and difficulties in recent years, such as limited infrastructure, slow structural transformation, poor investment attraction, slow business development in terms of both quantity and capacity, a lack of job opportunities for workers, weak labor productivity, and low competitiveness.

"This is the issue that we are most concerned about and focused on, as the whole country is developing rapidly, and localities are reforming and improving the business environment and conditions. Yet, the Mekong Delta has not yet caught up," VCCI Chairman Pham Tan Cong assessed.

Therefore, VCCI Chairman Pham Tan Cong emphasized that the focus of the 2024 Annual Economic Report for the Mekong Delta is to analyze the structure of the sources of total social investment capital to understand the causes and limitations the Mekong Delta faces in mobilizing funds for development. From there, recommendations will be made for necessary policies to help the central government build a comprehensive and long-term investment mobilization strategy, so that the region can fully tap into its vast economic potential.

Delegates and businesses attending the Announcement Ceremony - Photo: Dinh Dai.

According to VCCI Chairman Pham Tan Cong, this report contributes to the implementation of Resolution 57/NQ-CP dated April 21, 2022, from the Government on tasks and solutions for improving the institutional framework of socio-economic regions, where the Government assigned VCCI to lead and coordinate with relevant agencies to independently evaluate and provide periodic reports on the overall nature of socio-economic development in regions. After four years of implementation, the findings of the report have been presented by VCCI to Party bodies, the National Assembly, the Government, ministries, and agencies, and have been highly praised. The report has become a useful document for planning and policy formulation.

"The report has also been highly regarded by localities in the Mekong Delta, viewed as an important source of information for local economic governance. It has been used by many experts in institutes, universities, and international organizations, and especially by the business community both domestically and internationally as a critical basis for making investment decisions in the region in the future. The past four years have shown the significance and impact of the report, and we hope that this year’s report will continue to contribute to the development of the Mekong Delta and the entire country," emphasized VCCI Chairman Pham Tan Cong.

He also noted that, in the context of the country entering a period of streamlining government agencies, merging central and local agencies to improve management efficiency, and focusing on institutional reforms to usher in a new phase of development, analyzing and evaluating the economic situation of a region (such as the Mekong Delta) plays an important role in providing reliable and comprehensive information as a foundation for making critical decisions to ensure sustainable and comprehensive development.

Through this, the Mekong Delta, along with the entire country, will enter a new era—the era of the nation's rise, achieving the goal of turning Vietnam into a developed country with high income by 2045.