Speaking at a meeting with VCCI members on March 28, Lam pointed to several difficulties facing enterprises in 2024, including logistics and labour costs, capital, petrol and oil prices, and unofficial costs.

In face of these difficulties, Nguyen Thai Binh from Trung An Hi-tech Farming JSC expressed his hope that the VCCI’s Mekong Delta Office will continue its support for trade and investment promotion activities, and provide updated information and consultations for businesses.

Lam said that efforts will be made to improve the business environment, increase dialogues between enterprises and local authorities, ministries and sectors, and organise business cooperation forums with key markets such as Japan, China and the Republic of Korea.

Last year, 11,381 new enterprises were established in the Mekong Delta region, but 10,514 others stopped operating or dissolve, posing a big challenge for the region. FDI inflows into the 13 localities in the region totalled 741 million USD, only one quarter of the amount recorded by the northern province of Quang Ninh.

At present, the unemployment and underemployment rate in the region is the highest in the country.

The Mekong Delta comprises Can Tho City and the provinces of An Giang, Dong Thap, Long An, Tien Giang, Vinh Long, Ben Tre, Tra Vinh, Soc Trang, Hau Giang, Bac Lieu, Ca Mau and Kien Giang.