Priority for investment in fisheries, fruit trees and rice

Advantages of purely agricultural provinces

Hau Giang is a purely agricultural province, with a total natural area of 162,223 hectares. Agricultural land is 140,457ha, accounting for 86.58% of the total area. With its geographical advantage of lying in the heart of the Mekong Delta as well as being adjacent to Can Tho city, the province boasts a favorable condition in experience exchange, economic expansion and high level of science and technology application in agricultural development. On the other hand, Hau Giang province also plays a central role in economic exchange, which is decisive in attracting investment owing to its advantegous location in the middle of the Can Tho - Ca Mau - Kien Giang - An Giang Growth Quadrangle.

In terms of agricultural production, the area of rice cultivation reaches 189,000 hectares, the annual output reaches over 1.2 million tons. Fruit trees cover an area of over 43,000 hectares, yielding 400,000 tons annually. The area for vegetables production is 25,800 hectares with an output of 332,000 tons. The aquaculture area in the province is 8,100 hectares, the total fishery output reaches 80,000 tons. The total number of livestock (mainly pigs) and poultry is nearly 4.5 million.

Ms. Nguyen Thi Giang, Deputy Director of Hau Giang Department of Agriculture and Rural Development reported that the province has identified its five key agricultural products, including rice, seedless lemons, jackfruit, flounder, eel, to focus on calling for investment in developing product value chains. In addition, there are 4 types of key agricultural products associated with tourism development consisting of: pineapple, custard apple, red jackfruit, fish and other high-value agricultural products.

In order to promote its agricultural advantages, Hau Giang province is implementing a project on sustainable agricultural development adapting to climate change for the period of 2021 - 2025, with orientation to 2030. The project aims to build an advanced irrigation model, saving water and applying 4.0 technology in drought prevention, salinity intrusion, etc.

Furthermore, the project will also establish a high-tech agricultural zone (following the decision by the Prime Minister in 2012) with a total area of 5,200ha. The project is currently investing in improving infrastructure and it has attracted 4 investors to implement projects on the production, processing of agricultural products, fisheries and microbiology, building models of high-tech application in production and so on.

Encouraging investment in agriculture

Hau Giang province has organized the implementation of policies to attract investment over the years; many businesses have approached and proposed investment projects in the agricultural sector. Subsequently, the province has reviewed and approved a list of 11 projects to encourage investment in agriculture and decided on investment policies for projects that encourage businesses to invest in agriculture and rural areas.

The project attracts investment in the construction of milling facilities and processing rice for export.  Factories producing Hau Giang canned pineapples and juice is another focus. Other investments focuses within the framework of the project includes: Investment in production, agricultural processing, fisheries and microbiological fertilizers; Investment in concentrated slaughterhouses for cattle and poultry; Demonstration model and agricultural experiments with application of high technology; A high-tech synthetic farm; Investment in aquaculture; Pig farms; Eel breeding and productionprojects; A microbiological organic fertilizer facility. The investment areas are located in The Thanh City, Long My District, Thuy Thuy, Chau Thanh and Long My town.

According to the head of Hau Giang Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, the province will continue to call for investment in 21 agricultural projects with its various potential geographical sites and raw material areas. Namely, there are 7 investment projects in the Center for High-Tech Agriculture, Long My district. This center focuses on investment in infrastructure to serve development of high technology. The remaining 14 projects are located in the industrial zones and clusters reserved for processing, the projects are located near the raw material area for convenient transportation.

The projects calling for investment under the high-tech agricultural zone include: Investment in infrastructure of the central area in phase 2; high quality rice projects, smart rice, organic rice; various different aquaculture projects; processing facilities and warehouses for different types of agricultural products; Shallow crops and microbiological application projects; Demonstration model of high-tech application on rice, shallow and microbiological crops, fisheries, poultry.

Other projects inviting investment in the province include: a center for collection, classification, preliminary processing, packaging and distribution of agricultural products in Hau Giang province; a specialized fruit tree area, focusing on coordinating with the processing and packaging facilities for exported fruits; a concentrated livestock area oriented towards biosecurity, high-tech application and circular economy model; Cooperation project linking organic rice production areas in association with rice export processing and construction of large fields; Aquaculture projects in combination with commercial tourism and services; Melon production area following the membrane house model; Custard apple production area following VietGAP standards; High-tech aquaculture project, etc.

Accordingly, the province will focus on investing in projects to expand the production scale of key agricultural products and provincial specialties including rice, jackfruit, seedless lemon, flounder, eel, pineapple, custard apple, red jackfruit and fish. Furthermore, the province will aim to build linkages to meet the demand for clean and safe products for consumers in the province, tourists, domestic markets and exports. As a result, these projects will improve economic efficiency of agricultural land, contribute to increasing income for the farmers, and solve the problem of job shortage for workers in agricultural and rural areas.

Businesses investing in Hau Giang will enjoy the highest preferential policies as prescribed for areas with particularly difficult socio-economic conditions. In addition, Hau Giang province has also issued a resolution on policies to encourage investment, policies to support production linkages and consumption of agricultural products, preferential policies and investment support in high-tech agricultural zones in Hau Giang province.

Development of ecological, circular, high-tech agriculture

The development of the agricultural sector with emphasis on investment in the agricultural and rural sectors is prioritized by Hau Giang province, favoring fisheries, fruit trees and rice. The province will develop agricultural, forestry and fishery production in the direction of ecological, high-tech application agriculture, form large-scale concentrated commodity areas to meet the market demand. Namely, Hau Giang considers seafood and fruits as the mainstay, along with appropriate rice development in terms of production scale and output.

A pure agricultural production mindset with special attention to rice production has been changed to a diversified agricultural economic development mindset, increasing products' competitiveness in the market. With such goal in mind, the province will organize rapid agricultural production, comprehensive development of agriculture and rural areas in the modern direction, favoring quantity over quality.