Remove bottlenecks in Ca Mau's infrastructure development and agricultural production

On the morning of June 11, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development worked with the People's Committee of Ca Mau province, focusing on solving some problems in the implementation of several projects in the field of agriculture, solutions to build the image of Ca Mau crab brand and preparation for Ca Mau Shrimp Festival and OCOP product connection forum in the Mekong Delta.

Infrastructure development

At the meeting, Mr. Le Van Su, Vice Chairman of the People's Committee, mentioned several infrastructure projects still facing difficulties in implementing the plans or progress.

In which, there are two outstanding projects, namely the Project "Building a West Sea Dike from Cai Doi Vam to Kenh Nam in Ca Mau Province," an ODA loan from the Agence Française de Développement (AFD), and the Project "Combining the protection of coastal areas and restoration of mangrove belts in Kien Giang and Ca Mau provinces" using ODA loans from the German Government.

In addition, there is a project of Military Region 9 on Hon Khoai island has not been implemented because it is related to the area of special-use forest.

Also, on infrastructure development, Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee Le Van Su proposed to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development to support and guide Ca Mau to build "A focal center in Ca Mau associated with raw material areas for aquatic products in the coastal area."

In particular, with the need to develop the fisheries industry, the province plans to expand the Song Doc port to a new location on the south bank of the River Doc compared to the current port on the north bank.

This is a vacant residential area, minimizing environmental impacts, and promoting socio-economic development on the south bank of the River Doc, contributing to overcoming the IUU "yellow card" warning of the European Commission. Therefore, the province wishes to receive support from the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development to advise the competent authorities to support about VND 750 billion to expand this fishing port.

Before the province's comments on the issue of infrastructure development, Minister Le Minh Hoan first affirmed: "The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development will accompany the province to work with Ca Mau to solve the current difficulties according to its competence, its function. The approach is to join with the locality, persistently pursue and remove bottlenecks.

With specific problems related to the planning, the Minister emphasized the need to strengthen the initiative. Internal difficulties should be handled soon in the spirit of coordination between the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development and Ca Mau to solve.

Respond to climate change

At present, climate change and rising sea levels make the riverbanks and coasts of Ca Mau province more seriously eroded. According to the People's Committee of Ca Mau province, the total length of the coastline was eroded by about 188/254 km. Statistics from 2011 - 2021 caused the loss of coastal forests with an area of about 5,250 ha; Riverbank erosion damaged nearly 26 km of roads and 237 houses. Total damage was estimated at VND 1,100 billion.

Therefore, the province proposed the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development consider and guide Ca Mau province to develop a master plan for investment in embankments to prevent coastal and riverbank erosion in the area with capital support from the reserve budget for prevention and control. The central Government's goal of avoiding natural disasters is to achieve the goal by 2025 to complete sea embankment works on dangerously eroded coastlines and riverbanks.

In addition, Ca Mau also proposed the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development consider and advise superior agencies to assess and support capital for the implementation of projects on climate change adaptation and infrastructure upgrading of Ca Mau city. according to the development orientation of urban centers of grade I, with a budget of VND 2,900 billion.

In which, the project's budget for urban development adapting to climate change in Ca Mau city is VND 1,750 billion, and the project's budget for investment in the construction of embankments to prevent landslides along the riverside of Ca Mau city is VND 1,225 billion.

Sharing these issues, the Director of the Planning Department (Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development) Nguyen Van Viet, said that capital for implementation might have to wait from the adjusted source, the annual balance for the 2021-2025 period.

As for the capital source for the 2026 - 2030 period, the province needs to coordinate with the Ministry to build a priority list, gradually implementing it in the spirit of careful preparation and thoroughly assessing all factors early.

Agreeing with the Director of the Planning Department, Minister Le Minh Hoan assigned the Forestry Department, the Dike Department, and the Disaster Prevention and Control Department to coordinate with Ca Mau province to develop related plans.

Develop Ca Mau crab brand

At the meeting, Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee Le Van Su said that Ca Mau crab had been exported to China but is still poor in the brand name, leading to the price reaching Chinese consumers 4-5 times higher than selling to traders. Therefore, the province wants the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development to support brand development and promote trade for this product.

Regarding developing a traceability system and anti-counterfeiting stamps to build the Ca Mau crab brand, Minister Le Minh Hoan emphasized the need to reorganize the industry and prove that standards, from breed, care, and harvest to packing.

This issue was assigned to the Department of Fisheries to do the right thing, building trust for export markets: "Building the image of Ca Mau crab, first for the market of 100 million Vietnamese people before thinking about exporting".

Regarding the Chinese market, the Minister said it is necessary to expand deeper into the domestic market and assigned the Department of Quality, Processing and Market Development to coordinate with the province to implement this issue.

Ca Mau Shrimp Festival and OCOP Product Connection Forum in the Mekong Delta

Regarding the proposal of the province to integrate the Ca Mau Shrimp Festival with the OCOP product connection forum in the Mekong Delta, units of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development expressed their consensus.

Accordingly, the integration is very suitable, helping the event to be larger, more focused, and save money. The Department of Fisheries affirmed that it would coordinate with the province to implement the highlight focusing on Ca Mau ecological shrimp, not only associated with tourism but also promoting investment and trade connection.

The Minister also proposed to integrate the "Ca Mau Tourism" event, helping the space to be expanded and bigger. It is possible to form some tourist areas combined with shrimp farming.