Mekong Delta seeks investment   Tourists shop for souvenirs at a kiosk in Thoi Son Island in the Mekong Delta province of Tien Giang. The Mekong Delta region is calling for investments in a number of projects. — VNA/VNS Photo Hoang Hai HA NOI - Localities in the Cuu Long (Mekong) Delta region are encouraging foreign and domestic investors to pump investment into 74 projects. These projects are involved in hi-tech agriculture, processing industry, urban development, industrial park infrastructure, manufacturing, and construction material production, in addition to tourism and trade, and services. Vo Thanh Thong, chairman of Can Tho People's Committee said at the investment promotion conference last week that Mekong Delta localities had become attractive investment destinations for many investors thanks to investment incentives and long-term commitments from authorities in facilitating investors. Can Tho City would continue to create the most favourable condition for investors with a focus on bettering its investment and business climates, perfecting infrastructure construction, reducing administrative procedures and improving personnel resources, he said. According to the Viet Nam Chamber of Commerce and Industry's branch in Can Tho (VCCI Can Tho), the Mekong Delta was a dynamic economic region with great advantages in natural resources and a geographical position. The region supplied more than 90 per cent of the nation's rice production, 50 per cent of national seafood output and many other agro-forestry-fishery products for export every year. The business environment in the region's localities had also improved since 2009, Vo Hung Dung, director of VCCI Can Tho said. Dung foresaw that the region's economy would continue to achieve a high growth rate in the next 10 years, fuelled by the rapid improvement of transport, electronics, low labour costs and abundant food sources. Investment prospects in the region's food sector were relatively high, considering many free trade agreements Viet Nam had signed including the Trans-Pacific-Partnership and the Viet Nam-European Union Free Trade Agreement, he added. The director also outlined agriculture, textile and garment, IT, and hotel and tourism, as well as logistics as the other promising sectors in the region that could attract foreign investment in the future. In the past 10 months of this year, the region's nine provinces and cities, had received $2.8 billion in new foreign direct investments, according to the Ministry of Planning and Investment's Foreign Investment Agency (FIA)'s report. Of them, Tra Vinh Province took the lead with $2.4 billion investments. It was followed by Long An with $156 million, and Tien Giang with $43 million, in addition to An Giang with $35 million and Can Tho City with $16 million. In order to attract more foreign investment, FIA suggested that the region should make further investments in infrastructure development and reduce logistics fees. The region also needed to renew its investment promotion with a focus on specific industries and countries, the agency said. — VNS