1.       Development Objectives

1.1. Overall objectives

Developing Can Tho city to become the modern city and urban area of Category I before 2010 and basically become industrialized city before 2020; become socio-economic, education and training, science and technology centre, health and cultural centre of Mekong River Delta region; become the important traffic junction for enter-regional transportation and international transportation; become the key city holding the strategic position in terms of national defense and national security of Mekong River Delta region and the country; become a development pole which plays motive role in promoting the strong development of Mekong River Delta region.

1.2. Main criterion for period 2010-2020

-          Average GDP growth rate in 2011-2015 is 16% per year and 2016-2020 is 18% per year.

-          GDP per capita (current price) shall reach 4,611 USD in 2020.

-          Expert turnover in 2011-2015 increases averagely 21.8% per year and in 2016-2020 increases averagely 21.3%/year. The average export value shall reach 1,540 USD/person in 2015 and 3,520 USD/person in 2020.

-          The GDP ratio up to 2020 is agricultural

-          Production – forestry – piscicuture is 3.7%, industry construction is 53.8% and service is 42.5%.

-          Up to 2020, the number of labor with vocational training shall account for 47.7% of total labor at working age, in with workers with degrees and certificates shall account for 25.1%, workers graduated from professional intermediate schools shall account for 21.1% and from colleges shall account for 8.8% and from universities or post-graduate education shall account for 45%.

-          The city successfully provides jobs for approximate 600,000 people at working age during 2006-2020. Averagely the city provides jobs for approximately 200,000 labors every five year.

2. Development direction of some economic sectors and development of socio-economic infrastructure.

2.1. Industry – small scale industries

Industrial sector is the leading sector in industrialization career of the city in the period of from now to 2020, in particular the industrial sector includes the following: producing materials serving for agricultural and pisciculture production: processing agricultural products and aquatic products after harvesting from the city and neighboring areas; strongly developing products with strong points for export basing on competitive advantages. Key industrial sectors include processing food and foodstuff, drinks, energy, mechanical products and chemicals and biochemical, biological, electrical, electronic, computing and new material products.

Increasing investment mobilization; constructing and completing industrial parks of the city, centre of industrial and small scale industries; mobilizing other provinces in Mekong River

Delta region of form a “complex of industrial park with the same investments”, form hi-tech industrial parks; constructing and promoting strong trademarks and improving the investment environment.

Construction sector in the coming time shall focus on improving, repairing and newly constructing public works and civil works, mainly including construction of residential areas, resettlement areas for people with low income and houses for the community, industrial parks/complex, commercial and service industrial areas for the province, state agencies for new districts and other public welfare works.

2.2. Agricultural and aquatic product production

Speeding up the transition of tree mechanism in accordance with the intensive farming direction and diversifying rice varieties, developing garden economy combining with aquaculture and garden tourism; constructing specialized zone for producing safe and clean vegetables serving for the urban areas, constructing hi-tech industrial parks, strongly developing technical and agricultural services and flowers production serving for demands of the urban areas and tourism. Developing aquaculture with different types of semi-industrial, industrial aquaculture, alternation of rice production and aquaculture.

2.3. Commerce and Service

Speeding up the commerce-service development to turn the city become the commerce and service centre of Mekong River Delta region, linking Can Tho city market with other markets of provinces in Mekong River Delta region, big cities and other key economic zones of the South, the whole country and regional countries; implementing the strategy of increasing export, expanding the domestic markets in parallel with international economic international. Developing commerce with the participation of all economic components. Encouraging the development of commerce, service business to develop different sectors and re-allocate labours.

Tourism sector of the city should focus on traveling services to attract tourists in ecological tourism areas, cultural tourism, conference tourism at the city and neighboring provinces. Developing inter-regional and bilateral and multi-international tourism tours. Focusing on restoring and conserving historical, cultural monuments and existing tourism areas, expanding new tourism routes improving physical facilities of tourism sector, diversifying tourism products, service types and cooperating with regional provinces to construct and develop satellite tourism areas, constructing tourism events festivals for Can Tho and Mekong River Delta region. On the other hand, organizing domestic and international tourism programs and developing the professional tourism staffs, strategy for tourism products and long-term tourism promotion programs.

2.4. Culture and society

Education and training: Speeding up the education and training development; strengthening the results of illiteracy elimination, secondary education universalization and progressing to increase the quality of education and high school education universalization, increase the training quality, foreign language and computing skill teachings from primary education level.

Health: Focusing on investment for constructing offices, providing equipments and strengthening the health network, increasing capacity, quality of disease examination and curing, increasing the family planning program, preventing nutritional deficiency for children, increasing the quality of food sanitation management, environmental sanitation management, propagandizing and mobilizing the community to participate in health insurance. Encouraging private economic sectors to invest in construction of private hospitals including international hospitals, maternity hospitals medical practices, dental practices, traditional medicine centre.

Information and culture: Developing culture in connection and synchronous with socio-economic development, construction of comprehensive developed people. Creating new developments in terms of quality of the movement” the whole people unite to build cultural life”. Investing for upgrading, expanding and constructing new synchronous and diversified cultural and information works and continue to develop culture and information activities with increasingly high quality.

Sports: Developing many different types of sports, training the sportspersons at national and international level. Investing in construction and completion of sports physical facilities, ensuring to serve for trainings, entertainment and sports competitions of the people. Speeding up the socialization to attract social forces and to diversify sports activities for the community.

2.5. Socio-economic infrastructure development:

Diversifying the investment methods of the projects to mobilize all potential of the society to invest for traffic infrastructure. Continuing the socialization policies of education, health, cultural, sports and tourism activities.

2.6. Establishing functional areas:

- Central urban functional area: including Ninh Kieu district and Binh Thuy district with the total area of approximate 9,800ha and population of more than 5000,000 people up to 2020

- Port-industrial functional area: including the majority in Cai Rang district which is a new urban area in accordance with Hung Phu industrial park and Cai Cui port with the total area of approximately 6,000ha and population of more than 150,000 people.

- Industrial urban function area: including the majority of area along Hau River of O Mon district, which is the concentrated industrial development area combining with residential area, airport, ports with total area of more than 150,000 people.

- Technology urban functional area: Including the area along Hau River in the west of O Mon district (Thoi Long and Thoi An) which is the hi-tech development area combining with centers of education and researches serving for technology, industry and agriculture with total area of 7,000ha with more than 80,000 resident, people and estimated of 20,000 to 30,000 non-resident people.

- Service-Industry urban function area: Including Thot Not district and expanded to Lo Te which is the agricultural and aquatic product processing area combining with clue markets of rice and aquatic product and the distribution centre of agricultural product and food; transfer centre between urban central areas with An Giang Border Gate Economic Area, Kien Giang Sea Economic Area with total area of approximate 3,000ha and population of more than 100,000 people.

- Ecological urban function area: Including the centre of Phong Dien district, Can Tho River side area which is the area for developing garden villas with river and water landscape and tourism routes, areas and is developed to the South of the Central Urban area in accordance with the direction of developing Medium and high-ranking residential areas, resorts which is the green lung of the central urban area. Area of approximate 3,000 ha and population of more than 50,000 people.