This year's report is launched in the context that the Mekong Delta provinces have just completed provincial planning, needing an implementation mechanism to resolve obstacles in the process of implementing each locality's planning; at the same time, the Region needs an official cooperation mechanism between provinces to effectively exploit resources and develop the economy - society in accordance with the approved integrated planning.

From previous studies, the 2023 Report identifies "institutions, governance, and regional linkage" as the key content with a major influence on the Mekong Delta's development in the present and long term.

Regional linkage is not only cooperation to create advantages and maximize economic potential between localities within the region, between the Mekong Delta and Ho Chi Minh City but is also the basis for consistently implementing Party and State policies. In addition, good institutions and an effective governance mechanism will create a business-friendly environment, helping businesses and investors identify opportunities for business development and investment.

The study process showed that the six direct causes leading to current challenges in the Mekong Delta include natural conditions; technology; human capital; infrastructure; investment and business environment; and governance, cooperation, and regional linkage mechanisms.

According to VCCI, in recent years, the Mekong Delta has received more attention, with important resolutions issued by the Central Party, National Assembly, and Government to provide orientation, planning, and establish mechanisms for regional development. However, the resolutions only provide spatial guidance, with contents lacking overall nature, some issued at different levels, lacking high unity, or even contradicting and increasing obstacles. The slow institutionalization of resolutions into regulations and legal documents has led to resolutions not being implemented in social life.

Dr. Vu Thanh Tu Anh, Director of the Fulbright School of Public Policy and Management, presented the research results in the Mekong Delta's 2023 Annual Economic Report.

An official cooperation mechanism between localities in the region is now greatly needed to maximize existing advantages and resources. In the past, many governance and regional linkage models were established but have not achieved the expected results. This has led to separation, overlap, and competition between localities to gain benefits and development achievements, making the Mekong Delta more difficult.

Along with an official regional governance mechanism, unofficial mechanisms established by communities and social organizations to connect and cooperate between businesses, authorities, and markets... have also not been effectively utilized due to lack of attention and limited resources. Cooperation models that have operated such as large model fields, linkage of the "4 houses" (State - businesses - farmers - scientists), and cooperation in value chains... have only achieved certain results, unable to keep up with economic and social development.

Other fundamental governance mechanisms such as land, water resources, energy, and climate change adaptation environment... lack a regional management mechanism to exploit, regulate, and efficiently utilize. Land use allocation is still restricted, slowing the process of economic restructuring in the region, and overlapping governance of water resources is making challenges even more serious.

Energy is a huge potential sector but there have been no official declarations on development goals, leading localities to expand overlapping planning and call for investment. The regional environmental adaptation to the climate change governance system has not been highly consistent, policy goals are overlapping and contradictory, and budget allocation for climate change projects is inconsistent between localities.

In addition, micro-institutions, connecting elements in the chain, and sustainable production cooperation are lacking. Key agricultural chains in the Mekong Delta still have many limitations and weaknesses in some steps, loose cooperation and linkage leading to limited exploitation of advantages and competitive capacity. Cooperation between small producer households has not found any new models besides existing cooperatives, although they are relatively effective but also face many challenges in accessing capital, land, management, and exploitation…

According to VCCI, to address the above six groups of causes, aiming to untangle one of the knots of the economic-social-environmental vicious cycle to create an upward cycle, the Mekong Delta now needs to identify bottlenecks and knots of institutions, governance, and regional cooperation and linkage. Only in this way can the Mekong Delta become a "bright spot" in economic and social growth and development as set out in Resolution No. 13-NQ-TW...

On the same day, the "Developing the Mekong Delta Economy from a Regional Linkage and Cooperation Perspective" policy forum was also organized to evaluate the implementation mechanism for the Mekong Delta regional plan and natural resource governance in the face of climate change while assessing regional linkage and industrial restructuring for localities to recognize development policies and businesses need to transform new business models to suit the changing context in the Mekong Delta.