The conference was chaired by Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Phan Thi Thang; Mr. Nguyen Thuc Hien, Vice Chairman of the People's Committee of Can Tho City; Mr. Le Van Su, Vice Chairman of the People's Committee of Ca Mau Province.

According to statistics from the Ministry of Industry and Trade, many Vietnamese export sectors have exceeded the $1 billion export turnover mark, such as the horticulture sector, rice, shrimp, etc., with a large portion originating from the Mekong Delta region. Specifically for rice, it is estimated that by 2024, the total rice export volume nationwide will remain above 8 million tons, with the Mekong Delta region alone accounting for 7.6 million tons. Overall, up to now, the Mekong Delta region has contributed about 31% of the total agricultural GDP with approximately 50% of paddy, 95% of rice exports, 65% of aquaculture production, 60% of fish exports, and nearly 70% of various fruits...

Despite its many strengths, the economy in the Mekong Delta region is still seen as not fully matching its potential. Additionally, this development faces challenges such as climate change, water resource depletion, and salt intrusion. Therefore, it is crucial to accurately assess the potential and challenges, and to implement appropriate development solutions to contribute to the goal of making the Mekong Delta region a relatively developed area compared to the rest of the country.

Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Phan Thi Thang speaking at the conference.

Speaking at the conference, Deputy Minister Phan Thi Thang emphasized that one of the important solutions to propel the development of the Mekong Delta region to a higher level is to promote regional connectivity in trade promotion and import-export activities, to consolidate and optimize resources of localities in the region to serve sustainable development.

Deputy Minister Phan Thi Thang hopes that localities in the region will discuss ways to leverage their strengths, minimize internal weaknesses, and contribute to enhancing intra-regional trade, domestic trade, and import-export activities so that the Mekong Delta region can thrive more strongly in the near future.

Deputy Minister Phan Thi Thang also requested that relevant units of the Ministry of Industry and Trade, based on their functions and tasks, propose methods and directions to address obstacles in trade promotion activities and seize market opportunities both domestically and internationally.

Mr. Nguyen Thuc Hien, Vice Chairman of the People's Committee of Can Tho City, speaking at the conference.

Mr. Nguyen Thuc Hien, Vice Chairman of the People's Committee of Can Tho City, stated that recently, Can Tho City as well as the provinces in the Mekong Delta region have achieved remarkable results in terms of socio-economic development but have not fully matched their existing potential and advantages. One of the reasons is that the logistics sector has not been well developed, creating bottlenecks and limiting competitiveness as well as opportunities to bring the region's products to consumers. To develop rapidly and sustainably, the Mekong Delta region needs to leverage its competitive advantages, and enhance its position in the global value chain.

The Vice Chairman of the People's Committee of Can Tho City believes that today's conference is an opportunity for us to focus on exchanging ideas and discussing several key topics such as enhancing the capacity to link trade promotion and export development activities in the Mekong Delta region; building a brand of high-quality goods; deeply engaging in distribution networks and global value chains; developing export markets for the region's strengths; accelerating digital transformation in regional trade development; linking trade promotion on a regional scale for strong product groups; developing logistics services linked to enhancing regional connectivity and building strong logistics enterprises to serve the region's import-export activities; as well as promoting the participation and coordination of enterprises in procurement, distribution, import, export, and e-commerce to export the region's products.

Display and promotion of products from localities and businesses in the Mekong Delta region.

On the sidelines of the conference, there is also an exhibition space to showcase and promote products from localities and businesses in the region, creating opportunities to connect suppliers of goods and services in the Mekong Delta region with import-export enterprises and trade promotion organizations. The conference's organizing committee facilitates the participation of enterprises in the Mekong Delta region that offer high-quality products and possess the potential and capability for export.