Despite facing difficulties, the southernmost province of Ca Mau saw remarkable economic growth in the first half and expects to meet its economic growth target of 7 per cent this year.

Preliminary figures from the Ca Mau Statistics Office show economic growth in the first six months was 4.23 per cent year-on-year.

The agricultural, industrial and services sectors recorded growth of 6.41 per cent, 0.61 per cent and 7.03 per cent.

Exports grew by 53 per cent to nearly US$728 million, with seafood exports rising by 38 per to $605 million and fertiliser exports by 229 per cent to $122.5 million.

Huynh Quoc Viet, chairman of the province People’s Committee, said solutions to fulfill the socio-economic development targets for this year would be reviewed and supplemented, including the economic growth target of 7 per cent.

The People's Committee would finalise the provincial plan for 2021-30 and submit it to the Government for approval and focus on urban and rural planning and developing three key townships, he said.

It would also seek to boost industrial production and trade, and promote exports to markets that have free trade agreements with Viet Nam, he said.

Ca Mau planned to strengthen trade promotion for agricultural products, especially those made under the ‘One commune-One products’ programme, and solicit investment in its agro-forestry and fisheries sector, he said.

Provincial authorities would closely monitor price movements to head off black marketeering, he added.

He called on all government agencies to step up administrative reforms to improve the province’s investment environment and position in the Provincial Governance and Public Administration Performance Index (PAPI) and the Public Administration Reform Index (PAR-index).

The province would also strive to effectively implement a project on improving its business environment and enhancing its competitiveness in 2021 - 25 to improve its ranking in the provincial competitiveness index (PCI) and provide better support to enterprises, especially small and medium-sized and private firms who face difficulties due to COVID-19, he added. — VNS