Authorities in the southern province of Tra Vinh aim to boost gross regional domestic product (GRDP) by 12 per cent in 2018 and invest a total of VND22 trillion (US$966.6 million) in social development.

Chairman of the provincial People’s Committee Dong Van Lam announced the targets at a conference on the province’s socio-economic development in 2018, held in Tra Vinh on Wednesday.

To achieve these targets, the committee has developed plans to strengthen the agricultural, industrial, trade, service and tourism sectors.

The province will invest in organic, biotech and high-tech agriculture to make a radical shift from traditional agriculture to modern agriculture, and to expand capacity and join national and global value chains.

For the industrial sector, the province will focus on completing essential infrastructure to increase competitiveness, including roads to the Dinh An Economic Zone (EZ) that will help the province attract investment.

Tra Vinh continues to call for investment in the Dinh An EZ and for developing infrastructure of industrial parks and complexes.

The province will also prioritise the development of the processing industry, ensuring it has competitive advantages so that it can join the export market. At the same time, it will strengthen industrial promotion, brand building and intellectual property protections for businesses.

It will also enhance investment promotion, continue implementing mechanisms and policies on attracting investment and prioritise investment in projects on the development of infrastructure in economic zones and industrial parks.

The province will diversify trade and service products, improve efficiency in trade promotion activities and develop modern wholesale and retail networks.

Tra Vinh also continues to promote Vietnamese goods in the rural areas and strengthen market information and forecasts, along with fighting smuggling and trade fraud.

The province is focusing on developing the tourism sector to turn it into a key economic sector and is calling for investment in diversified tourism products that are the strong points of Tra Vinh, including sea tours and eco-tourism. — VNS