Workers process shrimp for export at the factory of the Minh Phu Seafood Corp. in Ca Mau province (Photo: VNA)Ca Mau (VNA) - The COVID-19outbreak and the severe drought will make it difficult for the southernmostprovince of Ca Mau to achieve this year’s growth target of 7 percent but a figureof 5.28 percent is certainly achievable, local authorities have said.
At a meeting of the provincial People’sCommittee on June 2, officials noted that local socio-economic conditions havebeen substantially affected, with supply chains, trade flows and production andbusiness activities interrupted by both the pandemic and the drought.
Localities such as U Minh, Thoi Binh, Tran VanThoi, and Cai Nuoc districts as well as Ca Mau city have also suffered from heatwaves and high salinity, which subsequently affected animal husbandry andaquaculture. Some 817.4ha of the province’s aquatic farming area has beendamaged, while its fisheries exports still face a host of difficulties.
These problems will hamper Ca Mau’s grossregional domestic product (GRDP) from growing by the targeted 7 percent thisyear.
Director of the provincial Department ofPlanning and Investment Truong Dang Khoa predicted that the province’s GRDP wouldrise 5.28 percent this year, adding that Ca Mau may fail to achieve seven ofthe 21 socio-economic development targets set for 2020: exports, GDP, budgetcollection, budget spending, poverty reduction, job creation, and unemploymentinsurance coverage.
To shore up socio-economic conditions for the remainderof the year, People’s Committee Chairman Nguyen Tien Hai said Ca Mau will adoptseveral solutions, such as accelerating the restructuring of key sectors,boosting technology transfer and technology application in production,processing, and services to raise productivity and product quality, takingdrastic action to improve the business climate, and supporting businesses,especially small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), to develop.
Ca Mau will also step up tourism promotion,attract more investors in tourism, and enhance links with nearby localities intourism development, he added./.
VNA
