Workshop “Orientation for Development of Urban and rural systems in the Mekong Delta”

Ministry of Construction in coordination with German International Cooperation in Vietnam (GIZ) organized a workshop “Orientation for Development of Urban and rural systems in the Mekong Delta” on December 10^th, in Cantho city. Deputy Minister of Construction Nguyen Thanh Nghi attended and spoke to open the workshop. There were representatives of ministries, central agencies, 13 provinces and cities in the Mekong Delta, experts, scientists, international organizations, associations at the workshop.

Deputy Minister Nguyen Thanh Nghi spoke to open the Workshop

Ministry of Construction has developed and issued an Action Plan to implement Resolution 120/NQ-CP (sustainable development of the Mekong Delta in response to climate change) and submitted to the Prime Minister for approval the adjustment of construction planning for the Mekong Delta to 2030, with a vision to 2050 in Decision 68 in 2018. Accordingly, the urban system in the region will be built in a network structure suitable to geographical conditions, natural ecology, and adaptation to climate change. Regional center cities are organized to become the nucleus, the driving force which promote socio-economic development of each provinces and across the region; ensure national defense and security at the southwest border country.

Deputy Minister Nguyen Thanh Nghi said that: “Mekong Delta currently has 174 cities, including, 1 centrally run city, 02 provincial cities of class 1, 12 provincial cities of class 2, 09 provincial cities of class 3, 23 provincial cities of class 4, 127 provincial of class 5; rate of urbanization of the whole region reaches 31.16%, up 4.6% compared to 2015. However, the implementation of the Mekong Delta construction plan is still slow and faces many challenges, such as: rate of urbanization and speed of urbanization are still much lower than the national average; the technical infrastructure system is weak and asynchronous; collection and treatment of solid waste and wastewater have not changed much, the rate of treatment is low, outdated technologies. Meanwhile, the climate change, extreme weather phenomena such as floods and droughts, salinity, land subsidence have negative impacts to people’s lives.

Deputy Minister Nguyen Thanh Nghi wants managers, experts and scientists to contribute ideas in the management and development of urban and rural systems in the Mekong Delta; Orientation for forming a framework, defining development models and development patterns of the urban and rural system of the Mekong River Delta; organization the urban and rural technical infrastructure system in the region ensures sustainable development and climate change adaptation; promotion regional linkage, synchronous and organic connection between urban and rural areas in the region; solutions to improve and maximize the potentials, comparative advantages and competitive advantages of the region; financial support as well as the mobilization of resources for the implementation of the Urban and Rural System Planning in the Mekong Delta, especially the key urban development projects, key rural areas, and important infrastructure projects such as highways, seaports...

The whole workshop

Discussions and speeches at the Workshop will help the Ministry of Construction and relevant ministries in studying, building and completing the national planning system and main mechanisms in the field of construction planning and urban development in the coming time./.