Vietnam, US firms plan $1 bln agri project in Mekong Delta

Dai Thuan Thien Clean Agricultural Company Ltd. and New Roc Energy Partners II LLC plan to implement a sustainable eco-agricultural chain project worth $1 billion in the Mekong Delta city of Can Tho.

The U.S. firm will be a major finance provider for the project, which includes an area for sustainable eco-cultivation of fruits, vegetables, sugarcane, and rice; a farm produce processing plant; an organic fertilizer factory, an eco village; a rice milling plant; a packaging plant; a waste processing plant; a logistics center; and a center for organic agricultural technology transfer.

In a meeting with Can Tho authorities Wednesday, Nguyen Hoang Cung, CEO of Dai Thuan Thien, said the project would cover 147 hectares in Can Tho and neighboring Hau Giang province, apart from 240,000 hectares of growing areas.

The project will provide high-quality rice products like rice paper, dried vermicelli, rice cakea, rice oil, and by-products from rice milling, including rice bran oil. The products will be certified by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) for exporting to the U.S., Europe and others, according to the duo.

Vice Mayor of Can Tho, Duong Tan Hien, said he highly rated the investment proposal and asked the investors to pay attention to project feasibility.

Hien added that the Mekong Delta city is calling for investments in high-tech agriculture and industry. In particular, the city has drafted a project for a consuming, processing and producing center, subject to the agriculture ministry’s assessment and Prime Minister’s approval.

Projects to be invested in this center will enjoy incentives of low corporate income tax of 10% versus the normal rate of 22% and exemption of land lease fees for 15 years and the construction period.

The Mekong Delta is the largest agricultural hub of Vietnam, accounting for 33.54% of the GDP contribution of the national agricultural sector in 2004-2020, according to the agriculture ministry.

In 2020, the region topped the country’s output of rice at 24.51 million tons, or 56% of the total; 617,700 tons of shrimp, or 83.51% of the total; 1.14 million tons of pangasius, or 98% of the total; and 4.3 million tons of fruits, or 60% of the total.