On November 16, in Dong Thap province, the plenary session of the Mekong Delta Startup Forum - 2nd time in 2024 took place with the theme "Green Economy - New driving force for development".
Attending the Minister of Science and Technology, Huynh Thanh Dat; Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD) Tran Thanh Nam;
The forum was organized to promote the spirit and actions of both the public and private sectors, especially the business and start-up forces with innovative elements, to concretize the policy of Resolution No. 13-NQ/TW dated April 2, 2022 of the Politburo on the direction of socio-economic development, ensuring national defense and security in the Mekong Delta region to 2030, with a vision to 2045.
Speaking at the Forum, Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Tran Thanh Nam informed that the Mekong Delta region has been facing many difficulties and challenges such as climate change, rising sea levels and market fluctuations that have changed consumption trends and agricultural product quality standards. In order to develop rapidly and sustainably, in line with the general development trend, green transformation, digital transformation and innovation are objective requirements, strategic choices and top priorities.
“It is necessary to promote awareness and innovation goals, find solutions for specific and sustainable economic orientations of the Mekong Delta region, based on the efforts and effective resource cooperation of both the public and private sectors. The contents and activities of the forum raise voices to remove bottlenecks, propose solutions and develop new technologies to promote the value of local resources, meet the needs and anticipate the development trends of the world,” Mr. Nam emphasized.
The plenary session consisted of 5 parts. In part 1, delegates proposed initiatives and solutions for green economic development, including: Developing agriculture and processing agricultural and aquatic products, promoting agricultural tourism/ecotourism, and pioneering youth.
Through the time of designing and operating emission reduction tours, collecting statistics on green tourism surveys, Mr. Vo Van Phong - CEO of C2T Tourism Company - proposed that the Mekong Delta needs to have a green skills training program, green communication for tourism human resources; support infrastructure; raise community awareness; those working in green tourism benefit from policy mechanisms...
Mr. Nguyen Trung Tinh - representative of Alpha Amin Production and Trading Company Limited - proposed that the most important thing is to have more policies to support preferential loans or green capital, creating conditions for start-up projects to access preferential loans or green financial support packages from the Government and green investment funds because investing in green and sustainable is a medium and long-term investment, different from conventional credit lines.
"This will help startups focus on product research and development, especially in the early stages when there are many financial difficulties," said Mr. Tinh.
