Advice on tourism and urban development in the land of "The Mat Seller's Love"

The land fund is still very large and is located next to Can Tho City, with many highways passing through, Nga Bay is considered by investors as a "promised land" and will invest here in the near future - Photo: CHI QUOC

On June 29, the People's Committee of Nga Bay City (Hau Giang Province) held a workshop on "Tourism and Investment Promotion in Nga Bay City in 2024". At the workshop, many experts gave advice on developing the city, which is the source of inspiration for the song Tinh anh ban chieu .

Nga Bay is the "promised land"

As an urban area "next door" to Can Tho City - the center of the Mekong Delta region, representatives of real estate businesses believe that Nga Bay is no different from a "promised land" for urban and commercial service projects.

Mr. Do Cong Nguyen - General Secretary of Can Tho City Real Estate Association - said that in recent years, the economic growth rate and economic scale of Hau Giang have continuously increased impressively, with some years of growth ranking first in the Mekong Delta region and fourth in the country.

Along with that is the friendly policy to attract investment besides the attention of the Government, so the source of investment capital from the state budget and private capital continuously grows.

According to Mr. Nguyen, with the planning period 2021-2030, vision to 2050 just approved by the Government, Hau Giang's key task is to develop into a smart city including Vi Thanh, Nga Bay and Long My. In which, Nga Bay aims to be a type 2 urban area by 2030, focusing on developing trade, services and tourism. According to statistics in 2022, Nga Bay is the administrative unit with the highest population ratio in Hau Giang province with 711 people/ ^km2 .

"It can be seen that Nga Bay City is one of the economic spearheads of Hau Giang. In the future, after the expressways are formed, Nga Bay will be the intersection of the vertical and horizontal expressways. This is a strength and an advantage for the city to attract investment and develop trade," he said.

Therefore, Mr. Nguyen recommended that the city should focus on building commercial centers and agricultural product hubs, while upgrading old markets to exploit the strengths mentioned above.

In addition, the city needs to focus on real estate development, which is one of the industries that contributes greatly to the province's socio-economy and meets the city's technical infrastructure criteria, improving the city's urban appearance.

Ms. Huynh Thi Hong Ha, Deputy General Director of HTC Vi Thanh Company Limited, the unit investing in a residential project in Nga Bay with a total investment of 420 billion VND including a commercial center combined with a hotel and shophouse, expressed her agreement with the potential of Nga Bay.

In order for Nga Bay to develop further, she recommended that the city promote clear urban planning and create favorable conditions for investors. Special attention should be paid to sustainable urban development, environmental protection, and preservation of local culture.

At the same time, there needs to be preferential policies to support businesses in accessing capital, land, administrative procedures, and creating a transparent environment. This policy needs to be public so that any investor anywhere can access it. The city also needs to focus on investing in human resources because "this is an important issue".

Exploiting tourism associated with rivers

River tourism is an advantage of Nga Bay - Photo: CHI QUOC

Rivers and floating markets are the "specialties" of tourism in Nga Bay City, with its location right on the waterway and road routes between Can Tho City and the provinces. From Ninh Kieu Wharf (Can Tho City), following the Hau River to the Cai Con River junction, you can go to Nga Bay Floating Market and continue connecting with tourist destinations in Soc Trang, Bac Lieu, and Ca Mau provinces. Therefore, at the workshop, many experts advised Nga Bay to exploit this strength more strongly.

Writer Nham Hung - a researcher of Southern culture - said he wanted to emphasize that Nga Bay is a river tourism and the seven canals are the tourism resources of Nga Bay, it is completely possible to form tours and tourist areas from this advantage. "Is there a tour to Bung Tuong (near Nga Bay market) possible? Is there a tour connecting to Lung Ngoc Hoang?", he suggested.

Master Nguyen Van Thanh (Faculty of Tourism, University of Social Sciences and Humanities, Ho Chi Minh City) also proposed building a unique river tourism product to experience Nga Bay floating market.

"Floating markets are a memory of our people. Nga Bay is a large floating market, with many beautiful memories and many anecdotes, but it has faded away, so how to restore it to develop tourism is a necessary activity. How to let tourists visit, enjoy cuisine, and shop there. Travel companies should connect tours to exploit it," Mr. Thanh suggested.

Tourists from Ho Chi Minh City were excited to see how to make grilled snakehead fish, a typical dish of the Western region - Photo: LAN NGOC

Having successfully organized the famtrip program "Going to Long My town to listen to rural stories", and the tour "Hau Giang - interesting untold stories" which were enthusiastically received by tourists, Mr. Tran Quang Duy - Director of Chim Canh Penguin Travel Service Joint Stock Company - suggested that the most important thing is to exploit the potential to serve the construction of special tourism products associated with familiar types of tourism such as ecology, community, agriculture, culture but still bearing the unique characteristics of Nga Bay City, not overlapping.

"Nga Bay City is famous for its seven canals, so it is necessary to build a system of docks to serve river cruises, including more professional, convenient and safe docks," said Mr. Duy, suggesting that small roads should be upgraded, but encouraging the retention of the typical features of the countryside.

Nga Bay will accompany investors

Mr. Le Hoang Xuyen expressed his thanks for the comments and pledged to accompany investors - Photo: CHI QUOC

Mr. Le Hoang Xuyen - Chairman of Nga Bay City People's Committee, said that the city has recorded the comments and the Standing Committee of the City People's Committee will discuss and calculate carefully, then report to Nga Bay City Party Committee to have fundamental solutions for the city's tourism to develop more and more, especially the orientation of urban expansion, attracting investment projects in industrial clusters, education, health care...

Mr. Xuyen also said that the city has now completed the steering committee for compensation and resettlement support. Projects included in the city's priority list will have a time, progress and workload attached, the city will focus on handing over to investors.

Regarding resettlement, the city is currently completing procedures to conduct the lottery for the city's phase 1 resettlement project for households affected by the earliest lottery projects, expected in August. The province has also just allowed the city to implement the phase 2 resettlement project.

"Nga Bay City not only invites and attracts interested investors, but more importantly, the city always accompanies investors, creates the best and most favorable conditions, is ready to support and cooperate closely to implement projects in the city," Mr. Xuyen committed.

Source: https://tuoitre.vn/hien-ke-phat-trien-du-lich-do-thi-xu-tinh-anh-ban-chieu-20240629144353881.htm