Cai Rang floating market in the Mekong River Delta. Can Tho is one of the leading provinces in the whole country with its rice output. Ninh Kieu Whalf on the Hau River. Rice for export in Song Hau Foodstuff Company. The export-canned fruit- processing chain.   The Mekong River Delta Rice Institute’s laboratory. Can Tho, the gateway to the whole downstream area of the Mekong River, is an economic and cultural centre and an important hub of regional and international transport in the Mekong River delta and the whole country as well.   An area of white rice and clear water The folk song lyrics saying: “Can Tho has white rice and clear water. Those who come here even though only once do not wish to leave” has more or less carried the tales of a once busy and rich land called Tay Do (capital of the Western region) under the French rule (the 19th century). Coming to Can Tho, visitors can not help visiting Ninh Kieu Wharf on the Hau River to enjoy a cruise, a good chance to see sunrise on a floating market where not only rural products are sold but also unique features of life are found. It would be more interesting if you order breakfast from a floating eatery, zigzagging through “a fleet” of hundreds of boats, big and small. The boatwoman, charming in her loose-fitting blouse, will satisfy every customer. This way of selling, simple and busy but romantic, which has existed for nearly a hundred years now, constitutes a “canal civilization” (as described by writer Son Nam). From here you continue your journey to the isles, visiting hamlets, orchard gardens, shrimp ponds, fish cages and vast rice fields to see the blessings endowed by nature and the assiduous labour of southerners of many generations. A vigorous change Envisaging the image of Can Tho City in the coming years, Vo Thanh Tong, Chairman of the Municipal People’s Committee, said: “It will be a “green” city with many centres bearing its own specific architecture, in which waterways and green trees are the main landscape. Its urbanization rate will reach 70% with a population of 1.4 - 2 million people. Ninh Kieu centre will be developed into a grade-1 urban area. Cai Rang industrial port area, Binh Thuy industrial zone, O Mon technological zone and Thot Not service area will be established. Phong Dien ecological area will reach the urban standards of grade-3”. Present-day Can Tho is like a huge construction site. New residential quarters, such as Binh An, Hung Phu and Phu An as well as Con Khuong villa quarters, have brought a modern and civilized look to the city. Cai Khe trade centre has emerged from an area which, only a couple of years ago, was a water spinach pond. Vo Van Luy, Head of the Management Board of the Industrial Zones, said: “All floor spaces in Tra Noc  Industrial Park 1 and 65% of the floor space in Tra Noc Industrial Park 2 have been leased. By the first quarter of 2005, the industrial parks in Can Tho City had attracted 115 investment projects with a total capital of USD 357 million, of which USD 95.453 million came from 24 foreign businesses, creating 16,450 jobs”.  The export-package-weaving workshop in Song Hau Foodstuff Company.   Four suburban districts including Thot Not, Co Do, Phong Dien and Vinh Thanh annually provide one million tons of rice and hundreds of thousands tons of assorted  fruits and vegetables and aquatic products. There are also many traditional craft villages specializing in agricultural product processing, ship-building and bamboo weaving, which have become attractive eco-tourist sites. The projects on building the Can Tho Bridge, the biggest in the Mekong River delta, upgrading Tra Noc Airport and improving Cai Nui port complex have started. These projects, when completed, will make a breakthrough in attracting more domestic and foreign investment and developing transport and tourism throughout the whole region. Creating human resources and aiming for a grade-1 city Can Tho authorities plan to give special priority to training a contingent of managerial officials, intellectuals and skilled workers and adopt policies to attract talents to develop the City. Can Tho University has 10 faculties with 49 training disciplines, three research institutes and nine research centres for scientific and technological application to production. Over the past years, it has trained tens of thousands of engineers, physicians, bachelors and teachers, participated in building an agricultural promotion system, and disseminating farming techniques to many provinces in the Mekong River delta. Co-operating with Can Tho University, the Mekong River Delta Rice Institute has produced and supplied assorted high-quality rice strains, established many international co-operation projects in agronomy and hosted practices for the students and post graduates. Ph.D Pham Si Tan, Vice Director of the Institute, said: “Before 2000, we had to import rice strains, but now our Institute can supply 80% of the rice strains of high quality and yield. Our technology is not inferior to that of any rice research centre in the world. This is attributed to good investment and a contingent of excellent scientists”. This is one of the factors that make Vietnam the second biggest rice exporter in the world. In 2004, Can Tho recorded an economic growth rate of 14.93% (it is expected to rise to 16% this year) and an average per-capita income of USD 647, an increase of USD 102 over 2003. Its economy was restructured in the direction of industrialization and modernization and its export was stepped up. With the achievements it has obtained over the past year, Can Tho has been flourishing to become a grade-1 city by 2010, deserving being the capital of the beautiful and rich Western region of South Vietnam. In late 2003, Can Tho Province was split up into two new administrative units: Can Tho City and Hau Giang Province. Can Tho City has become an urban area under the administration of the central authority. Area: 138,960 ha. Population: 1.12 million. Geography: borders on An Giang Province to the North, Soc Trang, Hau Giang and Bac Lieu Provinces to the South, Kien Giang and Bac Lieu Provinces to the West and Vinh Long and Dong Thap Provinces to the East. Story: Thinh Phat - Photos: Le Cuong, Quang Minh, Kim Son