SHRIMP AND DEVELOPMENT IN THE MEKONG DELTA

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 HO CHI MINH CITY 001575 SIPDIS SENSITIVE DEPARTMENT PASS USTR - ELENA BRYAN E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: ETRD ECON EINV PGOV EINV VM SUBJECT: SHRIMP AND DEVELOPMENT IN THE MEKONG DELTA REF: A) HCMC 1128 B) 03 HCMC 1019 C) HCMC 1554 SUMMARY ¶1. (SBU) Summary: The southern Mekong Delta is one of the fastest growing regions in Vietnam, driven by its expanding aquaculture industry. With USDOC's recent announcement of lowered U.S. dumping duties on shrimp, a barrier to growth has been lowered. However, increased resources are needed to ensure that shrimp farming is sustainable. In order to realize shrimp's export potential, provinces must expand investment in infrastructure improvement and examine ways to strengthen the banking sector. End Summary. ¶2. (SBU) The Consul General traveled to the southern Mekong Delta December 1-7 to visit the provinces of Ca Mau, Bac Lieu, and Soc Trang as well as Can Tho City. These provinces are part of the Mekong rice bowl that produces USD 2.5 billion in annual exports and are the nation's main aquaculture producers, according to the Southwest Development Committee. While shrimp has always been a Mekong product, major efforts to transform unproductive salinated rice land into shrimp farms started roughly five years ago. Now shrimp is one of the region's most important exports. Although aquaculture exports to the U.S. slowed in 2004 due to preliminary dumping duties of 12 to 93 percent stemming from the dumping suit against shrimp exporters in Vietnam and elsewhere, the final decision on duties has already prompted a renewed increase in shrimp exports and producer earnings, says Ho Quoc Luc, Chairman of the Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers. All the provincial leaders we met welcomed the decision, although all maintained Vietnamese companies did not dump their shrimp in the U.S. market and should shoulder no duties at all. MEKONG SHRIMP PRODUCTION - "NATURAL" AND INDUSTRIAL ¶3. (SBU) There are two primary types of shrimp farming: natural and industrial. Provincial officials say that "natural" shrimp farming uses a low density of shrimp in the ponds, and that since farmers do not use chemicals, environmental degradation is limited. In industrial shrimp farming, 20-30 shrimp are packed into each square meter of pond, and companies use vitamins and ventilators intensively, with a much higher incidence of sickness in the product. The Duyen Hai Bac Lieu Aquaculture Production and Service Company, Vietnam's largest 100-percent foreign owned aquaculture company, has a semi-industrial farming process massing only 6 shrimp per square meter of pond and requiring less day-to- day care with vitamins and ventilators. Although provincial officials maintained that "natural" shrimp farming was almost completely organic and had little environmental impact, a small- scale shrimp farmer in Ca Mau's mangrove protection zone said he used industrial feed like larger-scale companies and that he was learning to use vitamins. In Ca Mau, only 2.5 percent of the 200,000 hectares of shrimp ponds use industrial farming processes, but in Soc Trang and Bac Lieu, respectively, 30 percent and 50 percent of ponds are industrial shrimp farms. In Bac Lieu, industrial farming produces only 30 percent of shrimp output due to the high incidence of illness. CONSERVATIVE PROVINCES HAVE NOT SLOWED GROWTH ¶4. (SBU) Growth rates in these provinces has reached or surpassed 10 percent in recent years, due primarily to the development of aquaculture and food processing. Although the conservatism of provincial leaders has not slowed growth to date, it could prove problematic in the future. A typical comment by Vice-Chairmen in Ca Mau and Can Tho was that "to achieve development, provincial governments need to abide by central government laws." The Southwest Development Committee, which has nominal responsibility for driving growth in the Mekong Delta, serves only as the eyes and ears of the government in Hanoi and does little to actually facilitate development. While officials recognize the value of advancing the aquaculture and foodstuff industries, it seems unlikely that they would proactively encourage development independent of the central government. ¶5. (SBU) Other provincial officials proved more dynamic and open to furthering sustainable development. Le Khai Phong, President of Ca Mau's Union of Friendship Organizations, the agency involved in managing government and NGO funded projects, appears to have a clear and compelling vision for Ca Mau development. He discussed Ca Mau's difficulty in attracting support for social issues such as poverty alleviation and infrastructure improvement. Phong noted that Ca Mau had only 15 kilometers of asphalt road. Like their counterparts in Ca Mau and Can Tho, the People's Committees in Bac Lieu and Soc Trang alluded to national unity but were more focused on attracting investment for sustainable development (ref C). Bac Lieu People's Committee Vice Chairman Nguyen Thanh De discussed the current GVN policy to encourage greater competitiveness at the provincial level, promoting the concept that uncompetitive companies will die. He also said the province was studying the examples of Thailand and Taiwan in order to develop a sustainable aquaculture industry and avoid the shrimp illnesses encountered in these countries. Increasing educational extensions for aquaculture was a topic all leaders in these provinces addressed. INFRASTRUCTURE STILL SUB-PAR ¶6. (SBU) The lack of infrastructure for shrimp processing and export is another barrier to further development of the shrimp industry. None of the four provinces visited have any direct outlet to overseas markets and must transport the shrimp over the 2-lane National Highway 1 to Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC). Can Tho is 170 km and a 4-hour drive south of HCMC; the main shrimp producing and processing provinces we visited lie even further south. The narrow Highway 1, the only artery for the region, is traversed by every type of vehicle. The Ministry of Transportation is upgrading and widening the 234 km stretch of highway from Ca Mau to Can Tho using World Bank funds -- a project whose planned completion by the beginning of 2006 should help alleviate some regional transportation woes. ¶7. (SBU) However, Highway 1 from Can Tho to HCMC remains over- crowded and dangerous. All vehicles must use a ferry to traverse the Mekong between Can Tho and HCMC; the bridge on this stretch remains a work in progress, with an estimated finish date of 2008. Other construction projects to make Can Tho City into a viable "Capital of the Mekong Delta" are similarly stalled (ref A). Although upgrading Cai Ciu Port in Can Tho would allow Mekong exports to ship directly to overseas destinations and reduce shipping costs by $5 per ton of cargo, developers have finished only the first phase of the project, with no estimate of when they will finish or at of ultimate costs. IMMATURE BANKING SYSTEM ¶8. (SBU) The lack of widespread financing for the shrimp industry may also slow growth and hinder expansion for smaller farmers. The banking system is still relatively new and has yet to earn public trust. Thus, Bac Lieu leaders note, many in the Delta have plowed their new wealth into real estate, prompting an annual 20 percent increase in housing prices. Numerous construction projects can be seen along National Highway 1 and within all the towns we visited. The lack of a financing system to reinvest earnings productively could be a long-term limiting factor for the shrimp industry. COMMENT ¶9. (SBU) As the aquaculture industry continues to expand in the Mekong Delta, provinces need to concentrate on creating a sustainable industry. While some provinces are aware of the need to increase education and investment to address issues such as shrimp illness and wastewater treatment, there is also a tendency to look for the easy path to quick development and ignore longer- term problems. The environmental impact of shrimp farms, both industrial and natural, remains unclear. Development of infrastructure and the financial sector are vital to building a sustainable aquaculture industry in the Delta. End comment. CHERN