Nguyen Phong Quang, deputy head of Steering Committee for the Southwestern Region, who spoke at the recent Mekong Delta Economic Cooperation (MDEC) Forum, said investment in agriculture had increased but "promotion activities for the sector have not brought the expected results."
As of September, a total of 903 FDI projects worth US$12 billion operate in the Delta. Only 52 of the projects are involved in agriculture, forestry and aquaculture, with limited registered capital of US$ 242 million.
Also speaking at the forum, Victoria Kwakwa, director of World Bank Viet Nam, said the Mekong Delta was one of Viet Nam's most dynamic regions, with agriculture and aquaculture contributing up to 40 percent of the Delta's GDP.
"Viet Nam is not different from other countries. The portion of FDI in agriculture is not large. If we look at the US, which has a very developed economy, it's the same. If we look at the Philippines, which is a bit more like Viet Nam, it's the same. Thailand and Malaysia are the same," she added.
She said the Vietnamese government should identify sub-sectors that have high potential for FDI such as rice farms and agro-industry.
According to statistics from the Ministry of Planning and Investment, between 1993 and 2014, Official Development Assistance (ODA) funds allocated to the delta totalled $5.7 billion, or more than 8 percent of the nation's ODA. Roughly $500 million of the delta's ODA funds have been invested in the agriculture sector.
Quang said that domestic investment in the region had focused on the processing industry, manufacturing and real estate.
Investment in agriculture also remains low in Long An Province, which receives more than half of FDI in the Mekong Delta.
