Investments

Can Tho Projects 10-10.5% GRDP Growth in 2026, Following 2025 Performance Review

On the morning of December 6th, the People's Committee of Can Tho City convened a conference to assess the implementation results of the 2025 economic growth scenario and outline tasks and solutions for 2026. Despite achieving a growth rate of only 7.23%, falling short of the set target, the city acknowledges this as a significant effort amidst ongoing administrative boundary adjustments and inherent challenges. These include persistent land procedure issues, industrial production constraints, and the sluggish recovery of the service sector.

Administrator

7 December, 2025

Chairman of Can Tho City People’s Committee Truong Canh Tuyen speaking at the conference – Photo: VGP

Growth Falls Short of Expectations but Reflects Citywide Efforts

The conference was co-chaired by Chairman of the Can Tho City People’s Council Dong Van Thanh and Chairman of the Can Tho City People’s Committee Truong Canh Tuyen, with representatives from various departments and localities in attendance.

Reporting at the conference, Vo Nhut Quang, Deputy Director of the Can Tho City Department of Finance, stated that the city’s economic growth in 2025 reached only 7.23%, falling 2.77% short of the target scenario and 1.07% below the baseline scenario.

According to the Department of Finance’s assessment, although the growth rate did not meet expectations, it clearly demonstrates the efforts of the Party Committee, government, businesses, and citizens of the city amidst the recent administrative restructuring. This result also reflects the development challenges Can Tho faces as many economic sectors experience fluctuations following the administrative boundary adjustments.

Over the years, Can Tho’s growth has shown a noticeable recovery trend. During the 2011-2015 period, the city’s average growth was 5.97%/year; in the 2016-2020 period, it decreased to 4.97%/year; and in the 2021-2025 period, the average growth reached 6.86%/year. Specifically, the official growth rate for 2023 was 6.42%, estimated at 7.41% for 2024, and 7.23% for 2025 as reported at the conference.

The economic structure continues to shift positively, with average per capita output and labor productivity both increasing compared to the same period in 2024. These are positive signs of the city’s persistence and determination, despite the remaining challenges that need to be addressed.

Agriculture Remains a ‘Pillar,’ Industrial Sector Declines Sharply

One notable point at the conference was the significant disparity between economic sectors. The industrial sector, once expected to lead growth, recorded a sharper decline compared to agriculture, particularly with a steep drop in electricity production in October and November 2025. This decline has led to an overall downturn in the industrial sector.

The main causes identified include fluctuations in raw material prices, shortages of production materials, difficulties in accessing capital, rising production costs, and intense competition in export markets regarding both price and design. Additionally, domestic market demand remains sluggish, while logistics costs and tariffs continue to exert significant pressure, making products less competitive.

Notably, the production and distribution of electricity, gas, hot water, steam, and air conditioning decreased by 2.63% compared to the same period, falling 6.73% short of the growth scenario of 4.10%.

Meanwhile, agriculture continues to be the economy’s “pillar,” with the added value of agriculture, forestry, and fisheries increasing by 3.79%, slightly lower than the city’s target by 0.1% but higher by 0.26% compared to the 10% growth scenario. The sector contributed 0.85 percentage points to the overall economic growth.

Many areas, such as aquaculture and seafood processing, maintained stable growth and continued to serve as a sustainable foundation amidst challenges in the industrial and service sectors.

Dr. Ngo Anh Tin, Director of the Department of Science and Technology: Accelerate land use fee calculations and land use right certificate issuance for residents – Photo: VGP

Services Grow by 8.79% but Lack Breakthrough, Tourism Impacted

The service sector, which accounts for a significant portion of the city’s economic structure, recorded a growth rate of 8.79%, but this was still 0.85% lower than the local scenario and 3.44% below the 10% growth scenario.

Analysis indicates that while the service sector is recovering, it lacks a breakthrough. Consumer demand has decreased, and businesses remain cautious, reluctant to invest in expansion or technological innovation. These factors have prevented the service sector from achieving the strong recovery expected.

Specifically, accommodation and food services grew by 10.9%, falling 3.24% short of the scenario. Several objective factors negatively impacted the tourism industry, including prolonged rainfall limiting sightseeing activities, slow recovery in international tourist numbers, and high tide levels reaching alarming levels on many roads, forcing some famous tourist spots to reduce operations and affecting Q4/2025 revenue.

Ha Vu Son, Director of the Can Tho Department of Industry and Trade, noted that while tourism services have grown, revenue has not yet matched potential. He emphasized, “If a tourist visiting Can Tho spends around 500,000 VND, the city’s tourism industry would generate revenue of approximately 60 trillion VND, significantly contributing to the trade and service sector’s value. To achieve this, the city must develop more outstanding and unique tourism products.”

Land Procedures – A Major Deterrent for Investors

At the conference, many delegates agreed that land procedures are the biggest bottleneck hindering the city’s growth.

Deputy Chairman of the Can Tho City People’s Committee Nguyen Van Khoi candidly pointed out, “Many investors thoroughly research and then ‘run away’ because they cannot resolve this issue.” He believes this is a key issue, as both public and private investments are directly linked to land resources.

Sharing the same view, Deputy Chairman of the Can Tho City People’s Committee Nguyen Van Hoa stressed the need for breakthrough solutions to address bottlenecks in private investment projects. According to him, specific responsibilities must be assigned to each department and unit to avoid the time-consuming process of seeking opinions across departments. Additionally, the city needs to support businesses with labor and credit to boost production and business activities.

Dr. Ngo Anh Tin, Director of the Department of Science and Technology, urged the city to accelerate basic construction disbursement, speed up public investment projects, and work directly with commercial banks to increase money supply and credit balances. He also emphasized the need to expedite land use fee calculations and land use right certificate issuance for residents, as well as promptly determine and collect land use fees for potential real estate projects.

Call for ‘Daring to Think, Daring to Act’ to Achieve 10–10.5% GRDP Target

Chairman of the Can Tho City People’s Council Dong Van Thanh remarked that the 7.23% growth rate does not match the city’s potential and is a matter for reflection among leaders, officials, and civil servants. He attributed this limitation partly to subjective reasons, such as the lack of decisive leadership and guidance from some department heads and the sluggishness of some civil servants.

Concluding the conference, Chairman of the Can Tho City People’s Committee Truong Canh Tuyen highly appreciated the efforts of various sectors in fulfilling their 2025 tasks but noted that these efforts still fall short of requirements. The city will submit to the Standing Committee of the City Party Committee and the People’s Council a growth scenario of GRDP from 10–10.5% for 2026.

He instructed departments and localities to focus on addressing difficulties, developing suitable plans for each sector, clearly assigning tasks to each official, and fostering a spirit of “daring to think, daring to act, and not shirking responsibility”; accelerating basic construction disbursement and the progress of public investment projects from the beginning of 2026; summarizing and resolving business difficulties; addressing land planning bottlenecks; and expediting land-based budget collection and resettlement.

The Chairman of the City People’s Committee also assigned responsibilities to the Deputy Chairmen to closely oversee economic development tasks, GRDP growth, and their respective sectors, while boldly criticizing and strictly handling officials who avoid work, fear responsibility, or delay progress due to administrative mergers.

Han Dong

– 19:30 06/12/2025