The Can Tho City People's Committee has earmarked VND 2.5 trillion (US$159 million) for building and upgrade trade centres, supermarkets and shops under its 15-year development plan to modernise the city’s retail outlets.

The People's Committee recently decided to spend VND 794 billion (US$50 million) on building new markets and upgraded in the existing ones, VND 319 billion (US$20 million) on modernising supermarkets, and VND 1.4 trillion (US$80 million) on building new trade centres.
Investment capital is to be mobilised from state and city budgets, as well as from local enterprises and private investors, it said.

The People's Committee said it will consider prioritising investment activities under the Domestic Investment Stimulation Law and the existing Corporate Income Tax Law to ensure effective implementation of the plan.
It will also channel investment into developing clothing, textile, fresh produce and seafood outlets, as well as industrial production suppliers in the city's Thot Not, Cai Rang and Ninh Kieu districts.

The development plan calls for the construction of new large-scale trade centres and supermarkets, especially in the city's central business district, which the People's Committee said will enhance commercial transactions at the local, provincial and national level.

Can Tho trade officials believed the city's economic growth will surge 16 percent over the next five years, while the value of goods and service transactions is projected to increase at a rate of 18 percent each year by 2010. Annual export turnover is expected to grow by an average 20 percent each year to top US$1 billion by 2010, they added.