The greatest value in modern supply chains no longer lies in output volume. It lies in technology, standards, logistics, branding and market access.

Mekong Delta’s problems

Logistics is a typical problem of Mekong Delta. Around 70 percent of the region's exports still have to be transported to ports in HCMC, while the roughly 165km journey from Can Tho to Cat Lai Port can take up to five hours. High logistics costs reduce business competitiveness, and weaker competitiveness makes it harder for companies to accumulate resources for investment and expansion.

These bottlenecks do not exist independently. They reinforce one another, creating a vicious cycle of business decline that has persisted for years and prevents the Mekong Delta's natural advantages from being transformed into commensurate value-added gains.

Importantly, the research team does not view this solely as a story about the Mekong Delta. According to VCCI Chair Ho Sy Hung, major resolutions on private-sector development, institutional reform, science and technology, and international integration all have a common objective: building a business community that is large and strong enough to become a driver of national development.

Viewed from that angle, the Mekong Delta is merely where a challenge present in many other localities manifests most clearly. Ultimately, growth does not come from plans, investment projects or new roads. It comes from the ability of businesses to transform those resources into products, services, jobs and incomes.

Perhaps the report's deepest insight is not economic but psychological. Researchers argue that disruptions over several decades have weakened the culture of accumulation, knowledge transfer and long-term confidence within the business community.

This means supporting businesses is not merely a matter of capital, credit or administrative procedures. Companies invest for the long term only when they believe the rules of the game are stable, legitimate interests are protected, and today's investments will not become unexpected risks tomorrow.

The report also notes that improving PCI (provincial competitiveness index) rankings only has real meaning if it reduces actual costs for businesses. What companies need is not a higher position in a ranking table, but less time spent on procedures, lower transaction costs and a public administration system that genuinely supports private-sector development.

While pointing out a series of problems, the report does not end on a pessimistic note.

Cases such as Sok Farm and Ecoka demonstrate that the Mekong Delta can follow a different path. One company exports organic coconut flower nectar, while another brings local products onto global e-commerce platforms. What they share is not their products, but their approach to markets, quality standards, technology and value creation from local resources.

These examples show that the Mekong Delta does not lack entrepreneurial talent. What is missing is an environment supportive enough to ensure such models become not isolated success stories, but the foundation of a new generation of businesses across the region.

A rice field does not create value-added output by itself. A highway does not generate growth on its own. Neither does a seaport create prosperity automatically.

Ultimately, businesses are the entities that transform resources into products, products into brands, and potential into growth.

A region that contributes 58 percent of the country's foreign exchange surplus yet accounts for only about 7 percent of its businesses. That gap may say more about the Mekong Delta than any statistical table ever could.

Resources can create potential, but only businesses create prosperity. And if businesses cannot be nurtured and allowed to grow, even a region that helps feed the nation will still struggle to become the growth pole its potential suggests it should be.

Lan Anh