The HCMC government has unveiled a plan to develop Binh Dien, Thu Duc and Hoc Mon wholesale markets into destinations for not only product buyers but also tourists.

Traders prepare farm produce at Hoc Mon Wholesale market. HCMC authorities want to develop whole- sale markets into new tourist sites for foreigners 

Speaking at a meeting with agencies on February 13, HCMC vice chairman Tran Vinh Tuyen said many countries including Japan and South Korea have turned their traditional wholesale markets into destinations for people to visit and shop.

“HCMC will manage to make the three whole markets attractive venues for visitors. The markets will sell high-quality products with clear origins in different sectors and to promote these products,” Tuyen said.

However, relevant agencies were of the opinion that the city would have to solve problems related to the environment, wastewater treatment, food safety and traffic if it wanted tourists to come. 

Tran Thuy Lien, director of the management company of Binh Dien Wholesale Market, said the market operates a wastewater treatment system with a daily capacity of 2,500 cubic meters but is unable to treat all the wastewater there. The company is spending an additional VND20 billion doubling the capacity in the next 18 months.

The company plans to invest in a facility to generate electricity from garbage burning, Lien said. She added that garbage treatment at the market costs VND1.3 billion (around US$57,330) a month.

Lien called for competent agencies to tighten control over product quality and food safety at Binh Dien Wholesale Market for farm produce and fresh food. 

Meanwhile, representatives of Hoc Mon and Thu Duc wholesale markets sought the municipal government’s nod to hike management fees and build more facilities to slaughter cattle and process food, and rearrange surrounding roads to better traffic. 

Thu Duc Wholesale Market supplies agricultural products not only for HCMC but also elsewhere in the country while Hoc Mon market located in HCMC’s northwest wholesales food and farm produce, especially vegetables and fruits. Hoc Mon is among the two markets that sell the biggest volume of pork in the city.

The city government plans to relocate Ho Thi Ky Flower Market in District 10, Binh Tay market for dried seafood and a fruit market on Trang Tu Street in District 5 to wholesale markets in outlying districts. The objective is to diversify products at the wholesale markets and ease traffic congestion in inner-city districts.

The city’s vice chairman Tuyen told the HCMC Department of Finance to submit new management fees applicable to the three wholesale markets to the municipal government for approval in mid-March at the latest. 

HCMC targets six million international visitors in 2017. The local government is weighing plans to upgrade an medicinal herb quarter in District 5, a tour to Can Gio District for seafood lovers, music streets and a weekend fair at Bach Dang Wharf in District 1 in order to attract more tourists to the city.

SGT