Ha Noi (VNA) – The Ministry of Industry and Trade has approved a plan to spend almost 1 billion USD to develop a network of markets across the country over the next 12 years.

The network would consist of markets for local shopping, whosesale markets for agricultural products sold in auctions, and wholesale and retail markets in the centres of cities and provinces.

According to the ministry, investment, set aside from the State budget
should require more than 15 trillion VND (937.5 million USD) with 7.2 trillion VND from now to 2010, 6.9 trillion VND from 2011-2015 and 1 trillion VND leading up to 2020.
The plan should help ensure commodities are transported rapidly under good management, reasonable structure and sufficient equipment. In managing the markets, the plan follows the principle of the country’s free market economy where,” “The market sets the prices, the State regulates the market.”

For wholesale markets of agricultural products, the ministry plans to invest 7.8 trillion VND to develop 157 such markets, including 77 markets for varieties of farm produce, 30 wholesale markets for fruits and vegetables, 12 wholesale markets for rice and 36 markets for aquaculture products.

Dealing with wholesale and retail sale markets in the provinces and cities’ commercial centres, the Government anticipates an investment of 5.6 trillion VND to develop 319 markets, in which 110 markets would be upgraded and 153 markets would be dismantled and rebuilt. These markets could function as the core for the provinces’ commercial centres, delivering sale markets, while acting as provincial commercial and service centres.

According to the plan, markets in the border areas would be developed to have 490 markets in 25 border provinces, including the upgrade of 167 markets with 323 new markets.

The border markets include 397 border gates, and 58 markets inside the border gates’ economic zones. All this work should come at a price tag of 1.7 trillion VND. These border markets are expected to encourage mountainous and border residents to exchange commodities via the markets.-Enditem