MINISTRY OF TRAINING AND EDUCATION MINISTRY OF HOME AFFAIRS NATIONAL ACADEMY OF PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION PHAN THI TUYET MINH COMPETENCIES OF THE CHAIRPEOPLE OF THE COMMUNE PEOPLE’S COMMITTEES IN THE MEKO[.]
MINISTRY OF TRAINING AND MINISTRY OF HOME EDUCATION AFFAIRS NATIONAL ACADEMY OF PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION PHAN THI TUYET MINH COMPETENCIES OF THE CHAIRPEOPLE OF THE COMMUNE PEOPLE’S COMMITTEES IN THE MEKONG DELTA PROVINCES Specialization: Public Management Code : 34 04 03 SUMMARY OF THE DOCTORAL DISSERTATION HA NOI, 2023 The doctoral dissertation was completed at: NATIONAL ACADEMY OF PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION Supervisors: Assoc.Prof Dr Vo Kim Son Dr Nguyen Thi Thanh Thuy Reviewer 1: ……………………………………………… Reviewer 2: ……………………………………………… Reviewer 3: ……………………………………………… The doctoral dissertation is defended before the Doctoral Dissertation Assessment Council at the institutional level Venue: Room for Doctoral Dissertation Defense……, National Academy of Public Administration 77, Nguyen Chi Thanh, Dong Da, Ha Noi Time: At: On: (day) (month), 2023 The doctoral dissertation can be found at: - National Library of Vietnam; - Library of the National Academy of Public Administration INTRODUCTION Reasons for choosing the topic President Ho Chi Minh affirmed: "Cadres are the root of all work the success or failure of the work depends on whether the cadres are good or bad" The political report of the Tenth Central Committee of the Communist Party of Viet Nam stated the direction and tasks of the five-year national development (2011 - 2015) with a focus on "building a contingent of clean, competent cadres and civil servants who are capable of meeting the requirements of the new situation” The Mekong delta is a strategic region in the socio-economic development of the country It is the region of rice production and main agricultural products It has a large population and a unique geographical location The Communist Party of Viet Nam and the State have made many policies dedicated to the Mekong delta based on consideration of its strategic position Competencies of the heads of the People's Committees at commune, district, and provincial levels are ones of the keys to the achievement of the development goals of the region, which makes the issue of competencies more pressing Competencies of the heads of the People's Committees at commune level (in particular) should be developed and improved Limitations have been found regarding the competencies of the Chairpeople of the Commune People’s Committees (CPC) and the current literature has paid attention on competencies of the heads of the grassroots-level governments in the Mekong delta provinces Most studies focused on the training and fostering of the contingent of cadres and civil servants in general and the cadres and civil servants at grassroots level in particular; strengthening of the leadership of the Communist Party of Viet Nam; public administration reform; leadership style; and the model of the commune-level People's Committee Chairperson cum commune-level Party Committee Secretary; competencies of cadres and civil servants in general, and competencies of the heads of the specialized agencies in particular Competencies of the CPC Chairpeople and especially the new competencies have, however, not been mentioned and analyzed thoroughly in recent studies Based on the consideration of the above-mentioned reasons, the author chose the topic "Competencies of the Chairpeople of the Commune People's Committees in the Mekong delta provinces" as the doctoral dissertation in Public Management Research purpose and tasks 2.1 Research purpose Based on clarification of theoretical issues of competencies of the CPC Chairpeople and analysis and assessment of the current state of competencies, the dissertation presented viewpoints and proposed a number of solutions to improve competencies of the CPC Chairpeople in the Mekong delta provinces to meet practical development requirements 2.2 Research tasks To achieve the above-mentioned research purpose, the following fours research tasks were conducted in the dissertation: Conducting a literature review of domestic and overseas research works related to the topic to identify the research direction of the dissertations; Systemizing and clarifying the theoretical basis of competencies of the CPC Chairpeople; developing a theoretical framework for competencies of the CPC Chairpeople; Analyzing the current state of the competencies of the CPC Chairpeople in the Mekong delta provinces, thereby pointing out the strengths and weaknesses and analyzing the reasons of the competency weaknesses of the competencies of the CPC Chairpeople in the study region; Proposing viewpoints and a number of solutions to improve the competencies of the CPC Chairpeople in the Mekong delta provinces in the coming years Research object and scope 3.1 Research object The research object is competencies of the CPC Chairpeople 3.1 Research scope Content scope: The dissertation studied competencies of the CPC Chairpeople in terms of knowledge, skills, attitude, and task performance results Space scope: A survey was conducted in 12 provinces in the Mekong delta Time scope: from 2016 to 2021 Solutions were proposed for the years from 2022 to 2030 Research questions and hypotheses 4.1 Research questions The research questions to be answered by the dissertation are the following: What elements does the structure of the competency framework for CPC Chairpeople consist of? What factors influence the competencies of the CPC Chairpeople? What is the current state of the competencies of the CPC Chairpeople in the Mekong delta provinces? What should be done to improve the competencies of the CPC Chairpeople in the Mekong delta provinces to meet the requirements of socio-economic development in the coming years? 4.2 Hypotheses The followings are the hypotheses in response to the above-stated research questions: First, the competency framework for CPC Chairpeople consists of the following elements: knowledge, skills, and attitude which are examined against at different levels of competencies Second, the current competencies of the CPC Chairpeople are influenced by subjective factors such as work motivation, ability to self-study and practice, work experience, and objective factors such as population characteristics, public administration reform context, level and trend of information technology (IT) application Therefore, it is necessary to study the factors influencing their competencies Third, against the competency framework for CPC Chairpeople, the competencies of the CPC Chairpeople in the Mekong delta provinces have not met the requirements, especially CPC Chairpeople lacked some management and administration skills to meet the requirements of the public administration reform and transition to a digital government Fourth, in order to improve the the competencies of the CPC Chairpeople in the Mekong delta provinces, it is necessary to synchronously implement solutions which are raising awareness of the role, responsibilities, political stance, and professional qualifications of the CPC Chairpeople; completing the competency framework and the standard framework for the title of CPC Chairpeople; training; selecting cadres for succession planning for the position of the CPC Chairpeople; developing policies and incentives and working environment; completing the inspection and assessment of the work competencies of the CPC Chairpeople to meet the task requirements in the current context Methodology and research methods 5.1 Methodology The author used the methodology of dialectical materialism and historical materialism 5.2 Research methods The dissertation used a number of research methods such as desk review, sociological survey through questionnaires, and in-depth interview method In addition, some research techniques such as comparison, statistics, and synthesis were adopted in the dissertation New contributions of the dissertation The dissertation has a number of theoretical and practical contributions Regarding theoretical contributions, the dissertation presented viewpoints on competencies and the competency framework for the CPC Chairpeople in the Mekong delta provinces, analyzed and clarified the constituent elements of the competencies of the CPC Chairpeople from the theoretical perspective It proposed the competency framework for the CPC Chairpeople in the Mekong delta provinces The proposed competency framework consisted of 87 criteria divided into three groups of knowledge, skills, and attitude A few new skills were introduced in response to the new situation Regarding practical contributions, the dissertation analyzed the current state of the competencies of the CPC Chairpeople in the Mekong delta provinces and proposed solutions to improve the competencies of this contingent The findings and recommendations of the dissertations can be used as a reference for building and developing a contingent of capable and reputable leaders and managers on a par with the given tasks in the coming time The dissertation is a reference for assessing the elected CPC Chairperson's competencies to perform the assigned duties or for selecting candidates for succession planning for the position of CPC Chairperson or for providing a basis for recruitment examination to this position in the future (if any) Significance of the dissertation Regarding theoretical significance, the dissertation examined the competencies of the CPC Chairpeople through a competency framework to assess the current competencies of this contingent, which, in addition to the proposed solutions, was meaningful for public managers to make changes and improvements in management policies and development of the CPC Chairpeople Regarding practical significance, the dissertation was a meaningful reference for teaching and studying related disciplines such as public policy and public management Structure of the dissertation In addition to the introduction and conclusion, the dissertation was structured with four chapters: Chapter Literature review of the research works related to the dissertation; Chapter Theoretical basis of the competencies of the Commune People's Committee Chairpeople; Chapter The current state of the competencies of the Commune People's Committee Chairpeople in the Mekong delta provinces; and Chapter Viewpoints and solutions to improve the competencies of the Commune People's Committee Chairpeople in the Mekong delta provinces Chapter LITERATURE REVIEW OF THE RESEARCH WORKS RELATED TO THE DISSERTATION 1.1 Overview of the research works The author reviewed the research works on competencies and competency framework; on competencies of the heads of local governments, including local governments at grassroots level in Viet Nam; on factors influencing the competencies of the heads of local governments These works were categorized into two groups for review: domestic and overseas research works 1.2 Comments on the research works 1.2.1 Contributions of the research works - Domestic and overseas research works gave various definitions of competency and competency framework - A number of domestic and overseas research works developed competency frameworks for the heads of local governments at different levels (at city and district level in overseas research works; at provincial, district and commune levels in domestic research works) - Domestic research works proposed various solutions to develop competencies of the chairperson of the commune-level People's Committee such as strengthening the leadership and direction of the Party Committees and governments at all levels, training, assessment, completing the standards and the competency framework, upholding personal responsibility 1.2.2 Issues that have not been clarified and mentioned Besides the above mentioned contributions of the research works relating to the topic of competencies of the CPC Chairpeople in the Mekong delta provinces, there were some gaps that need to be further studied theoretically: - Regarding the competency framework for the CPC Chairpeople, the review of the related research works which were categorized in the two groups of domestic and overseas works revealed that the competency framework for the CPC Chairpeople needs to be further studied and supplemented to be suitable to the context of Viet Nam - Although the related research works proposed good solutions, they failed to mention in detail the most important solution which was the competency framework 1.2.3 Research orientation of the dissertation - Based on inheriting and incorporating the reasonable and suitable points, the dissertation presented its own viewpoints on competencies and competency framework for the title of the CPC Chairperson in the Mekong delta provinces The competency framework was based on the model of KSA (Knowledge - Skills - Attitude) - The dissertation studied the competency framework as a tool for competency assessment or selection of candidates to the position of the CPC Chairperson in the Mekong delta provinces in the coming time (orientation towards 2030) - After development of a competency framework, the dissertation used it as a tool to assess the current state of the competencies of the CPC Chairpeople in the Mekong delta provinces Based on identification of the strengths and weaknesses related to the competencies, the dissertation proposed viewpoints and solutions to improve the competencies of the CPC Chairpeople in the Mekong delta provinces in the coming time Chapter THEORETICAL BASIS OF THE COMPETENCIES OF THE COMMUNE PEOPLE'S COMMITTEE CHAIRPEOPLE 2.1 General issues of the Commune People's Committee Chairperson 2.1.1 Overview of the Commune People's Committee 2.1.1.1 Concept of the Commune People's Committee The Commune People's Committee is a state administrative body vested with general jurisdiction, responsible for public service provision and governance of all fields in the rural areas 2.1.1.2 Tasks and powers of the Commune People's Committee The first task group is to promulgate documents under its jurisdiction The second task group is to organize the implementation of local budgets The third task group is to perform the tasks and powers delegated and decentralized by the superior state agencies to the CPC 2.1.2 Concept, position, roles, tasks, powers, characteristics and standards of the Commune People's Committee Chairperson 2.1.2.1 Concept of the Commune People's Committee Chairperson The Commune People's Committee Chairperson is the head of the CPC, elected by the Commune People's Council by secret ballot Normally, the CPC Chairperson is a Deputy Secretary of the Commune Party Committee 2.1.2.2 Position of the Commune People's Committee Chairperson The CPC Chairperson is the head of CPC, personally responsible to CPC, and performs state management activities according to the assigned functions and tasks on behalf of the CPC 2.1.2.3 Roles of the Commune People's Committee Chairperson First, the CPC Chairperson arranges and uses the workforce of CPC through assigning work and staffing within his/her jurisdiction; uses the workforce of CPC in performing the tasks and powers of the executive body in the commune Second, the CPC Chairperson plays a leading role in the organization and use of material resources of the CPC Third, the CPC Chairperson has both leadership and management roles 2.1.2.4 Tasks and powers of the Commune People's Committee Chairperson To direct, administer, and assume ultimate responsibility for all activities of CPC and personally direct the areas of CPC operation 2.1.2.5 Characteristics of the activities of the Commune People's Committee Chairperson First, activities of the CPC Chairperson are affected by politics and the political system Second, they are influenced by the local economic and cultural characteristics Third, they are associated with the people Fourth, they are based on the characteristics of the jurisdiction of the People's Committee 2.1.2.6 Standards of the Commune People's Committee Chairperson The standards of the title are promulgated in the legal normative documents, specifically Decision No 04/2004/QD-BNV dated January 16, 2004 by the Minister of Home Affairs on the promulgation of specific standards of cadres and civil servants in communes, wards and townships 2.2 Competencies of the Commune People's Committee Chairperson 2.2.1 Related concepts 2.2.1.1 Concept of competency and competencies of the Commune People's Committee Chairperson Competency is the combination of knowledge, skills, and attitude necessary for an individual to perform well the assigned tasks Competency of the Commune People's Committee Chairperson is the ability to deploy the combination of knowledge, skills, and attitude in the process of performing tasks and powers 2.2.1.2 Concept of competency framework Competency framework is a description of the necessary and complete competencies to perform well the work given to a position, a group, a unit, or an organization A competency framework usually consists of three parts: a list of competencies, a definition of competencies, and a description of the levels of competencies 2.2.2 Constituent elements of the competencies of the Commune People's Committee Chairperson and the bases of the development of the competency framework for the Commune People's Committee Chairperson The competencies of the Commune People's Committee Chairperson consist of three constituent elements: knowledge, skills, and attitude The competency framework for the CPC Chairperson is developed based on the followings: First, the competency theory; Second, the position, tasks, and powers of the CPC Chairperson; Third, the legal regulations for the standards of the title of the CPC Chairperson; Fourth, development requirements and local reality; Fifth, the requirements of the current context: globalization, technology development, climate change, and public administration reform 2.2.3 Criteria for assessment of the competencies of the Commune People's Committee Chairperson 2.2.3.1 Criteria for assessment of the competencies of the Commune People's Committee Chairperson Knowledge Table Competency framework for the CPC Chairperson Competency (1) Fundamental knowledge (2) Professional knowledge (3) Understanding of the local situations Skills Description Required education qualifications (education qualifications, state management training, political theory training) Knowledge of informatics and foreign languages Good understanding of the directions, guidelines, and policies of the Communist Party of Viet Nam, legal documents of the central and local agencies on the organization and operation of CPC Knowledge of public administration and state management General knowledge of the fields and sectors under the jurisdiction of the commune (economic, finance, culture, education, health, environment, ethnicity, religion, security, national defense, cadastral, judicial, civil status management) Understanding of the natural conditions (land, water, climate, natural resources) of the commune and the Mekong delta Understanding of the history of formation and development of the commune Understanding of the customs, habits, and culture of the commune Understanding of the characteristics and socio-economic situation (ethnic groups, population composition) of the commune Knowledge of local languages and regional dialects (Source: Synthesized by the author) Table 2.1 Description of skills Skills Description A Skills related to management and administration activities Ability to synthesize and analyze information from different (1)Skill of sources to make decisions to solve occurring problems under the decision9 situations Attitude (1) Attitude to work (2)Attitude to the employees (3) Attitude to the people (4) Attitude to himself/ herself 4 4 x x x x (Source: Le Quan and adapted by the author) The Table 2.4 presented the five-point Likert scale and Level was shown the most frequent and selected as the standard Because of competency specificity, the expectation level of some competencies may be higher or lower than Level For example, while digital skill is a new skill, the conditions to learn informatics for the CPC Chairpeople in this region was very limited; therefore, the expected level was rated 3.5 points, lower than the score of the frequent Level 2.3 Factors influencing the competencies of the Commune People's Committee Chairpeople 2.3.1 Subjective factors Subjective factors include work motivation, effort, ability to selfstudy and practice, and work experience 2.3.2 Objective factors Objective factors include socio-economic conditions of the region and locality, local population characteristics, context of the public administration reform, level and trend of IT application, staff planning, training, salary regime, work environment, and supervision, assessment and reward Chapter THE CURRENT STATE OF THE COMPETENCIES OF THE COMMUNE PEOPLE'S COMMITTEE CHAIRPEOPLE IN THE MEKONG DELTA PROVINCES 3.1 Overview of the natural, socio-economic characteristics and the contingent of the Commune People's Committee Chairpeople in the Mekong delta provinces 3.1.1 Overview of the natural and economic - social characteristics Regarding strategic geographical location, the Mekong delta belongs to the southern key economic region and is one of the six socio-economic regions of the country Regarding socio-economic characteristics, the transport infrastructure of the region has changed fundamentally by the national highway which is 2,688 km long, increased in length by 52% compared to the one in 2002 The Mekong delta is the habitat of many ethnic groups and has four large ethnic communities of Viet, Cham, Khmer, and Hoa people 15 3.1.2 Impacts of the natural and socio-economic conditions on the competencies of the Commune People's Committee Chairpeople in the Mekong delta provinces First, the extensive trade connection of the Mekong delta with other regions in the country made the CPC Chairpeople in this region more dynamic and proactive to regional and global economic and political changes Second, the natural characteristics, especially hydrological characteristics, river environment, and open exchange environment make people in general and public leaders in particular open-minded The openness promotes their extensive exchange and makes them skilled in communication, easy to approach, likeable, easy to get along with the masses, capable of persuading the masses to comply with the guidelines of the Communist Party of Viet Nam, public policies and laws Third, the CPC Chairpeople in the Mekong delta provinces have attached less importance to their training in comparison with their counterparts in the Red river delta 3.1.3 Overview of the Commune People's Committee Chairpeople The statistics in 2021 revealed that the CPC Chairpeople in all 13 provinces and a centrally-run city in the Mekong delta were 1227 people Kien Giang and An Giang provinces had the highest number of CPC Chairpeople which was 166 Bac Lieu province had the least, which was 49 There was a correlation between the quantity of CPC Chairpeople and the population size of the province Regarding the sex structure, male CPC Chairpeople were 1020 people, accounting for the majority of the CPC Chairpeople (83.1%), while females were only 207 people (16.9%) which was a modest size The data revealed that men dominated the position of CPC Chairperson Regarding the age structure, the CPC Chairpeople in the Mekong delta provinces under 30 years old accounted for 3.02%; from 30 to 40 years old accounted for 21.6%, from 41 to 50 years old were 736 people and accounted for 58.92%, over 51 years old were 214 people and accounted for 16.46% 3.2 Analysis of the current state of the competencies of the Commune People's Committee Chairpeople in the Mekong delta provinces 3.2.1 Knowledge Fundamental knowledge - Level of educational attainment: Most of the CPC Chairpeople in the Mekong delta provinces were trained and possessed the required educational qualifications for the title of CPC Chairpeople The CPC Chairpeople holding university degrees were 878 people, accounting 16 for the majority of the CPC Chairpeople, the CPC Chairpeople holding master degrees were 226 The CPC Chairpeople holding intermediate education diplomas were 28 people which was a small number The CPC Chairpeople with college degrees were 95 people - State management training: 100% of the CPC Chairpeople in the Mekong delta provinces got the state management training for officials and equivalents - Political theory training: The political theory training for the CPC Chairpeople was gaining attention and resources from agencies and public leaders at all levels in the region, which dramatically changed the CPC Chairpeople in the Mekong delta provinces in terms of political theory knowledge - Foreign language proficiency: 100% of the CPC Chairpeople met the required standards of proficiency of English as a foreign language About 10% of the CPC Chairpeople had certificates of ethnic minority languages which could replace the foreign language certificates - Informatics knowledge: CPC Chairpeople in the Mekong Delta provinces met the standards of informatics knowledge Professional knowledge About 23.6% of the respondents stated that the CPC Chairpeople grasped the Party's guidelines and policies, the legal documents of the State and the locality concerning the organization and operation of CPC and rated this competency Level which was the highest level About 39.1% of the respondents rated this competency Level and 22% rated Level The CPC Chairpeople's knowledge of state management and public administration was rated at lower Levels Generally, the CPC Chairpeople's understanding of public administration and state management was below the requirements General knowledge of the sectors and areas under jurisdiction of the commune (economic, finance, culture, education, health, environment, ethnicity, religion, security, national defense, cadastral, judicial affairs, civil status management) was rated Level 5, Level and Level by 17.3%, 36.4%, and 24 % of the respondents respectively (75% of the respondents rated Level and higher) Understanding of the local situations There were five criteria assessing the CPC Chairpeople's understanding of the local situations More than 75% of the respondents rated Level 5, Level and Level Specifically, 84.25%, 78.8%, 80.6%, and 77.7% of the respondents rated Level and higher against the criteria Six, Seven, Eighth, and Nine in the competency framework respectively The remaining criterion "Knowledge of local 17 languages and regional dialects" was below the expected standard when 62.4% of the respondents rated Level 5, Level 4, and Level 3.2.2 Skills: Skills related to management and administration activities; Communication skills; Personal working skills of the Commune People's Committee Chairperson 3.2.3 Attitude: Attitude to work; Attitude to employees; Attitude to the people; Attitude to his/herself 3.2.4 Task performance results The number of CPC Chairpeople as excellent task performers exceeded that of good task performers In 2015, the number of excellent performers was 738 while the number of good performers was 56; and in 2020, the figures were 651 and 143 respectively Out of 800 surveyed CPC Chairpeople, good task performers accounted for 6%, 5%, 10%, 15%, 12%, and 6% in 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, and 2020 respectively, which was a small percentage 3.3 Assessment of the competencies of the Commune People's Committee Chairpeople in the Mekong delta provinces Out of 85 survey criteria, 50 criteria (accounting for 58.8%) were rated Level or higher, the remaining 35 criteria (accounting for 41.2%) were rated below the expected standard of the competencies of the CPC Chairpeople in the Mekong delta provinces The competencies of the CPC Chairpeople were categorized into three groups of knowledge, skills, and attitude; 25 competencies (29.4%) were rated Level 5; 25 competencies (29.4%) were rated Level 4; 31 competencies (36.5%) rated Level 3; competencies (4.7%) rated Level 2; no competencies rated Level 3.3.1 The strengths - Regarding knowledge: Firstly, the CPC Chairpeople in the Mekong delta provinces more and more enhanced their knowledge and made positive changes in terms of the quantity of qualifications and quality of acquired insights Secondly, their practical knowledge, especially understanding of the local situations was increasingly promoted - Regarding skills: A positive result was 29.4% of the surveyed criteria rated Level In addition, 29.4% of the surveyed criteria (25 criteria) were rated at the expected level (Level 4) of competencies of the CPC Chairpeople in the Mekong delta provinces Notably, four out of five criteria of the personnel management skills rated Level and one rated Level In terms of skills, 58.8% of the competencies 18 of the CPC Chairpeople rated Level and higher; that was why some functions and tasks of the CPC Chairpeople were performed very well and effectively - Regarding attitude: Many criteria of attitude of the CPC Chairpeople were rated Level and higher (eight out of fourteen criteria were rated Level and Level 5, accounting 57.2%) The survey results showed that the CPC Chairpeople had many strengths in terms of his/her attitude to work and employees and appropriate communication with the people Regarding attitude to work, the strengths of the CPC Chairpeople in the Mekong delta provinces were the spirit of learning and studying, strict compliance with the Party's guidelines, public policies, and laws; working with discipline, based on both rational and context-based judgment; dedication, responsibility, creativity in executive management The CPC Chairpeople were rated "Very suitable" as the highest level against these criteria (three out of three criteria rated Level 5) and were highly appreciated by the superior leaders - Regarding task performance results: The Commune Party Secretary rated the task performance results of the CPC Chairpeople very good Similarly, employees rated task performance results of the CPC Chairpeople very good These responses showed the efforts of the CPC Chairpeople over the last years This survey result also proved the improvement of expertise, competencies, and performance of the CPC Chairpeople in the Mekong delta provinces 3.3.2 Weaknesses First, weaknesses in knowledge In terms of fundamental knowledge of the CPC Chairpeople, the two fundamental knowledge of informatics and foreign language did not meet the requirements When the ethnic minority language certificates can replace the foreign language certificate, a few CPC Chairpeople living in those communes which had ethnic minority people were capable of well using spoken language of the ethnic minorities The CPC Chairpeople’s knowledge of state management and public administration was limited Regarding understanding of local situations, the criteria of CPC Chairperson’s understanding of local languages and regional dialects was rated below the standard Second, weaknesses in skills There were weaknesses in skills of making decisions, planning and organizing the plan implementation, solving problems that arise in assigning work, financial management; skills of risk management, especially skills in assessing the impact, consequences, and 19 ... (5) Skills of collecting, analyzing and processing information Attitude Ability to think, set a long- time vision, and predict what is likely to happen with the organization in the future Ability... economic - social characteristics Regarding strategic geographical location, the Mekong delta belongs to the southern key economic region and is one of the six socio-economic regions of the country... infrastructure of the region has changed fundamentally by the national highway which is 2,688 km long, increased in length by 52% compared to the one in 2002 The Mekong delta is the habitat of