Steps taken by the French for the development of the Mekong Delta region were :
(i) The French built canals to drain lands in the Mekong Delta to increase cultivation.
(ii) The vast system of irrigation works-canals and earthworks-built mainly with Forced labor increased the rice production.
(iii) It allowed export of rice to the international market.
(iv) The area under rice cultivation went up (from 2,74,000 hectares in 1873 to 2.2 million hectares in 1930).
(v) Vietnam exported 2/3rd of its rice production and became the third largest exporter of rice in the world.
