(i) The French started by building canals and cleaning lands in the Mekong delta to increase cultivation.
(ii) Irrigation works of canals and earthworks were built mainly with forced labour, which led to the increase in rice production and its exports.
(iii) It was followed by infrastructure projects to help transport goods for trade, move military garrisons to control the entire region.
(iv) Construction of trans-Indo-China railway network that would link the northern and southern parts of Vietnam and China were begun.