HO CHI MINH CITY, July 7 (Xinhua) -- Waterway tourism in Vietnam's Ho Chi Minh City is expected to receive about 450,000 tourists in 2018 and the figure is projected to increase 15 percent in the following years, Vietnam News Agency reported Saturday.

The city is working with neighboring provinces to create middle-range tourism products along the three rivers of Saigon, Dong Nai and Mekong.

The Ho Chi Minh City metropolitan area, downstream of the Dong Nai-Saigon river system, is surrounded and traversed by nearly 1,000 km of rivers and canals, with huge potential for waterway tourism plans in the future.

Last year, Vietnam launched its first water bus service in Ho Chi Minh City to help reduce traffic congestions and promote tourism on Saigon River.