Danang aims high for regional economic standing

Danang Department of Planning and Investment has been coordinating with other departments and agencies to work on programmes to remove obstacles for investors and businesses in a bid to turn the city one of the biggest economic centres for Southeast Asia.

Danang has been transformed into a bustling city in the past 25 years

“Efforts are to be made to resolutely address obstructions, making it more favourable to implement some key projects that have already been licensed,” said the city on its portal. “The city will boost the implementation of legal procedures about land use right auctions, while supporting investors to carry out projects whose MoUs have been inked.”

The city will also complete investment procedures and put into use IT and industrial infrastructure works in service of investment promotion. Especially, the city “will continue to boost investment promotion activities and call for more domestic and foreign investors” to put more money into the city.

Speaking at the Danang Investment Forum last year, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh assessed that Danang had grown strongly after being separated from Quang Nam province to become a centrally controlled city many years ago.

“The city has become a big magnet for investors. It has turned nothing into something, turned difficult into easy, and turned impossible into possible. Those who have seen Danang before will deeply feel the transformation and development of the city,” the prime minister stated.

From a small city, Danang has grown to become a major metropolis in Vietnam, known in the country for its “worth living, worth visiting” reputation. Since the city was separated from Quang Nam province in 1997, it has become one of the fastest-growing economies in the country. The city’s average annual regional GDP growth rate was 9 per cent across 1997-2021. Over the past two decades, the economic structure has shifted in a positive direction, reducing the proportion of agriculture, forestry, and fisheries while increasing the proportion of service industries.

Urban space has also more than tripled compared to 1997, and the urban facade transforms daily with many high-rise architectural works and unique traffic projects.

In addition, businesses and investors appreciate the city for its dynamic investment environment. Danang sits alongside the top localities nationwide in the Provincial Competitiveness Index, Public Administration Reform Index, and ICT Application Index, as well as other indices. In particular, Danang has promulgated many breakthrough policies imbued with humanity and many solutions to ensure social security and improve the quality of people’s lives.

In early November, the prime minister approved the Danang plan for this decade and with a vision to 2050. Le Thanh Tung, deputy director of Danang Department of Planning and Investment, said the decision will concretise important development directions that the party and government have for the central city.

“The approval of the Danang plan is essential. It will lay the foundation for it to affirm its position, marking the start of a new development history for the city,” Tung said.

According to the plan, the city will implement seven key tasks: restructuring and building a growth model towards adaptive transformation, adjusting investment structure appropriately, improving investment efficiency, improving economic competitiveness, boosting admin reform, building an e-government, and creating a foundation to improve autonomy and resilience to external impacts.

Another task is to accelerate the growth rate of the industrial sector, especially high-tech industry and IT, which is oriented to be one of the three pillars in the new era of Danang’s economy.

The city will also promote internal strength and geographical location advantages to develop service industries, focusing on tourism, transportation, and warehousing services. Focus is also given to developing Danang into a regional international financial centre, forming a non-tariff zone and free trade zone, and developing high-quality ICT, healthcare, education, and training services.

Meanwhile, the city will promote restructuring of the agricultural sector to improve value, competitiveness, and sustainable development. Danang also plans urban development based on international standards and the development principles of a modern city.

Last but not least, the city will ensure effective use of natural resources, water resources, biodiversity protection, environmental protection, and adaptation to climate change.

According to the plan, Danang will focus on innovation, the knowledge economy, and comprehensive digital transformation to improve growth quality. The city will not only promote the role of economic sectors, including the collective economy, private economy, and foreign-invested economy, but also mobilising and effectively using all social resources to create breakthroughs in building a synchronous and modern socioeconomic infrastructure.

At the same time, efforts are being made to improve the quality of administrative reform and the business environment to take advantage of opportunities in regional and international development trends, shifts in investment flows, and the investment waves beneficial to Vietnam and the city in particular.

The city will also comprehensively develop education and training, improve the quality of human resources, and maximise cultural and human factors as the foundation for sustainable development.

Nguyen Van Quang Secretary Danang Party Committee In recent times, the Politburo, the National Assembly (NA), and the government have paid attention to promulgating many policies for Danang. These include Resolution No.43-NQ/TW on building and developing Danang towards 2030; Resolution No.26-NQ/TW on socioeconomic development and assurance of national defence and security in the north and south-central coast region through to 2030; the NA’s resolution on piloting the urban administration model; and a number of specific policies for Danang’s development. The city has submitted to competent authorities for consideration a project to build the city into a regional financial centre, as well as a project on establishing a non-tariff zone in Danang. The city has also actively partnered with relevant stakeholders to establish the National Innovation Startup Support Centre. At the same time, it is coordinating with agencies to develop human resources in semiconductor chip design, considering this a key task. Danang will focus on directing the implementation of the 13th National Party Congress resolution and the resolution of the 22nd Party Congress of Danang, in association with the aforementioned resolutions. The city will implement the Danang plan for the decade and with a vision to reach 2050, while coordinating with central agencies to remove barriers to progress. Based on these orientations, the Standing Committee of the municipal Party Committee has proposed that the NA direct the government to research and soon promulgate breakthrough policies to develop the semiconductor industry, especially human resources development and policies to attract investors in all stages of semiconductor production.

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