Da Nang officials push for mineral boom amid bureaucratic hurdles

Da Nang city officials are pushing to accelerate mineral extraction, aiming to fuel economic growth and meet public demand. Vice Chairman of the Da Nang People's Committee, Tran Nam Hung, emphasized the need to activate mineral resources, stating, "We cannot have a situation where we are lying on a pile of rice but are starving."

During a meeting with 59 companies that won mineral rights auctions, numerous obstacles were discussed. Many businesses reported that the procedures required after winning bids are excessively long and complex. Truong Quoc Sy, Director of Khoang San Cong Nghiep 6666 JSC, highlighted over 10 steps, including obtaining opinions from multiple agencies, which can take months per application. He urged for a centralized point of contact to shorten these processes, particularly those related to Circular 40, such as monitoring data, which is often unavailable for smaller mines.

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We cannot have a situation where we are lying on a pile of rice but are starving.

Hung declared 2026 as the "year of the mineral boom" for Da Nang, stressing that minerals are crucial for both budget revenue and construction materials. He instructed the Department of Agriculture and Environment to establish clear internal procedures with defined responsibilities and timelines for processing applications. The city plans to parallelize procedures like environmental impact assessments and exploration instead of sequential processing to save time.

The vice chairman also demanded that companies that have won mining bids begin extraction immediately, ending years of delays. He also called for all planned mines to be put up for auction in 2026. Companies will be required to commit to extraction timelines after their issues are resolved, ensuring the city's mineral resources are actively exploited.

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To complete a procedure requires the opinion of many agencies. Each time the file cycles back, it takes several months. Just the period from winning the bid to exploitation involves 10-12 steps, depending on the mineral, which is enough to put pressure on businesses.