Dong Nai aims for city status, leveraging airport and high-tech growth

Dong Nai province is embarking on an ambitious transformation, charting a course to become a city that serves as a strategic gateway and a dynamic growth pole for Vietnam's Southern Key Economic Region. This visionary plan positions Dong Nai not just as a provincial entity but as a crucial hub for aviation, high-tech industry, logistics, and innovation, aiming for global connectivity.

The cornerstone of this transformation is the development of an "airport city" model, inspired by successful international counterparts. This strategy leverages the imminent operationalization of the Long Thanh International Airport, envisioned as a catalyst for comprehensive development. Dong Nai aims to integrate seamlessly with Ho Chi Minh City, acting as a vital link between the southeastern region and other parts of Vietnam, thereby creating a powerful new development axis for the entire southern region.

Provincial leadership, including Deputy Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee Nguyen Kim Long, emphasizes that Dong Nai's development is intrinsically linked to the broader regional and national strategy. The province's unique geographical position, coupled with its developing infrastructure—including highways, ports, and industrial zones—provides a solid foundation for this transition. The goal is to evolve from a traditional industrial province into a high-tech industrial powerhouse, a modern urban center, a logistics hub, and a center for international services and high-tech agriculture.

Academics like Associate Professor Dr. Nguyen Hoang Phuong from the Ho Chi Minh National Academy of Politics highlight the need for Dong Nai to prioritize key sectors such as aviation, semiconductors, and artificial intelligence as it shifts from contract manufacturing to high-tech industries. Modernizing industrial parks towards an ecological and smart model, integrated with innovation, is also crucial. This strategic restructuring of development space, particularly around the Long Thanh airport, is expected to not only alleviate development pressure on Ho Chi Minh City but also significantly expand development opportunities for the entire southern region of Vietnam.

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With this advantage, Dong Nai must have a new development model, a high-tech industrial city, a modern urban area, a logistics center, an international service center, and high-tech agriculture; at the same time, it is an airport city, an ecological city, a city connecting the region and connecting globally.