For Dong Nai economy to grow quickly and sustainably

Loc Ninh border commune ( Dong Nai province) seen from above. Photo: Phu Quy

Potential and current efforts

The new Dong Nai province has an impressive scale with an area of 12,737km², a population of nearly 4.5 million people and ranks 4th in the country in terms of economic scale, just after the leading centers of the country such as Ho Chi Minh City, Hanoi and Hai Phong... This merger has created a new, large development space, combining the strength of a "Dong Nai - a mature industrial center" with the great potential of "a land rich in potential - Binh Phuoc ", creating unprecedented advantages. This context has been clearly identified in the Political Report presented to the 1st Congress of the Dong Nai Provincial Party Committee, term 2025-2030, with the consistent goal of building a green, prosperous, civilized Dong Nai province for the happiness of the people in the new era of prosperous and powerful development of the nation. This is a strong political commitment and long-term strategic orientation. To implement it, it requires new development thinking and breakthrough solutions to effectively exploit the potential for Dong Nai to grow quickly, strongly and sustainably.

Entering a new era, Dong Nai possesses a solid economic foundation with great potential to become a fast-growing pole of the region and the whole country. The province's socio-economic situation reflects a strong rebound, with an average GRDP growth of 8.86% in the first 9 months of 2025, and growth in the third quarter alone reaching 10.18%... The foundation for rapid growth is its position as a multi-industry industrial capital. Dong Nai currently attracts more than 2,200 foreign direct investment (FDI) projects from 51 countries and territories. The province's merger has completely resolved the challenge of "exhaustion" of industrial land funds, expanding the planning to 83 industrial parks with a total area of more than 36,700 hectares, creating a new large-scale development space for many decades to come.

More importantly, Dong Nai is proactively transforming its growth model in depth, shifting from attracting labor-intensive projects to prioritizing high-tech, innovative, green and clean projects. Recent FDI capital flows have clearly focused on strategic areas such as semiconductors, electronic components, precision mechanics and green logistics, in line with the province's development orientation. In addition, the combination of the agricultural strengths of the old Binh Phuoc has created huge potential for Dong Nai to develop into a leading high-tech agricultural and agricultural processing industry capital. However, the province also faces significant challenges, including the pressure to complete connecting infrastructure, improve public administration capacity after the merger, and the problem of developing high-quality human resources to meet the requirements of the knowledge economy, digital, green and circular economy.

Creating new growth drivers

To realize the aspiration and strategy for rapid and sustainable development, Dong Nai needs to focus on synchronously implementing the following groups of solutions:

Dong Xoai III Industrial Park (Binh Phuoc Ward, Dong Nai Province) is an attractive destination for investors. Photo: Phu Quy

Firstly, accelerate the transformation of the economic growth model in depth, taking science - technology and innovation as the main driving force. The province must continue to adhere to the policy of selectively attracting FDI, prioritizing high-tech projects with technology spillover. At the same time, it is necessary to make a breakthrough in building a 300-hectare innovation zone - a complete ecosystem for research, development and startups, focusing on key areas such as artificial intelligence (AI), internet of things (IoT) and digital, green logistics services associated with Long Thanh International Airport. This is a fundamental solution to create new growth drivers for Dong Nai in the long term.

Second, Dong Nai must maintain its pioneering role nationwide in developing a green and circular economy. Effectively implementing the Greenhouse Gas Emission Reduction Project to achieve net zero by 2050 is not only a responsibility but also creates a strategic competitive advantage. The province needs to specify the roadmap for emission reduction in key economic sectors such as industry, agriculture, transportation and construction. Proactively building a cleaner production base will help Dong Nai's goods overcome the increasingly strict "carbon border" of international markets, while attracting a new generation of green investors who meet high requirements on environmental, social and governance (ESG) criteria.

Third, concentrate all resources on developing a multi-modal transport infrastructure system. Accelerating progress, ensuring the planned operation of Long Thanh International Airport and the operation of the Long Thanh - Cai Mep - Bien Hoa - Hoa Lu - Tay Nguyen cargo "highway" (with the application of smart logistics parks) are vital tasks! These projects, when combined with the deep-water seaport system and the road and railway network, will form an integrated, smart logistics network, making Dong Nai the leading transit center for passengers, goods and logistics services in the region, maximizing the gateway advantage and in the future will be the "crossroads, five-way intersection" of the province reaching out to the world, as directed by General Secretary To Lam.

Fourth, the province needs to develop a comprehensive strategy to optimize new development space and allocate resources after the merger. There needs to be a scientific division of labor: the southern region (the old Dong Nai core area) will focus on high-tech manufacturing, research and development (R&D), innovation and international digital logistics services; meanwhile, the northern region (the old Binh Phuoc) will become the center of land-intensive manufacturing industries, large-scale agricultural and forestry processing industries and supporting industries (forming modern, closed agricultural processing clusters). This model will create even and sustainable development.

Fifth, the fundamental and decisive solution is to continuously improve the capacity for effective local governance and develop high-quality human resources. Managing a larger and more complex area requires an effective and efficient administrative apparatus, promoting the construction of digital government to create a truly open and effective investment and business environment. At the same time, Dong Nai must have a breakthrough strategy in training "digital general education", "digital university" and closely linking schools, research institutes and businesses to have "digital human resources" and high-quality new entrepreneurs to serve the modern digital economy, green economy, circular economy, marginal space economy... today.

Van Dien - Cam My

Source: https://baodongnai.com.vn/kinh-te/202510/de-kinh-te-dong-nai-tang-truong-nhanhva-ben-vung-5ba2efe/