Industry is a sector expected to experience strong growth in 2025. Photo: Tuan Kiet

Overcoming challenges

2025 was a year in which Hue and the central region of Vietnam suffered significant impacts from successive storms and floods. The economy also suffered considerable losses as a result.

Hue's initial goal was to achieve double-digit growth. This target seemed achievable, with the city's overall growth exceeding 9.0% by the end of the third quarter. However, four consecutive floods in late October and early November, including three major ones, wiped out many of the previous economic achievements, with estimated damages exceeding 3,270 billion VND. Consequently, many sectors and fields failed to meet their projected growth targets, most notably agriculture, forestry, and fisheries.

Nevertheless, Hue's economy still has bright spots. Most notably, the industrial sector, with businesses that, despite being relatively new, have made significant contributions to the city's overall development. A prime example is the Kim Long Motor Hue Assembly Complex, which, in addition to creating jobs and ensuring social welfare, aims to contribute approximately 2,000 billion VND to the city's budget in 2025. Kanglongda Vietnam Protective Technology Co., Ltd. also anticipates increasing its budget contribution, with its products expected to reach 26,946 tons in 2025, a 12.3% increase compared to the same period.

Furthermore, traditional businesses that make significant contributions to the budget, such as Carlsberg Vietnam Co., Ltd. and other units and businesses operating in production sectors like electricity and exports, are expected to maintain strong production and business operations and increase their contributions in 2025. Therefore, according to the Department of Finance, state budget revenue in 2025 is estimated to increase by 20-22% compared to the same period, reaching approximately 14,500-15,000 billion VND.

Furthermore, 2025 is also the year when the city and the whole country will witness the simultaneous commencement and inauguration of many projects during major national and city holidays such as April 30th, August 23rd, September 2nd… Accordingly, Hue has quite a few key projects completed and put into use such as the Nguyen Hoang Bridge, the technical opening of the Thuan An seaport overpass, the inauguration of the technical infrastructure of the City Cultural and Sports Square project, theFPT Education Complex, the commencement of social housing projects in the An Van Duong New Urban Area…, which have opened up many more opportunities for the development of transportation infrastructure, technology, tourism, and services for Hue.

2025 also marks the resurgence of the tourism industry, with a significant increase in the number of visitors to Hue compared to previous years, achieving the target of approximately 5 million visitors by the end of October. Thanks to this, in addition to the industrial sector, tourism and services are also expected to achieve a growth rate of 12-15% in 2026. These two sectors are key drivers of the city's overall growth, each contributing 4.5-5.5 percentage points.

Another positive aspect is the disbursement of public investment capital. In 2025, Hue consistently ranks among the top performers nationwide. This is also a crucial factor in boosting growth for other sectors and fields. Therefore, city leaders are paying close attention to directing and urging efforts to achieve a disbursement rate of over 95% of the planned capital for 2025.

Thanks to these efforts, 2025 was the first year to record the highest GRDP growth rate in many years, at one point approaching 10%. However, due to objective reasons such as the significant impact of natural disasters and floods, the target was not achieved by the end of the year. Nevertheless, Hue still maintained good growth momentum and was among the localities with high growth rates nationwide, exceeding 8%.

Industry is a sector expected to experience strong growth in 2025. Photo: Tuan Kiet

Develop growth scenarios.

At a recent meeting on resources for new growth, the Deputy Secretary of the City Party Committee and Chairman of the City People's Committee, Nguyen Khac Toan, requested that departments and localities find solutions to remove bottlenecks, especially regarding investment procedures and land clearance, strengthen administrative reform, and accelerate the disbursement of public investment capital, especially for key projects…

The city will maintain task forces to support the resolution of related difficulties. A task force for key projects will be established soon. City leaders also requested that the assigned specialized agencies monitor and supervise weekly to provide accurate reports on the status and progress of the projects… From there, they will propose solutions to overcome difficulties and ensure the projects are completed on schedule.

In addition, the city will strengthen its efforts to attract investment, especially large-scale projects with minimal environmental impact, and focus on the Chan May - Lang Co Economic Zone to make it one of Hue's new development drivers.

Regarding growth targets, at a recent working session, Central Committee member and Secretary of the Hanoi Party Committee Nguyen Dinh Trung noted that to achieve a growth target of 10% or more for the period 2026-2030 and 11.5-12% in 2030, it is essential to develop a growth scenario for the entire term. Then, based on the actual situation each year, scenarios for each year and each quarter should be developed. This requires a breakthrough in thinking and implementation methods.

For a long time, we have developed several scenarios for achieving socio-economic development targets and tasks over the years. However, what needs to be considered is what lessons can be learned from each scenario to better implement them in 2026 and the years to come.

Given the unique characteristics of Hue, which suffers from numerous natural disasters and floods every year, it is essential to have a plan for responding to and mitigating the consequences of these disasters, to avoid being caught off guard and causing damage to the lives and property of both the people and the State.

In addition, long-term solutions are needed to minimize the impact of natural disasters on people and their property. Planning for relocation to higher ground with sustainable livelihoods; better preservation of upstream forests; investment in sturdy dikes and breakwaters; and safe management and operation of irrigation and hydroelectric reservoirs remain fundamental and long-term solutions to prevent billions of dong in losses each flood season, thus ensuring economic stability and sustainable development.

WISDOM OF THE MIND

Source: https://huengaynay.vn/kinh-te/giu-da-tang-truong-161225.html