Hai Phong: Planning is the driving force and opportunity for breakthrough

Hai Phong urban area is planned to be civilized and modern (Photo: Phan Tuan)

Realizing planning, creating sustainable development space

Hai Phong, with its prime geographical location, located at the gateway to the sea and the intersection of key economic routes, is being oriented to develop into a logistics center, an international seaport, a high-tech industrial center and a regional innovation center. Comprehensive planning helps identify priority areas for investment, from multimodal transport infrastructure, modern seaports, to ecological urban areas and service centers, ensuring synchronous development between economy, society and environment.

However, to effectively exploit these potentials, a long-term, synchronous, modern and innovative planning vision is still needed. The implementation of the Hai Phong City Planning for the period 2021-2030, with a vision to 2050, is a strategic step, helping to shape the development space towards a multi-center, modern, harmonious direction between industry - urban - service - high-tech agriculture as a continuous axis.

Planning is not only a tool to solve the shortcomings of the urbanization process, but also the key to open the door to integration and future development for Hai Phong. With the strategic vision and determination of the authorities at all levels, Hai Phong can completely realize its aspiration to break through and become a symbol of modern development for the whole region and the whole country.

New urban areas such as Bac Song Cam, industrial parks in An Duong, Thuy Nguyen, along with modern transport infrastructure systems such as Tan Vu - Lach Huyen bridge, Hai Phong - Ha Long - Mong Cai expressway have contributed to expanding urban space, connecting regions and increasing the City's competitiveness in attracting investment.

Notably, Hai Phong is oriented to develop space according to a multi-center model, connecting the inner city area with the suburbs, expanding urban space to the North (Thuy Nguyen), East (Cat Hai - Dinh Vu), South (Kien Thuy, Do Son), creating favorable conditions for reasonable population distribution and service - industrial development along with environmental protection. The focus on green urban development, sustainable transportation, along with the application of technology in planning management has helped improve the quality of life for people and aimed at becoming a smart city in the future.

Planning not only creates physical space, but also serves as a strategic framework to help Hai Phong restructure its economy and develop key industries such as logistics, seaports, tourism, and high-tech industry. The synchronization between urban planning and industry planning has contributed to clearly orienting investors, while creating sustainable added value.

According to the planning orientation, Hai Phong will develop into an international seaport city, a logistics center, a high-tech industry and innovation center of the Northern region. The planning clearly defines economic development corridors, ecological urban spaces and functional areas closely linked to multimodal transport systems such as roads, railways, maritime and aviation. This is an important basis for attracting domestic and foreign investment, improving competitiveness and quality of life for the people.

Not only is it a blueprint for the future, the plan also helps Hai Phong solve many existing problems such as uncontrolled urbanization, environmental pollution, and uneven development between regions. The construction of new urban areas, green industrial zones, smart agriculture, and a synchronous infrastructure system will create a shift in development quality, towards the goal of green and sustainable growth.

In the process of realizing the High-Tech Industrial Development Plan, Hai Phong has become an attractive destination for many multinational corporations. The city proactively attracts investment in key areas such as electronics, automation, semiconductors and artificial intelligence (AI), the foundational industries of the fourth industrial revolution.

Notably, many “giants” in the technology industry such as LG, Pegatron, SK, Foxconn... have chosen Hai Phong as a strategic base in Vietnam. Large-scale projects using modern technology not only bring abundant investment capital, but also contribute to technology transfer, training high-quality human resources, promoting the development of the supporting industrial ecosystem and innovation.

The influx of large technology corporations into Hai Phong is a clear demonstration of the effectiveness of planning, strategic vision and a favorable investment environment. This is a driving force for economic growth, opening up opportunities for the city to gradually participate more deeply in the global value chain in the fields of high technology and the digital economy.

Over the past 10 years, Hai Phong has changed a lot, making breakthroughs with an expanded seaport system, green and modern urban areas springing up, basic healthcare infrastructure gradually being invested in, and education receiving special attention.

This is reflected in the numbers. The growth rate of the province's gross regional domestic product (GRDP) in 2024 will reach 11.01%, ranking 3rd in the country, the 10th consecutive year of double-digit growth. The economic scale is increasingly expanding, marking the first year the City has entered the group of 5 provinces and cities with the largest economic scale in the country. Foreign direct investment attraction reached a record of more than 4.9 billion USD (ranking 2nd in the country).

Hai Phong's investment and business environment indicators are always stable, at the top of the provinces and cities. Hai Phong topped the 2024 Administrative Reform Index Ranking with a result of 96.17%, 4.30% higher and 1 rank higher than in 2023. This is the second time Hai Phong has led the country in the Administrative Reform Index (the last time was in 2021).

Regarding the results, the People's Satisfaction Index with the Service of State Administrative Agencies in 2024 (SIPAS) reached an average of 83.94%, an increase of 1.28% compared to 2023. Hai Phong's SIPAS reached 90.59%, an increase of 1.69% and ranked first for the first time in the satisfaction measurement ranking.

Recently, at the announcement ceremony of the Provincial Competitiveness Index (PCI) Report 2024, Hai Phong won the championship for the first time with 74.84 points, recording improvements in 7/10 areas compared to 2023, including market entry, land access, transparency, informal costs, fair competition, government dynamism and legal institutions, and security and order. These are convincing evidences of Hai Phong's successes in economic growth and investment attraction.

Opportunities for Hai Phong to break through and future vision

According to the Prime Minister's Decision approving the Hai Phong City Planning for the period 2021-2030, with a vision to 2050, the goal by 2030 is for Hai Phong to become a major seaport city, leading the country in industrialization, modernization and digital transformation; a driving force for the development of the Northern region and the whole country; a modern, international, leading maritime economic center in Southeast Asia, focusing on seaport services, logistics and marine tourism; an international center for education, training, research, application and development of science and technology.

Mr. Le Anh Quan, Permanent Vice Chairman of Hai Phong City People's Committee, said that in order to successfully complete the orientations and objectives of the planning, Hai Phong has proposed 9 specific groups of solutions to mobilize resources and implement and supervise the implementation of the planning; focusing on solutions on mobilizing and using investment capital; solutions for human resource development; environmental protection, mechanisms and policies for development linkage...

At the conference announcing the Hai Phong City Planning, Deputy Prime Minister Tran Hong Ha affirmed: “The Hai Phong City Planning is built with a breakthrough mindset, long-term vision based on distinct potential, outstanding opportunities and competitive advantages, placed in correlation, linking with the coastal provinces of the North, the Red River Delta region, the Northern provinces and international connections; concretizing the policy of the Politburo in Resolution No. 45-NQ/TW, expressing the aspiration of the people of Hai Phong for a city with a high level of development in the group of leading cities in Asia and the world”.

According to urban planning and regional development experts, Hai Phong's promotion of master planning and orientation for multi-center spatial development is a breakthrough strategic step.

Associate Professor, Dr. Tran Dinh Thien, former Director of the Vietnam Economic Institute, commented that Hai Phong is at a very important stage - where planning is not only a technique for organizing space, but also a strategic vision for development. Urban expansion, development of high-tech industry, logistics, and ecological urban areas, if implemented synchronously, will create a great driving force to help Hai Phong break through and rise to the regional level.

The planning vision to 2030, and further to 2050, has pointed out specific goals, marking an important turning point in economic integration, attracting domestic and foreign investment, creating momentum for the multi-sector economy, and improving people's lives. Thanks to the synchronization between investment policies, infrastructure development and management reform, Hai Phong is gradually affirming its position on the national economic map.

Source: https://baodautu.vn/hai-phong-quy-hoach-la-dong-luc-va-co-hoi-but-pha-d282082.html