Phu Quy Island, 100km off the coast of Binh Thuan, is now a special zone of Lam Dong province, welcoming 1,000 tourists per day.

About 100km from the mainland, Phu Quy Island is "transforming" to develop the marine economy and ensure national security and defense.

Due to rapid development, the island faces many difficulties and challenges in essential infrastructure such as electricity, water, transportation, environment, etc.

Phu Quy needs specific policies to develop infrastructure to become an offshore marine economic center and a solid base to ensure national defense and security.

Phu Quy Island, Lam Dong Province is making a spectacular breakthrough

From a pristine island, thanks to modern means of transportation, Phu Quy has transformed into a "green gem" with much potential.

Since 2018, the high-speed ferry has shortened the travel time from the mainland to the island from six hours to only about three hours, thanks to which tourism has developed rapidly with some types of sea tourism, sea sports , and entertainment.

On average, about 1,000 visitors come to the island every day. In 2023, Phu Quy welcomed more than 165,000 visitors. In 2024, it welcomed more than 400,000 visitors.

Along with that, many people from other localities come to the island to invest in tourism services. In 2019, the island only had nine homestays, but now there are 60 hotels, 100 homestays and motels with a capacity of about 1,000 rooms.

Phu Quy has about 1,730 fishing boats with 7,540 workers, of which 594 have a capacity of over 90CV and are qualified for offshore fishing.

Phu Quy Island has 72 high-value aquaculture facilities such as grouper, cobia, lobster, with an average output of nearly 100 tons/year, becoming an interesting tourist destination. Thanks to this, the lives of people on the island have changed significantly; there are only 21 poor households, equivalent to 0.31% of the population.

On average, about 1,000 visitors come to the island every day. In 2023, Phu Quy welcomed more than 165,000 visitors.

In 2024, the island will welcome more than 400,000 visitors. Along with that, many people from other localities will come to the island to invest in tourism services. In 2019, the island had only nine homestays, but now there are 60 hotels, 100 homestays and motels with a capacity of about 1,000 rooms.

Currently, Phu Quy has seven domestic water supply projects including two water plants with an exploitation flow of about 1,200 m3/day and five wells exploiting from 60-180 m3/day.

The island has a diesel power plant with a capacity of 10 MW; a wind power plant with a capacity of 6 MW; a solar power system with a capacity of 732kWp/683kWac.

To have enough electricity for consumption, people must install additional solar power systems. Currently, the electricity industry is implementing the project to increase the capacity of Phu Quy Power Plant by 2,200 kW, expected to be put into operation at the end of 2025.

The locality is synchronously building fishing logistics facilities, associated with ensuring national defense and security, to gradually build Phu Quy into a regional fishing logistics service and exploitation center.

Fishery logistics services include one ship repair facility; four marine oil supply logistics facilities. Dual-use port with a tonnage of less than 1,000 tons, capacity for 150 fishing vessels.

The storm shelter anchorage area for fishing boats on Phu Quy Island (phase 1) has been put into operation to accommodate 500 ships/600 CV. Phase 2 is expected to be inaugurated in September, including: breakwater, wharf, mooring buoys, navigation buoy system... with a design capacity of 1,000 ships/600 CV.

However, the infrastructure has not met the needs of tourism development. Chairman of the People's Committee of Phu Quy Special Zone Le Hong Loi shared that traffic is showing signs of deterioration, and domestic water and electricity are not enough to meet the needs of tourists.

Wastewater seeps into the ground and shows signs of pollution. In recent years, the wells have become saline and cannot be exploited at full capacity. The island will build three freshwater reservoirs with a total capacity of 125,000m3.

From these reservoirs, there will be additional flood drainage lines to the sea. The project has been included in the 2026-2030 medium-term public investment plan by the Provincial People's Committee.

Both develop and protect the Fatherland

In 2024, the Prime Minister approved the Project to build Phu Quy Island into a center for exploitation, fisheries logistics services, and search and rescue at sea.

Mr. Nguyen Van Chien, Deputy Director of the Department of Agriculture and Environment, said that the storm shelter anchorage will promote offshore seafood exploitation, product preservation and processing, and fishing logistics services; regional and national fishing trade; a rescue center, handling incidents, emergencies, and rescue at sea to increase income and improve the lives of fishermen while ensuring national defense and security in the sea and islands of the Fatherland.

In addition, the port ensures the capacity to gather, unload, classify, and transit about 25,000 tons/year, minimizing post-exploitation product loss, meeting food hygiene and safety conditions, and increasing the value of exploited aquatic products.

Mr. Chien said that fishing ports can export directly at sea to other countries. Enterprises choose suitable seafood for preliminary processing and processing but need clean water with large flow and wastewater treatment area.

Therefore, the State needs to invest in freshwater lakes or apply technology to filter seawater into fresh water... Storm shelters also become tourist destinations for visitors to visit fishing ports, fishing boats, and seafood exploitation activities.

To develop the marine economy, comrade Le Hong Loi said, the province needs to prioritize policies to attract investment in building large-scale and high-quality tourism infrastructure, developing eco-tourism, resorts, and exploring the sea and islands.

Lam Dong province needs to invest in waste collection and treatment systems, upgrade telecommunications infrastructure to serve comprehensive digital transformation. Along with that, the special zone should research and build a smart governance model; smart renewable energy, integrated battery storage; and encourage creative startups.

The island is being surveyed by the electricity industry to connect the national grid from the mainland to the island, expected to be completed by 2030. If there is enough electricity, water, and infrastructure, Phu Quy will become an offshore marine economic center.

Phu Quy plays an important strategic role in politics, national defense and security. Comrade Y Thanh Ha Nie Kdam, Secretary of Lam Dong Provincial Party Committee, said that the province will focus on investing in infrastructure systems, creating a foundation for development.

The province is determined to build Phu Quy to develop strongly, closely combining economic development with national defense assurance, and being a solid rear base for the Truong Sa archipelago.

The island needs to develop marine economic sectors, especially seafood exploitation and processing, trade, and regional and Southeast Asian fisheries logistics services.

In addition, the special zone develops maritime transport services, associated with environmental protection and sustainable tourism.

Phu Quy Special Zone, Lam Dong province focuses on developing new fields such as science and technology, innovation, digital transformation and developing high-quality human resources, keeping up with new development trends of island areas.

Source: https://baolamdong.vn/hon-dao-phu-quy-cach-bo-bien-binh-thuan-100km-nay-la-1-dac-khu-tinh-lam-dong-don-1-000-khach-du-lich-ngay-387469.html