Ho Chi Minh City aims to get rich from marine economy

The development space towards the sea has been expanded like never before, creating a golden opportunity for the City to promote its geo -economic advantages, build a chain of urban - industrial - seaport - service, and enrich itself from the marine economy in a sustainable way.

Photo caption — A corner of Can Gio beach seen from above.

Take the 'ship' out to sea

Over the past two decades, Ho Chi Minh City has defined a marine economic development strategy as an inevitable direction to affirm its role as the country's economic "locomotive". This determination was further strengthened when the 11th Central Conference of the 13th Party Central Committee agreed to merge Ho Chi Minh City with Binh Duong and Ba Ria - Vung Tau provinces, two localities with strengths in industry, seaports and tourism .

Accordingly, the “new Ho Chi Minh City” after the arrangement will have an area of over 6,772 km², a population of about 13.7 million people with 168 administrative units. This is an outstanding scale, not only creating a super city in the Southeast region, but also opening up unprecedented development space for the sea-oriented economy.

Previously, Ho Chi Minh City had only one sea gateway, Can Gio, but after the merger, the City will have more strategic depth when it is directly adjacent to Ba Ria - Vung Tau, a locality with a rich natural ecosystem, deep-water seaport and huge sea tourism potential.

Prof. Dr. Dang Hung Vo, former Deputy Minister of Natural Resources and Environment, said that expanding space towards the sea is not only the aspiration of Ho Chi Minh City but also a key step in line with many resolutions and strategic plans of the Central Government over the past years. According to him, Ho Chi Minh City is now meeting all the conditions to become a regional center for production, transit and marine services in Southeast Asia.

“After the merger, Ho Chi Minh City basically has a complete system of maritime economic infrastructure: from seaports, river ports, marine space to logistics chains, creating an urban-industrial-marine service complex similar to Singapore or major coastal cities of China and Japan,” Mr. Dang Hung Vo further analyzed.

Citing that potential, Prof. Dr. Dang Hung Vo said that the total budget revenue of the three localities after the merger in 2024 will reach nearly 678,000 billion VND, the highest in the country. From here, Ho Chi Minh City can be more proactive in investing in marine infrastructure, planning port economics and regionally linked marine logistics service chains.

Super tourist city reclaiming the sea - new growth driver

Not only expanding the sea space, Ho Chi Minh City is implementing specific strategies to exploit this advantage. Notably, the formation of the Can Gio sea-encroaching tourist super-urban area - a project demonstrating Ho Chi Minh City's determination for sustainable development, in harmony between conservation and exploitation of the marine economy.

Mr. Duong Ngoc Hai, Permanent Vice Chairman of Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee said: "The development of coastal ecological urban areas is a breakthrough direction, in line with Resolution 36 of the Party Central Committee on sustainable development of the marine economy to 2030, vision 2045. Ho Chi Minh City is proactively creating new urban models with high quality of life, environmentally friendly and adaptable to climate change".

Currently, the Can Gio sea-encroaching mega-urban area is being developed on an area of 2,870 hectares, expected to attract about 230,000 residents to live and work. Not simply an urban area, the project is positioned to become an international standard ecological - smart - resort - service city.

According to the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee, this mega-urban area will integrate a series of iconic amenities such as a 108-storey tower, the largest theater complex in Southeast Asia, an international hospital in cooperation with the number 1 healthcare system in the US... In particular, the project also focuses on green elements such as a zero-emission transportation system, offshore wind power, environmentally friendly construction materials and solutions in harmony with the Can Gio biosphere reserve.

Mr. Duong Ngoc Hai hopes that this project will not only promote the tourism and service industry but also create tens of thousands of jobs, increase budget revenue and improve people's quality of life. When put into operation, this will be an important destination in the strategy to turn Ho Chi Minh City into an international economic, financial and tourism center.

From a national strategic perspective, Associate Professor Dr. Nguyen Chu Hoi, Member of the 15th National Assembly, Permanent Vice President of the Vietnam Fisheries Association, said that the Can Gio coastal tourism urban area has the potential to become a new growth pole. The project will attract high-quality human resources, develop modern economic infrastructure, and at the same time create momentum for the City to become a smart - clean - green coastal city following global trends.

"This is an opportunity for Ho Chi Minh City to take a shortcut and shorten the gap between coastal urban development and the world. The combination of the ocean, industry, logistics and creative people will form a new center of Southeast Asia," said Associate Professor Dr. Nguyen Chu Hoi.

According to Associate Professor Dr. Nguyen Chu Hoi, with strategic steps from arranging administrative boundaries to implementing coastal mega-projects, Ho Chi Minh City is laying a solid foundation to enter a new era of development, where the sea is not only a natural boundary but also a living space, creativity and prosperity of the City in the future.

Source: https://doanhnghiepvn.vn/kinh-te/thanh-pho-ho-chi-minh-huong-toi-lam-giau-tu-kinh-te-bien/20250519080358404

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