For Dong Nai’s economy to achieve rapid and sustainable growth

The new era of development for Dong Nai Province can be considered to have begun from July 1, 2025, when Binh Phuoc officially merged with Dong Nai, creating a socio-economic entity with a strategic and superior stature. This new chapter represents not only a change in administrative boundaries but also the beginning of a rapid development phase, positioning Dong Nai in a context of breakthroughs.

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

Potential and current efforts

The newly formed Dong Nai Province now covers an impressive 12,737 square kilometers, with a population of nearly 4.5 million, ranking fourth nationwide in economic scale, behind only the country’s leading centers such as Ho Chi Minh City, Hanoi, and Hai Phong. The merger has created an expansive new development space that combines the strength of a "Dong Nai – the mature industrial hub" with the great potential of the “resource-rich land – Binh Phuoc", bringing about unprecedented advantages. This context was clearly defined in the Political Report submitted to the 1st Congress of the Dong Nai Provincial Party Committee (2025–2030 tenure), with the overarching goal of building a prosperous, green, and civilised province for the happiness of its people in the nation’s new era of prosperous and powerful development. This is a strong political commitment and a long-term strategic direction, requiring innovative thinking and breakthrough solutions to fully unlock the province’s potential for rapid and sustainable growth.

Entering this new era, Dong Nai possesses a solid economic foundation and tremendous potential to become a major growth driver of the region and the country. The province's socio-economic performance shows robust momentum, with its GRDP increasing by 8.86 percent in the first nine months of 2025 and by 10.18 percent in the third quarter alone. The foundation for such rapid growth lies in its position as a multi-sector industrial hub. Dong Nai currently hosts over 2,200 foreign direct investment (FDI) projects from 51 countries and territories. The merger has also resolved the previous challenge of limited industrial land supply, expanding the province’s industrial planning to 83 zones covering more than 36,700 hectares, thereby creating vast development space for decades ahead.

More importantly, Dong Nai is proactively shifting its growth model towards intensive development, prioritising high-tech, innovative, green, and clean projects over labour-intensive ones. Recent FDI inflows have increasingly focused on strategic sectors such as semiconductors, electronic components, precision engineering, and green logistics, aligning with the province’s development orientation. In addition, the integration of Binh Phuoc’s agricultural strengths has unlocked immense potential for Dong Nai to become a leading centre of high-tech agriculture and agro-processing industries. Nonetheless, the province still faces significant challenges, including the need to improve infrastructure connectivity, enhance public administration capacity following the merger, and develop a skilled workforce to meet the demands of a knowledge-based, digital, green, and circular economy.

Creating new growth drivers

To realise its aspiration and strategy on rapid and sustainable development, Dong Nai must synchronously implement several key groups of solutions:

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

First, the province accelerates the transformation of its economic growth model, focusing on depth, with science, technology, and innovation as the main drivers. It must remain steadfast in its selective FDI attraction policy, prioritising high-tech projects with strong technology spillover effects. At the same time, it must make breakthroughs in building a 300-hectare innovation zone - a complete ecosystem for research, development, and start-ups, focusing on spearhead fields such as artificial intelligence (AI), Internet of Things (IoT), and digital and green logistics services associated with Long Thanh International Airport. This will serve as a fundamental solution for generating new long-term growth drivers for Dong Nai.

Second, Dong Nai must maintain its pioneering role nationwide in promoting a green and circular economy. The effective implementation of the Greenhouse Gas Emission Reduction Plan to achieve net zero by 2050 is not only a responsibility but also a strategic competitive advantage. The province should establish emission reduction roadmaps for key sectors, including industry, agriculture, transportation, and construction. Developing cleaner production will enable Dong Nai's goods to overcome increasingly stringent "carbon border" regulations in global markets and attract a new generation of green and digital investors who adhere to environmental, social, and governance (ESG) standards.

Third, the province mobilises all resources to develop a multi-modal transport infrastructure system. Accelerating the completion and timely operation of Long Thanh International Airport, as well as the Long Thanh–Cai Mep–Bien Hoa–Hoa Lu–Tay Nguyen logistics corridor (integrating smart logistics parks), is of vital importance. When combined with the deep-water port system and the network of roads and railways, these projects will form an integrated, intelligent logistics network, positioning Dong Nai as a leading hub for passenger, cargo, and logistics services in the region. This will fully leverage the province’s gateway advantages, and eventually make it a “four-way, five-way” international junction, as previously oriented by Party General Secretary To Lam.

Fourth, the province needs to develop a comprehensive strategy to optimise the new development space and allocate resources efficiently after the merger. There should be a scientific division of labour: The southern area (the core of former Dong Nai) will focus on high-tech production, research and development (R&D), innovation, and international digital logistics services. Meanwhile, the northern area (former Binh Phuoc) will become a hub for land-intensive industries, large-scale agro-forestry processing and supporting industries, forming modern, closed-loop agro-processing clusters. This model will ensure balanced and sustainable development across the province.

Fifth, a fundamental and decisive solution is to continually enhance local governance capacity and develop high-quality human resources. Managing a larger and more complex territory requires an efficient and effective administrative apparatus that promotes digital governance, creating an open and business-friendly environment. Simultaneously, Dong Nai must pursue a breakthrough strategy in digital education, developing digital high schools and universities, and fostering strong linkages between schools, research institutes, and enterprises. This will ensure a supply of digital talents and new-generation entrepreneurs capable of advancing the digital, green, circular, and marginal space economies of the modern era.

By Van Dien, Cam My – Translated by My Le, Thu Ha