Building Dong Nai into a prosperous province for the happiness of people

Spanning over 12,737 km² and strategically located at the crossroads of three of Vietnam’s six key economic regions, Dong Nai province consists of 95 commune-level administrative units (72 communes and 23 wards) and 99 Party organizations, with over 131,000 Party members within a population of nearly 4.5 million. As one of the country’s leading industrial provinces, Dong Nai serves as a major industrial hub in the Southeast region and stands out as a vibrant center of cultural, social, historical, ethnic, and religious diversity.

Perspective rendering of the Political and Administrative Center of Dong Nai Province, based on the first-prize winning design in the Bien Hoa 1 Industrial Park functional redevelopment planning competition. Photo: Archive

Building upon its historical foundations and current strengths, how will Dong Nai define its position and development path – and by what means – to contribute to Vietnam’s journey toward a prosperous and powerful era, both in the near-term vision to 2030 and beyond?

Looking beyond the horizon and charting the development of our land

With its geo-economic advantages, Dong Nai ranks among the nation’s leading provinces in both the number and scale of industrial parks. Anchored by key national projects – especially Long Thanh International Airport, the centerpiece of the country’s largest aviation service hub, and the Dong Nai River corridor, a major axis for modern urban development – Dong Nai is also recognized as Vietnam’s “livestock capital”, underscoring its comprehensive growth potential.  Furthermore, sharing a 258.939 km border with Cambodia and hosting the Hoa Lu Border Economic Zone, Dong Nai is expanding its international engagement and actively capitalizing on opportunities for development and greater regional influence.

These represent significant advantages and absolute comparative strengths for Dong Nai.

With a vision toward 2030, the province commits to rigorous self-assessment and rectification, ensuring robust yet sustainable growth. While economic and social infrastructure, urban development, and transportation systems require further integration, they must achieve seamless connectivity. Disparities in economic development and population distribution across the province persist, yet restructuring must be feasible, leading to a balanced and modern socio-economic framework. Although high-quality human resources, science, technology, and innovation still fall short of development needs, the province must build long-term capacity to secure opportunities and drive meaningful progress. Despite potential complexities in political security and social order, stability for development and public safety must be guaranteed. Through this process, Dong Nai has distilled essential leadership and development lessons into an actionable framework.

First, regardless of circumstances, utmost importance must be placed on strengthening and reforming the Party and political system to ensure they remain clean, strong, and resilient. Democracy, solidarity, and unity must be upheld “with full consensus from top to bottom and seamless coordination across all levels.” The Party’s operational principles must be strictly observed. The provincial cadre team should be continually developed to be bold in thinking, speaking, and acting; willing to take responsibility; and decisive in advancing the common good and the people’s interests. Proactive efforts are required to prevent and reverse ideological, political, ethical, and lifestyle degradation, including manifestations of “self-evolution,” “self-transformation,” corruption, wastefulness, and other negative behaviors. At the same time, inspection, supervision, discipline, and control of power must be reinforced, emphasizing the exemplary leadership and pioneering role of cadres and Party members, especially those in key positions.

Second, it is essential to proactively, independently, and creatively implement the Party’s guidelines and the State’s policies and laws in development practice with strong political resolve, great effort, and decisive action focusing especially on removing bottlenecks, barriers, and institutional constraints.

Third, sustainable economic growth must be integrated with cultural and social progress, environmental protection, and the firm safeguarding of national defense, security, and border sovereignty. This should be accompanied by advancements in healthcare and education, especially the development of high-quality human resources, with science, technology, innovation, and digital transformation serving as the key drivers of growth.

Fourth, all leadership and governance decisions must be grounded in the legitimate interests and aspirations of the people, guided by the principle that “the People are the roots” and “the People are the center”. It is essential to inspire and mobilize the full strength of the people in building a clean, capable Party, an effective government, and a strong, transparent political system.

Regardless of how swiftly and unpredictably the global landscape may shift in the coming years, toward greater multipolarity, multiple centers of power, and increasingly complex, fragmented dynamics and despite the remarkable achievements Vietnam has made over nearly four decades of reform, as well as its rising international reputation, challenges of every scale still lie ahead. Yet, Dong Nai stands fully prepared ready for a breakthrough era of strong, comprehensive, and high-quality development rooted in its own unique identity.

This is more than a strategic outlook; it is the province’s unwavering commitment and guiding manifesto as it journeys, alongside the nation, toward 2030 and beyond with a shared aspiration for enduring prosperity and national strength.

Toward a sustainable, prosperous, and culturally advanced Dong Nai

In this new context and amid emerging challenges, Dong Nai remains steadfast in its core development principles:

First, to strengthen and rectify the Party and political system, ensuring they are clean, resilient, lean, efficient, valid and effective while advancing the the two-tier local administration model. This includes fostering both internal cohesion and national solidarity, building a high-caliber and courageous cadre of officials at all levels, and establishing robust mechanisms for the exercise and oversight of power.

Second, to restructure the province’s development landscape as a new engine for fostering balanced, harmonious growth across regions and localities, with a focus on strategic areas and priorities. Socio-economic development and environmental protection serve as the core; Party building remains the decisive factor; cultural and human development form the essential foundation; while national defense, security especially border security and the advancement of foreign affairs and international integration are key and ongoing priorities.

Third, to effectively mobilize, allocate, and utilize all available resources; to develop and complete a multimodal transportation infrastructure; and to establish a modern, integrated, smart, and culturally distinctive urban system.

Fourth, people are the core, the driving force, the fundamental resource, and the ultimate goal of development. Efforts will persist in preserving and promoting cultural values, improving both the material and spiritual well-being of the people, and nurturing the holistic development of Dong Nai’s citizens marked by kindness, unity, and a deep sense of community.

Fifth, to firmly safeguard national defense and security by protecting the sovereignty of the nation’s borders through a comprehensive people’s defense and border security strategy. This strategy is closely integrated with a strong public security system to ensure effective border control while fostering a stable, peaceful, cooperative, and sustainable border region.

These efforts aim for achieving the overarching goal of building a clean, strong, and comprehensive Party organization and political system; strengthening the great national unity while fostering a pioneering spirit, creativity, and a strong aspiration for development. This involves effectively mobilizing, harnessing, allocating, and utilizing all resources. Priority will be given to developing the digital economy, green economy, circular economy, sharing economy, and knowledge economy, alongside leading progress in the aviation sector, high-tech industries, high-tech agriculture, science, technology, and innovation. Economic growth will be pursued in harmony with cultural and social development, environmental protection, and the improvement of people’s material and spiritual well-being. At the same time, ensuring firm national defense and security, maintaining social order and safety, safeguarding border sovereignty, and enhancing diplomacy and international integration remain essential.

All efforts aim to develop Dong Nai into a green, prosperous, civilized, and modern province, with the goal of meeting the core standards of a centrally governed city by 2030.

Specifically, according to the roadmap, more than 90% of grassroots Party organizations and members are expected to perform well or better each year; new Party members will account for at least 3% of the total membership; over 90% of agencies, units, and localities will effectively implement government-led mass mobilization efforts; and every commune and ward will establish at least one exemplary, high-impact grassroots mobilization model. By 2030, all operations of Party and State agencies will be fully digitalized.

The goal is to maintain an average annual GRDP growth rate of 10% or higher. By 2030, the total GRDP at current prices is projected to exceed VND 1.2 million billion, with per capita GRDP surpassing VND 250 million. The economic structure by 2030 is expected to comprise: industry and construction accounting for 60-64%; agriculture, forestry, and fisheries about 5-7%; and trade and services 25-28%. The digital economy is set to represent more than 30% of the GRDP by 2030. Annual state budget revenue growth in the province is targeted at 10-12%. Average social investment capital over the five-year period is estimated to be around 30-35% of the GRDP. The number of newly established enterprises between 2026 and 2030 is projected to reach 36,000.

By 2030, Dong Nai’s population is projected to reach approximately 4.868 million, with average life expectancy rising to 77.67 years. The province aims to achieve a Human Development Index (HDI) of around 0.78. The total number of employed workers is expected to reach 2.6 million, with 40% of the labor force holding formal qualifications or certifications. The unemployment rate is targeted to remain below 2%, while labor productivity is expected to grow at an average annual rate of 7.5%. Healthcare infrastructure is projected to reach 13–15 doctors and 32 hospital beds per 10,000 residents by 2030. At least 80% of public preschools and general education institutions are expected to meet national quality standards. The multidimensional poverty rate (as defined for the 2026–2030 period) is set to decrease by 1 to 1.5 percentage points annually. By 2030, average per capita income is expected to reach VND 120 million.

Forest coverage is expected to reach 24.2%. All hazardous, medical, and urban solid waste will be fully collected and treated. Every operating industrial park and export processing zone must comply with environmental standards. At least 50% of wastewater in urban areas will be treated.

The province is committed to meeting 100% of its annual military conscription targets and providing national defense and security education to all eligible groups as prescribed. A strong and resilient defense posture will be established; border sovereignty firmly safeguarded; and national security maintained; with all targets related to public order and safety set to be fully achieved.

By Dr. Nhi Le, Former Deputy Editor-in-Chief of The Communist Journal - Translated by Tam Binh, Thu Ha