Dong Nai set to become centrally governed city, creating momentum and strength for growth in new era

On March 24, during the second working day of the 14th Party Central Committee’s second plenum, the Central Committee discussed and gave opinions on the proposal to establish Dong Nai as a centrally governed city.

Dong Nai is currently an attractive destination for international investors. Photo: Workers on a production line at TOSHIBA Industrial Products ASIA Co., Ltd. in Amata Industrial Park, Long Binh ward. Photo: Pham Tung.

With a broader development space, greater potential and stronger internal capacity following the merger, Dong Nai is increasingly well positioned to emerge as a new urban center and a key growth pole of the Southeast region and the country.

New opportunities in the nation’s  new era

Dong Nai province was formed through the merger of the former Dong Nai and Binh Phuoc provinces. It now ranks ninth nationwide in area, fifth in population and fourth in economic scale. With these advantages, Dong Nai boasts significant potential to become a major urban center and a key growth pole of the Southeast region and the country as a whole.

Long Thanh International Airport is set to serve as a key driver for the province’s development in the coming period. Photo: Pham Tung.

In early 2021, construction officially began on Long Thanh International Airport in Dong Nai, one of the country’s most significant infrastructure projects.

According to Nguyen Van Ut, Deputy Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee and Chairman of the Provincial People’s Committee, the airport’s scale and significance will provide a strong boost to local development. Beyond a transport project, it is expected to act as a catalyst for multiple sectors, including industry, trade, services, logistics, urban development and tourism.

Building on this, Dong Nai is finalizing plans to develop an airport city and a free trade zone linked to Long Thanh Airport.

In addition to its Long Thanh airport, the province also holds a strategic advantage as most of its Western boundary borders on the mega-urban area of Ho Chi Minh City. This proximity opens up major opportunities for connectivity in transport, trade, industry and services, while facilitating a strong spillover of investment flows, human resources and technology from the country’s largest economic hub. In recent years, Dong Nai has worked closely with the Ministry of Construction and Ho Chi Minh City to accelerate key transport infrastructure projects connecting the province with the metropolis.

Dong Nai is prioritizing transport infrastructure investment to drive breakthroughs in development. Photo: Component Project 1 of the Bien Hoa – Vung Tau Expressway, expected to be put into operation by late April 2026. Photo: Pham Tung.

Nguyen Kim Long, member of the Provincial Party Standing Committee and Standing Vice Chairman of the Provincial People’s Committee, said that in 2026 the province will continue strengthening three key pillars: synchronized planning and infrastructure development, with Long Thanh Airport as a strategic focal point; ensuring social welfare, with social housing development as a central priority closely linked to industrial and urban development; securing social stability and a sustainable workforce; and significantly improving the investment and business environment, targeting double-digit growth as a consistent foundation for the next development phase.

Expectations for Dong Nai to become the nation’s key growth pole

On March 24, Standing Vice Chairman of the provincial People’s Committee Nguyen Kim Long signed Official Document No. 4534/UBND-KGVX requesting provincial departments, agencies and localities to collect public opinions on the proposal to establish Dong Nai as a centrally governed city, marking an important step in the roadmap toward this goal.

A corner of Tran Bien ward, the central urban area of Dong Nai. Photo: Pham Tung.

Local authorities at commune and ward levels are required to organize public consultations in an open and transparent manner. Results must be compiled and reported to the Provincial People’s Committee before 5:00 p.m. on March 26. If more than 50% of residents show their agreement, local authorities will continue to finalize and submit the proposal to the People’s Council at the same level for consideration and adoption of a resolution in accordance with regulations. The province is also collecting opinions on the establishment of 10 wards, including Long Thanh, Nhon Trach, Trang Bom, Dau Giay, Xuan Loc, Tan Phu, Tri An, Dong Phu, Tan Khai and Loc Ninh.

Local residents have expressed optimism. Le Tan Thao, a resident of Tran Bien ward, said that with its strategic location and major infrastructure projects underway, becoming a centrally governed city would enable Dong Nai to fully unlock its potential and advantages and accelerate its growth in the coming period.

Thong Nhat Bridge, a key component of the Bien Hoa central axis project, is technically opened to traffic in early 2026. Photo: Pham Tung.

Nguyen Van Thuan, a resident of Nhon Trach commune, noted that becoming a centrally governed city would provide Dong Nai with new opportunities and advantages to fully leverage its inherent potential and strength, especially with Long Thanh Airport acting as a key growth driver for economic sectors to accelerate.

Dong Nai fully meets criteria for centrally governed city status

Earlier, on March 23, 2026, the Office of the Party Central Committee issued Document No. 1184-CV/VPTW regarding the Politburo’s opinions on the plan to build and develop Dong Nai through 2035, with a vision to 2065. The document assigns the Standing Board of the Government’s Party Committee to lead and coordinate with the National Assembly Party Committee’s Standing Board to guide relevant agencies to expedite the review of Dong Nai’s proposal. The goal is to promptly submit the proposal to the Party Central Committee for approval and subsequently to the National Assembly for the issuance of a Resolution on establishing Dong Nai as a centrally governed city within 2026, thereby meeting socio-economic requirements and creating a driving force for development linkages with the country’s major economic centers.

At the same time, a plan must be developed to comprehensively review and assess localities one year after consolidation and merger; those meeting the required criteria will be reported to competent authorities for consideration of upgrading to urban administrative units (cities/wards).

Dong Nai is developing a riverside urban system to tap the development potential of the Dong Nai River corridor area. Photo: Pham Tung.

Dong Nai is identified as a locality of significant geographical importance in the Southern development structure and one of the most dynamic growth poles in the Southern key economic region. Located at the center of the Southeast region and within the development space of the mega-urban area of Ho Chi Minh City, it serves as a serves as a convergence point of many major economic corridors and strategic connectivity axes, with direct linkages to Ho Chi Minh City, while playing a bridging role between

the Southeast and the Central Highlands, the South Central Coast and the Mekong Delta. With this strategic position, Dong Nai serves not only as a gateway for trade but also as a key node for coordinating the flows of goods, services and investment across the Southern region.

The province is also expected to complement and share development functions with the mega-urban area of Ho Chi Minh City, contributing to more balanced and sustainable regional growth.

In 2025, Dong Nai’s economic scale exceeded VND 677 trillion, ranking fourth nationwide, while GRDP per capita reached VND150.86 million.

With the development of Long Thanh Airport, Dong Nai is poised to become a logistics hub and an international air transit center in Southern Vietnam. Combined with deep-water seaports in Ho Chi Minh City, as well as expressways, ring roads and regional railways, the province is set to form a modern multimodal transport network, strengthening its role as an international gateway and a key link in global supply chains.

Following the merger, Dong Nai has basically met all seven criteria required for centrally governed city status under Article 4 of Resolution No. 112/2025/UBTVQH15 of the NA Standing Committee on standards for administrative units.

Accordingly, Dong Nai features a large economic scale, strong fiscal self-balancing capacity, a modern economic structure, a strategic location, and a central role in regional connectivity, while its key infrastructure system is taking shape and its urban development potential remains substantial in the years ahead.

Several technical indicators related to first-class urban standards remain to be completed, such as the capacity to host an average of at least two international events at the regional level over the past three years, the proportion of wards meeting second-class urban criteria, and the smart, sustainable urban development with strengthened resilience and climate change adaptation capacity. These are not foundational criteria related to population, area, location, functions, economic structure, fiscal self-sufficiency, or regional linkage, therefore, they do not alter the fact that Dong Nai has already met the core conditions of a centrally governed city.

Dong Nai is home to 47 of Vietnam’s 54 ethnic groups, along with more than 863 religious establishments and 24 organizations representing 10 religions, creating a rich and diverse cultural landscape.

The province has 121 recognized historical and cultural sites, including six special national relics such as Tran Bien Temple of Literature, Nguyen Huu Canh Temple, War Zone D, and the site where the Indochinese Communist Party cell was established in Phu Rieng in 1929. These cultural and historical values shape the province’s unique identity while supporting the development of cultural and historical tourism, traditional education and community life. They also form a place where cultural essence converges and the spirit of Dong Nai’s compassion and solidarity is spread, contributing to enhancing the spiritual life of the people and promoting the image of the locality.

Under Clause 6, Article 12 of Resolution No. 112/2025/UBTVQH15, in special cases related to national defense, sovereignty or socio-economic development, administrative units may be established without strictly applying all criteria.

Given its strategic location, role in national defense and position as a key development hub linked to Long Thanh Airport and major transport corridors, Dong Nai has sufficient political, legal and practical grounds for becoming a centrally governed city.

Once approved by the Party Central Committee for its elevation to a centrally governed city, Dong Nai will have a stronger political and legal basis to mobilize resources, accelerate planning adjustments, upgrade urban areas, and develop technical, digital and social infrastructure, while reorganizing its system of urban administrative units under a rigorous and feasible roadmap with clearly defined timelines, deliverables, and oversight mechanisms.

By Pham Tung – Translated by M.Nguyet, Thu Ha