The news that Dong Nai province will be upgraded to a centrally governed city, including the elevation of 10 communes to wards, has raised public expectations for a transformative and inclusive development, ensuring that no one is left behind.
Following its merger with Binh Phuoc, Dong Nai has become one of the country’s leading localities in terms of population size, land area, and economic growth. The province has now basically met the criteria for centrally governed city status. However, what people expect goes beyond growth figures and state budget revenues; it lies in improving living standards and narrowing the rich-poor gap between rural and border areas and the urban centers.
The former Binh Phuoc area, now in the Northern part of Dong Nai province, is a border region adjacent to the Kingdom of Cambodia, with the advantage of vast land, once known as the "capital" of rubber and cashew trees; stable climate year-round, fertile basalt red soil, convenient terrain and transportation, and a central location connecting the Central Highlands with the Southeast region. These advantages and potentials promise strong prospects for the development of high-tech industry and agriculture, forming the production linkage chains from farm to table, from raw material areas to refined products, instead of exporting raw materials as at present.
The Northern part of the province is traversed by National Highways 13 and 14, connecting through Hoa Lu International Border Gate to the Kingdom of Cambodia, and further to Laos and Thailand.
Residents expect that once Dong Nai becomes a centrally governed city, the Northern region and suburban areas in the province will see resources unlocked, inter-regional transport connectivity strengthened, and will emerge as attractive destinations for investors. This area is also expected to serve as a growth engine to help redistribute population, reduce population pressure, environmental issues, housing problems for the central urban area of the province, and ensure balanced and sustainable development among regions in the province.
The Northern part of the province and the suburban, rural, and border areas of the province possess an absolute advantage in terms of vast land and unique soil conditions. However, in recent years, the issue of “bumper crops but falling prices” still occurs. With Dong Nai’s new status, residents expect a well-structured policy ecosystem with sustainable agricultural production value chains. They want to see deep processing factories located in areas such as Binh Long, Loc Ninh, Phuoc Long, Bu Gia Map, Xuan Loc, Dinh Quan... transforming cashew nuts, coffee, rubber, or fruits from this land into international brands instead of raw exports.
Given its proximity to national parks and nature reserves, the region also holds great potential for combining agriculture with eco-tourism. Residents hope for tailored planning policies that allow the development of farmstay models and forest-based experiential tourism, thereby enhancing land-use value.
Above all, people in rural and border areas expect that with a streamlined and modernized administrative system under the centrally governed city model, administrative procedures and policies on supporting the poor and facilitating access to production loans will become faster, more transparent, and more practical.
Vast land resources are not merely administrative territory but represent future growth potential for the city. If the public support is mobilized, and sound agricultural policies and synchronous infrastructure are implemented, that remote borderland will no longer be an "isolated pocket" but will become a prosperous "green region", contributing significantly to the city's future growth.
By Minh Luan – Translated by Mai Nga, Thu Ha
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