Turning opportunities into new breakthroughs

From the historic milestone of the August Revolution and National Day on September 2 to the present day, Dong Nai City is entering a new phase of development, with a stronger strategic position, expanded development space and unprecedented growth opportunities. With Long Thanh International Airport, the seaport system, interregional economic corridors, and a industrial, scientific and technological base as well as growing innovation capacity, the city is well positioned to capitalize on new advantages and create fresh momentum for breakthroughs.

On the occasion of the 81st anniversary of the August Revolution and National Day (September 2), Dong Nai Newspaper and Radio, Television spoke with Nguyen Van Ut, Deputy Secretary of the City Party Committee (CPC) and Chairman of the Dong Nai People's Committee, about how to turn opportunities into growth drivers, advantages into strength and aspirations into concrete development results, with the goal of making Dong Nai an important growth pole of the national economy.

Turning opportunities into development results

Deputy Secretary of the CPC and Chairman of Dong Nai People's Committee Nguyen Van Ut

*Chairman, this year's National Day carries special significance as Dong Nai enters a new development phase with numerous opportunities. What should the city do to turn these opportunities into concrete development results?

This year's National Day has particularly special significance for the Party Committee, authorities and people of Dong Nai. The city is entering a new stage of development guided by important strategic orientations set out in Politburo Resolution No. 16-NQ/TW, dated July 21, 2026, on the construction and development of Dong Nai through 2035, with a vision to 2065.

The resolution sets out a clear vision of making Dong Nai an important national growth pole and a green, smart and polycentric riverside airport city, with strong development in such fields as high-tech industry, aerospace industries, logistics, the aviation economy and the knowledge economy.

Long Thanh Airport, the seaport system, the Hoa Lu International Border Gate Economic Zone, interregional economic corridors and the Dong Nai River corridor are strategic advantages that will enable the city to expand its development space and create new growth drivers.

To turn opportunities and advantages into concrete results, the city has identified several key tasks.

First, we will formulate the city's master plan on an integrated basis, ensuring alignment with national and regional planning. This will involve reorganizing development space, making effective use of newly opened development areas, and capitalizing on the advantages of Long Thanh Airport, economic corridors and the Dong Nai River corridor.

Second, we will mobilize and effectively utilize investment resources, using public investment as a leading force to attract greater private investment and promote public-private partnerships. Priority will be given to strategic infrastructure projects, particularly regional transport links, connections to Long Thanh Airport and logistics hubs.

Third, we will transform the development model, shifting from traditional growth drivers toward greater reliance on science and technology, innovation, digital transformation, the digital economy, the green and circular economies, and the knowledge economy. At the same time, we will improve the quality of investment attraction, focusing on high-tech and core-technology projects with high added value and strong potential to lead development and generate spillover effects.

Fourth, we will build an enabling, service-oriented administration that serves residents and businesses; promote decentralization and delegation of authority in tandem with accountability; and develop a contingent of capable, dynamic and innovative officials who dare to think, dare to act and dare to take responsibility for the common good.

Ultimately, every policy, decision and administrative action must be measured by concrete outputs, progress, efficiency and people's and businesses' satisfaction.

With this determination, the city will focus on removing bottlenecks, unlocking resources, accelerating strategic projects and creating a favorable environment for residents and businesses to contribute to and benefit from development. With a new foundation, renewed aspirations and strong determination to act, Dong Nai will strive to make breakthroughs worthy of its new position and the expectations placed upon it.

Making breakthroughs to achieve double-digit growth

*Dong Nai has set a target of double-digit economic growth. This is a very ambitious goal, while little time remains in 2026. As head of the city administration, what do you see as the major challenges, and what solutions will be needed for Dong Nai to achieve its growth target this year?

A GRDP growth target of at least 10 percent is highly ambitious, but necessary for Dong Nai to lay a foundation for achieving its targets for 2026-2030. By 2030, the city aims to have a GRDP of around US$44 billion, per capita GRDP of US$9,200 and a digital economy accounting for at least 30 percent of GRDP.

Nguyen Van Ut, Deputy Secretary of the CPC and Chairman of the Dong Nai City People's Committee (front row, second from right), inspects the Huong Lo 2 project. Photo: Pham Tung

In the first six months of 2026, the city's GRDP grew by 9.81 percent, 0.03 percentage points higher than the target set in the growth scenario. This is a positive result amid continued volatility in the global economy. However, achieving double-digit growth for the full year will require a tremendous amount of effort. Factors such as market demand, export orders, input costs, site clearance and the implementation of major projects will continue to put pressure on growth.

The biggest challenge is that some of the city's key growth drivers have yet to fully realize their potential. Dong Nai has many advantages, but delays in investment procedures, land-related issues, planning, site clearance, construction materials, transport connectivity and coordination among different levels and sectors could cause the city to miss development opportunities. The quality of the workforce, innovation capacity, localization levels and added value in some sectors also need to be further improved.

To achieve the highest possible growth target in 2026, the city will focus on several solutions. First, we will take decisive action to achieve the growth target, assign specific targets to each sector and locality, and regularly review and update growth scenarios. We will also identify industries, businesses and projects that make major contributions to GRDP so that their difficulties can be addressed promptly.

Next, public investment will be used to leverage private and foreign investment. The city will accelerate public investment disbursement, particularly for transport, industrial park, logistics, urban and digital infrastructure projects, as well as works serving Long Thanh Airport. For every project falling behind schedule, the city will review the causes, identify responsibilities and devise solutions in line with the principle of “clear tasks, clear responsibilities, clear timelines and clear results.”

We will focus on removing bottlenecks related to procedures, land, planning and site clearance; step up administrative reform; and apply data and digital platforms to shorten processing times. The city will also proactively engage in dialogue with businesses and investors to address difficulties at an early stage and prevent problems from escalating.

At the same time, we will promote industrial production, trade, services and exports toward greater depth and higher value; support businesses in stabilizing production, expanding markets and participating more deeply in domestic and global supply chains. The city will prioritize attracting high-tech, green industry, supporting industry, aviation, semiconductor, digital technology and logistics projects, while developing trade, tourism, transport, finance and other services associated with the airport city and border gate.

Another key solution is to create new growth drivers based on science and technology, innovation and digital transformation. We will develop digital infrastructure and data systems, data centers, artificial intelligence and cloud computing; encourage businesses to undertake digital transformation; and improve labor productivity and management efficiency.

Achieving double-digit growth is a major challenge, but it is attainable if the entire political system joins forces, with every agency, locality, official and civil servant demonstrating a strong sense of responsibility and handling tasks with urgency, determination and efficiency. The city will focus on turning projects, infrastructure investment, available resources and production and business activities into tangible growth results, while ensuring that economic growth goes hand in hand with social welfare, environmental protection and improved quality of life for residents.

Building a Long Thanh Airport City ecosystem

*Long Thanh Airport is gradually emerging as a new growth driver for Dong Nai. What will Dong Nai do to develop an ecosystem of urban development, commerce, logistics, services and high-tech industries around the airport?

-In modern urban planning, an international airport is not merely transport infrastructure for passengers and cargo. It can also attract and stimulate high-value-added economic activities.

For Dong Nai, particularly as it has become the country's seventh city, we do not view Long Thanh Airport as an isolated infrastructure project. Instead, we see it as the “heart” of the city's new development structure and a strategic driver for restructuring its socio-economic space.

The core requirement in planning Long Thanh Airport City is to answer the question: What new industries will the airport city create for Dong Nai and the country? Once the economic structure of the airport city is clearly defined, the planning of its new urban space will have a solid foundation for implementation.

The city has identified five groups of strategic solutions.

First, planning must take the lead in guiding the market and shaping the new economy. The city will focus on identifying new-generation economic pillars in areas surrounding Long Thanh Airport, including high-end aviation support services, smart logistics, free trade centers, high-tech industry, semiconductors, aerospace, financial centers, MICE (meetings, incentives, conferences and exhibitions), innovation and R&D (research and development).

The city is expediting preparations for an integrated master plan while establishing a strategic land reserve to proactively attract strategic investors and prevent spontaneous and fragmented development.

Second, transport infrastructure will be integrated with the urban development structure under the TOD (transit-oriented development) model. The entire system of expressways, ring roads, national railway lines and urban railways connecting to Long Thanh must be viewed as an integrated whole. TOD urban areas will be developed around railway stations, with priority given to compact, multifunctional urban development. This will improve land-use efficiency, unlock added value from infrastructure and reduce reliance on private vehicles.

Third, we will develop a multimodal logistics network operating as an integrated chain. The logistics ecosystem must connect air transport, seaports, roads and railways. The city is expediting plans for a green logistics corridor linking Long Thanh Airport with Phuoc An Port, Go Dau Port, the deep-water ports of Cai Mep-Thi Vai and ICDs (inland container depots), gradually establishing a logistics hub that connects the global supply chains of the Southern key economic region.

Fourth, the airport city must be governed as an integrated development ecosystem. Decisions on transport, planning, land use, public investment, investment attraction and economic development must be coordinated within a common vision. The city will also accelerate digital transformation and develop an urban information system, moving toward smart, safe and sustainable management and operation of the airport city.

Fifth, Long Thanh will serve as a driver for repositioning development space across the city. The airport city must become a growth engine for other areas, enabling Bien Hoa, Nhon Trach and other localities to capitalize on their respective strengths and form innovation corridors connected to Phuoc An Port, the Cai Mep-Thi Vai port complex, Ho Chi Minh City and the wider southeastern region.

The aspiration of the Party Committee, authorities and people of Dong Nai City goes beyond simply developing a conventional airport-adjacent area. We aim to build Long Thanh Airport City into a symbol of Vietnam's integration, civilization and modernity in the 21st century.

Measuring performance by people's and businesses' satisfaction

*A large city seeking rapid and sustainable development must create a favorable environment for businesses and residents. How do you assess Dong Nai's administrative reform efforts today, and what changes are needed to improve the processing of applications and administrative procedures for residents and businesses?

Administrative reform is crucial to a city's competitiveness and attractiveness. In recent years, Dong Nai has made positive progress in administrative reform, particularly in reforming administrative procedures, digital transformation, digitization of records and improving the quality of services provided to residents and businesses.

Leadership and administration have been strengthened and coordinated, with greater emphasis placed on the role and responsibility of heads of agencies and units. At the same time, the organizational apparatus has continued to be streamlined, with the functions, duties and powers of agencies and units more clearly defined, gradually addressing overlapping responsibilities and gaps in assigned tasks.

Administrative procedures have been more closely monitored and streamlined, while information technology has been increasingly integrated into the process. Administrative reform has been linked with digital transformation and data-driven governance, with the aim of reducing paperwork, processing time and compliance costs. The city is gradually strengthening data connectivity, sharing and reuse so that residents and businesses do not have to resubmit information already held by state agencies.

These improvements are reflected in the city's administrative reform indicators. According to the 2025 assessment, Dong Nai ranked third among 34 provinces and centrally run cities in both the PAR Index (Public Administration Reform Index) and SIPAS (Satisfaction Index of Public Administration Services). Its administrative procedure reform index reached 97.79 percent, while more than 99 percent of applications were processed on time. All administrative procedures are accepted at public administrative service centers at all levels, with services being provided on a non-territorial basis across the city.

These are positive results, but the city recognizes that administrative reform is a continuous process. In the coming period, we will continue to strengthen the responsibility of heads of agencies and units, accelerate administrative procedure reform and improve the quality of application processing. We will also upgrade infrastructure and information systems, strengthen data connectivity and sharing, and promote online public services and online payments.

At the same time, the city will continue to streamline its organizational structure, promote decentralization and delegation of authority in tandem with resources and accountability, strengthen inspections of public service performance and supervision of administrative procedure processing, and focus on training and improving the capacity, skills and sense of public duty among officials and civil servants.

For officials and civil servants, the first requirement is to change their mindset, working style and working methods.

Officials and civil servants must proactively improve their professional expertise and digital skills; effectively access, use and reuse data in performing public duties; and strengthen their capacity for management, analysis, forecasting and task handling in a professional and modern manner.

More importantly, there must be a shift from a “management” mindset to a “service” approach, with residents' and businesses' actual experience and satisfaction serving as the measure of performance. Officials must overcome reluctance to change, proactively propose eliminating unnecessary intermediaries and restructuring procedures, and put an end to the avoidance or shifting of responsibilities, harassment, red tape and unnecessary inconvenience. Administrative discipline and order must be strictly observed.

Officials and civil servants must also provide greater support to residents and businesses in accessing online public services, particularly those with limited digital skills. Heads of agencies and units must set an example and take decisive action in leadership and administration, while regularly conducting inspections and supervision. Agencies and units must strengthen coordination and ensure that responsibilities are not shifted from one to another.

The ultimate goal is to build a professional, responsible and dedicated contingent of officials and civil servants who are digitally proficient, dare to think, dare to act and dare to take responsibility, while genuinely placing residents and businesses at the center of public service. This is a key factor in improving the quality of administrative procedure processing, building a modern, effective and efficient administration, and creating momentum for Dong Nai's rapid and sustainable development.

By H. Loc – Translated by M.Nguyet, Thu Ha