The Da Nang economy, over recent years, has always maintained a good growth rate, with a right shift in its economic structure, the effective promotion of all social resources and many notable progress strides in many sectors and fields. With a great effort to fully tap its great economic development potential, in the 2021- 2025 period, the city will stay stronger on its feet in renewing the growth model, restructuring the economy, thereby creating a firm foundation for its major developments under the planed strategic directions

Da Nang is focusing on innovating its growth model, restructuring the economy, improving laboUr productivity and the competitiveness of the economy. Engineers are seen at SMT high-tech electronics research and production factory (Trungnam EMS) located in the Da Nang Hi-Tech Park. Photo: NGUYEN DANG KHIEM

Recording comprehensive economic development

Over the past 25 years, Da Nang has emerged as an urban area with a fast growth rate as compared to many other localities nationwide. Annually, the city’s economy has recorded many positive changes, entering a group of developing Vietnamese provinces and cities with relatively high incomes.

One bright spot is the positive shift in the city’s economic structure. In detail, the growth rate in the 1997 - 2005 period reached 10.6%, whilst the 2006 - 2010 period 11.1%, the 2010 - 2015 period 9.7% due to the general economic recession, and the 2016 - 2019 period 7.7% (excluding the COVID-19 impacts), still higher than the national average of 6.8%.

Da Nang’s GRDP per capita has recorded a significant increase, reaching only US$420 per capita in 1997 and then climbing up to US$ 460 in 2000 (VND 6.9 million), US$ 1,898 in 2010 (VND 37 million), and US$ 3,207 in 2015 (VND69.8 million).

Notably, by 2020, it had reached US$3,725 (VND88.3 million), higher than the national average and nearly 9 times higher than before the separation of Quang Nam Province and Da Nang into two separate localities.

The economic structure has shifted in a positive direction with a rise in the proportion of service industries, industry – construction and a downward trend in that of agriculture, forestry and fishery.
Services and tourism has become key economic sectors with high international competitiveness.

Tourism infrastructure has strongly developed, whilst tourism products have increased in terms of quality, quantity and the diversity of types.

Other service industries have enhanced in terms of diversity and quality, meeting the needs of life, production and international trade.

In particular, transportation services have strongly developed in terms of scale and diversity in forms, especially by airways, whilst road and waterway transport has made remarkable changes.

Postal - telecommunications services, information technology have recorded a tremendous development strides. It is worth praising that the city has secured its top position in the Viet Nam ICT Index, the rankings on the readiness for information and communications technology (ICT) development and applications for 12 consecutive years. Da Nang was honoured with the Viet Nam Digital Awards 2020, the Viet Nam Smart City Award 2020, and the Asian-Oceanian Computing Industry Organisation (ASOCIO) Smart City Award 2019.

Financial and banking services have featured a variety of activities, a network of credit institutions and product supply forms, thus meeting the growing demand for private investment capital attraction.

Education - training, healthcare, science - technology services have thrived significantly, gradually expanding the scope and scale of operations and diversifying products and services, increasingly making active contributions to the local social economic development.

The production of agriculture, forestry and fishery has made important developments, moving towards a hi-tech agriculture, advanced technology, multi-sectoral and stable growth.

The agricultural sector is shifting towards restructuring production, developing key and typical products, serving tourism and urban areas.

The city has focused on implementing many measures to create an open business and investment environment, improve competitiveness and attract domestic and foreign capital sources. The work of reorganizing and renovating State-owned enterprises has basically been completed.

The private economic sector has a new development step, gradually becoming an important driving force of the economy. Meanwhile, FDI projects have played an increasingly important role in spurring the city's economic growth.

The city's economy has developed comprehensively and achieved a stable growth rate.

Creating a new driving force for development

Da Nang is focusing on strongly renewing the growth model, restructuring the economy, developing hi-tech industry and information technology, in association with accelerating the turning the city into a destination for innovative startups.

A Southeast Asian regional financial centre will take the shape in Da Nang, creating a foundation for promoting the development of new industries and fields with high added value.

The city will maintain economic restructuring to ensure sustainable development (Services 63 - 65%; industry - construction 23 - 25%; agriculture 1 - 2%; the taxes less subsidies on production 11 - 12%).

The city’s trade, finance - banking, education and training, high quality healthcare, medical tourism and other sectors will become highly competitive and closely connected with international service centres in Southeast Asia, and the world at large.

The city will develop a deep-water seaport and increase the capacity of the current Da Nang International Airport in association with the development of logistics services and international transshipment.

The emphasis will be placed on developing the city into a marine economic hub, aiming to form a logistics service supply chain in Central Viet Nam, serving as a gateway for forwarding and transportation services connecting with localities and countries in ASEAN and worldwide at large.

The project ‘Building Da Nang into a national innovative startup centre in the Central Viet Nam and  Central Highlands regions’ will be carried out.

By 2025, there will have been four software and IT parks, together contributing about 10% of the city’s GRDP, along with a combined total of 200 innovative start-up projects, and 100 innovative start-up enterprises with commercialised products, and the setting up of a network of startup experts with at least 200 members.

Reporting by TRIEU TUNG- Translating by A.THU