After the success of the City Partnership Forum 2025, Da Nang’s international cooperation map has been expanded to 50 localities in 24 countries and territories worldwide. In order to concretize the fruitful results of international cooperation, Da Nang is proactively enhancing foreign relations, opening up more development opportunities for itself.

Foreign delegates visit the Museum of Da Nang. Photo: https://nhandan.vn

Following closely the foreign policy of the 13th National Party Congress, in recent times, Da Nang’s foreign affairs, with a focus on economic diplomacy, have been vibrant, spreading across all channels and many fields, demonstrating an active role in many important bilateral and multilateral forums and cooperation mechanisms.

Behind many ‘million-dollar handshakes’

In 2024, Da Nang attracted more than US$ 213 million worth of FDI capital, including the VINA III ICT Factory project invested by Dentium Co., Ltd. (South Korea), with a total registered investment capital of US$177 million. To have the million-dollar handshakes, the city has proactively "knocked on the door" and "opened the door" to welcome potential partners around the world.

In 2024 alone, the city successfully sent 12 delegations of city leaders to countries and territories that are partners, key and potential markets such as China, the US, Europe, South Korea and Japan to promote investment, trade and tourism; at the same time, signed to strengthen cooperation with Daegu city (south Korea), Thuringia state (Germany).

The Da Nang leaders also welcomed and worked with about 100 international delegations including Qualcomm Group, NVIDIA Group and ADANI Group so as to learn about the investment environment in the fields of innovation, high technology, semiconductors and artificial intelligence (AI), developing the free trade zone and the regional financial centre in the time ahead in this central coastal Vietnamese city.

Next, the city breathed new life into on-site investment promotion. Da Nang has gone beyond the beaten path of investment promotion as it cleverly turned events and festivals celebrating diplomatic relations taking place in the city into ideal meeting places for connection and cooperation with domestic and foreign investors. For instance, the Da Nang-Japan Meeting, held within the framework of the 2024 Viet Nam-Japan Festival in Da Nang, has successfully connected and attracted many Japanese enterprises who intended to do business in many key areas of the city.

In 2024, the city also organise eight seminars and investment promotion conferences, including international events such as: ‘Da Nang Semiconductor Day 2024’ and ‘Da Nang-Daegu ICT Investment Promotion and Trade Connection Conference’. Through those connecting bridges, the city has so far signed many memorandums of understanding to establish friendly cooperation in the fields of human resource development, investment cooperation, trade, science, innovation and cultural exchange with localities in different countries and territories.

In a greater effort to promote its international economic integration process, Da Nang has also implemented many interconnected and inter-sectoral solutions, in which the Da Nang International Integration and Cooperation Project by 2030 is a solid foundation for building the next bricks. The guiding principles of the project are the goals to help the city take advantage of external resources and promote internal resources in line with the city’s general guidelines and development vision by 2030.

At the sustainable development session of the City Partnership Forum 2025, Vice Chairman of the Da Nang People's Committee Ho Ky Minh said that in attracting investment and cooperation, Da Nang has determined to focus on a number of key economic sectors such as tourism; logistics services associated with seaports and international airports; IT; high-tech industry; semiconductors and AI; finance and banking.

“We have developed synchronous policies to support businesses in the process of researching and deciding to invest in the fields that Da Nang currently prioritises. These policies not only create convenience, but also bring practical advantages to investors.”, said Mr Ho Ky Minh.

To implement these goals, the city has also implemented systematic and synchronous solutions to strongly reform administration procedures and enhance the investment environment. The results have been concretized by achieving high rankings in administrative reform rankings, provincial digital transformation indexes, and local innovation indexes.

Motivation from people-to-people diplomacy

According to the Da Nang leaders, in the context of international integration, communication is not simply the exchange of information in language, but also mutual understanding and respect for culture and tradition. Along with Party and State diplomacy, the city has promoted people-to-people diplomacy, considering it "soft power", to enhance sincerity, solid trust, respect, and equality between Da Nang and international friends.

Accordingly, in recent times, the bright spot in the picture of people-to-people diplomacy is the vibrant development of district-level foreign affairs activities in the city, forming relationships with South Korean localities, such as the cooperative relationship between Hoa Vang District and Yeongyang and Bonghwa; Son Tra district with Gurye and Hai Chau District with Uiwang.

In 2024, Da Nang also strengthened the work of overseas Vietnamese (OV), including strengthening cooperation with OV in the field of semiconductor microchips. However, the city needs to soon complete specific mechanisms and policies for OV intellectuals to participate in science and technology projects in the city.

Chairman of the Da Nang Union of Friendship Organisations Nguyen Ngoc Binh said that the results of the city’s international cooperation map will be a potential space for foreign affairs in general, and people-to-people diplomacy in particular, to connect, promote, expand cooperation, and effectively invest in the aspects that the city is aiming for, in line with the orientations and policies of the Party, the National Assembly, and the Vietnamese Government issued specifically for Da Nang.

“Currently, people-to-people diplomacy also aims to serve the socio-economic development of the country and the locality. Therefore, Da Nang's people-to-people diplomacy will actively contribute more effectively to the general foreign affairs and the development of the city,” Mr. Binh shared.

At the City Partnership Forum 2025 emphasized that, based on the foundation of sincere feelings, solid trust, equal respect and the goal of working together towards prosperity, the city identifies economic diplomacy as the spearhead, promotes science and technology diplomacy as the core, continues to strengthen international cooperation, focusing on priority areas such as science and technology, innovation, knowledge economy and sustainable development areas.

Reporting by https://nhandan.vn/ - Translating by A.THU