According to the city plan for the rest of this decade and with a vision to 2050, confirmed at the start of the month, Danang will become a centre for high-tech and supporting industries in Vietnam.

Under the plan, Danang will continue to develop green and knowledge-rich sectors. Specifically, high-tech industrial fields including microelectronics, chip and semiconductor circuits, precision mechanics, mechatronics, optoelectronics, automation, environmental tech, and new energy tech will be given a push. Nanotechnology will also become a mainstream industry.

The plan also orients the development of cars, aviation, yachts, electronics, mechanical manufacturing, pharmaceutical chemistry and cosmetics, food and beverages, and fashion. Other processing and manufacturing industries with high added value are also being pushed forward.

Danang strives to only take on vital projects that adhere to environmental ambitions

The growth rate of the processing and manufacturing will reach an average of over 12 per cent per year. Supporting industries will be strengthened, focusing on production and supply for priority and high-tech industries, facilitating the formation and development of relevant clusters.

Moreover, efforts will be made to restructure in the direction of gradually reducing land- and labour-intensive manufacturing industries with low added value and limiting and eventually eliminating manufacturing that causes environmental pollution.

The city will also form new industrial parks (IPs) and clusters to bolster industrial production. In particular, Danang Industrial Park will be converted into An Don International Financial Quarter, forming a modern urban area and becoming the new economic hub of the city.

At the same time, Hoa Khanh IP will be converted to meet the criteria of an eco-IP model. New IPs including Hoa Cam Phase 2, Hoa Nhon, and Hoa Ninh will be formed. In the new IPs, priority is given to attracting investment in the direction of intensive industry, forming clusters with existing IPs.

As for the high-tech park, the city will soon put the functional areas of the high-tech park into operation before 2025, as well as adjust and expand Danang High-Tech Park.

In addition, Danang will soon complete procedures to put Software Park 2 (phase 1) into operation. The city will also make efforts to complete the Centralised IT Park, Creative Space in Hoa Xuan ward, DanangBay IT Park, the Viettel Danang building, and others. Several new industrial clusters will be built and put into operation, such as Cam Le, Hoa Nhon, and Hoa Khanh Nam. By 2030, the city will have planned and invested in 11 new industrial areas, with a total planned area of nearly 533 hectares.

The city has rejected all industrial projects fraught with environmental pollution risks. Since 2000, city leaders have adopted a strategy of not trading the environment for economic development. In 2007, Danang refused two foreign-invested steel and pulp mills with total capital of $4 billion, followed by the rejection of other projects worth hundreds of millions of US dollars.

Danang focuses on production fields with a high content of technology, knowledge, and added value. The city is home to five IPs, one high-tech park, and one concentrated IT park with a total area of 2,131 ha. The existing IPs achieve an occupancy rate of 88 per cent, including four IPs reaching 100 per cent occupancy. As of present, IPs in the locality have lured in 524 projects, including 400 domestic-invested projects worth $1.32 billion and 124 foreign-invested projects valued at $2 billion.

Danang High-Tech Park has created a great advantage for the city, as it is expected to become ASEAN’s Silicon Valley in the future. The park is one of three high-tech parks in Vietnam. Up to now, the park has attracted 28 projects, with a registered investment capital of more than $288 million for domestic projects and $702 million for foreign-invested projects.