Established in 2006, the Van Phong EZ is located in Van Ninh district and Ninh Hoa town of central Khanh Hoa province. It is a multi-sectoral EZ with an international container port, an oil refinery industry, and a point of transit for petroleum and petroleum products playing the key role. It also includes tourism, services, industry, aquaculture, and other economic sectors.

Van Phong serves as the economic centre of Khanh Hoa, an investment magnet, and a driving force for economic development in neighbouring areas.

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh and officials look at a map of the local development planning while visiting the Van Phong Economic Zone on March 12.

As of 2021, it attracted more than 150 investment projects with registered capital totaling over 4 billion USD, including over 120 domestic projects and 30 foreign ones. Most of the nearly 100 projects already operational are small ones.

Visiting the zone, PM Chinh said Van Phong boasts outstanding potential and great competitiveness in economic development, especially sea-based economy and tourism.

However, he noted, as it will be hard to achieve fast growth if the EZ relies solely on public investment, Khanh Hoa, ministries, and sectors need to work out mechanisms and policies, especially those boosting PPP in infrastructure building, to promote its development.

PPP models should be stepped up basing on the principle of harmonising interests among the State, people, and businesses, he added.

Visiting the Hyundai Viet Nam shipyard in the Van Phong EZ, the Government leader expressed his hope that Hyundai will continue expanding its investment, increase the proportion of domestically-made components in its products, improving manufacturing quality in tandem with environmental protection, bettering its workers’ material and spiritual life, and contributing more to the local budget, thereby helping promote relations between Viet Nam and the Republic of Korea.

The shipyard posts annual revenue of over 500 million USD, contributes more than 5 million USD to the local budget each year, and is providing jobs for more than 5,000 workers.

The same day, PM Chinh examined the site set to be the starting point of an expressway from Khanh Hoa to Buon Ma Thuot city of Dak Lak province in the Central Highlands. This road will be about 115-130km long and invested with over 21.9 trillion VND (957 million USD).

He asked ministries and sectors to work with the two provinces to accelerate preparations in order to submit this project to the National Assembly for consideration in the coming session. He stressed that the expressway holds great significance since it will help connect eastern areas with western ones, and the north with the south, thus contributing to the development of the entire Central Highlands region.