Dong Nai upgrades governance framework to unlock economic growth opportunities

Đồng Nai’s move to establish a centrally administered city is driven by objective development requirements and the need to reorganize socio-economic space under the new context. The Đồng Nai People’s Committee said the change is necessary to build a governance model that matches the province’s development scale, integration level, and growing role in Vietnam’s national development landscape.

From provincial administration to urban administration

The Đồng Nai People’s Committee said the province has developed rapidly, forming a multi-centre urban-space economy linked with development corridors and major economic centers.

According to the committee, Đồng Nai covers 12,737 square kilometers and has a population of over 4.49 million. It reported that 2025 GDP reached about 677,932 billion VND, contributing around 5% of national GDP. Budget revenue was said to exceed 102,000 billion VND, while per-capita GDP was 152.8 million VND.

The committee also highlighted that Đồng Nai is among localities with a large economic scale and a high level of industrialization, with the combined share of industry, construction and services totaling over 80%.

“The economic and social space of Đồng Nai is large, multi-centre, multi-functional, with strong capacity for population absorption, production, services, and urbanization. These figures reflect a solid economic foundation, strong productive capacity, and a considerable contribution to the national budget,” Vice Chairman Nguyen Kim Long said.

The committee added that Đồng Nai’s development space is highly integrated with regional linkages and a transport infrastructure network connecting waterways, roads, rail and air. It said the province’s central location in the Southeast region and its 258.9 km border with Cambodia give it an important role in defense-security and make it a strategic linkage between key economic regions, including between the Central Highlands and the Southeast, as well as an international trade gateway.

It noted that the presence of Long Thành International Airport and inter-regional transport infrastructure are gradually turning Đồng Nai into a hub for large-scale economic flows regionally and nationally.

However, the committee said the current provincial governance model—described as a rural administrative unit—has limitations in managing large-scale urban development, coordinating regional links, developing strategic infrastructure, and attracting high-quality resources.

“Thus, establishing Đồng Nai as a centrally administered city with an industrial-urban model, a modern urban center, a logistics hub, and advanced agricultural technology is an objective, urgent requirement to materialize the Party’s policy on development in the new era,” the committee said.

Development scale and investment capacity

The committee said Đồng Nai has reached the threshold of a regional development hub, with GDP in the top tier nationwide, a large industrial system, and strong ability to attract international investment.

It reported that Đồng Nai has 89 industrial parks and zones planned, hosting 2,267 projects with total registered investment of $44.3 billion from 51 countries and territories.

“When compared to major centers such as Hanoi, Hai Phong, and Ho Chi Minh City, Đồng Nai clearly demonstrates its role as a strategic connector in the southern part of the country, contributing to a multi-centre national growth network that is closely linked and mutually supportive,” the committee said.

Creating the axis to connect economic corridors

Nguyen Anh Tuan, Director of the Đồng Nai Department of Construction, said the province plays a connecting hub role through a multi-modal transport system being invested in an integrated, modern way.

He cited the East-West axis, the Ben Luc–Long Thành expressway, and Ring Roads 3 and 4 around Ho Chi Minh City as creating an axis linking Đồng Nai with the Mekong Delta and the central urban area.

On the North-South and Northeast-Southwest axes, he said the Dầu Giây–Phan Thiết, Dầu Giây–Liên Khương, and Gia Nghĩa–Chơn Thành expressways connect the Southeast with the Central Highlands and the South-Central Coastal region, forming cross-regional economic corridors of special importance.

The committee also pointed to the Bien Hoa–Vũng Tàu corridor, which connects directly to the deep-water port system at Cai Mep–Thị Vải and Phước An, contributing to a logistics chain between industry, ports and aviation.

Long Thành International Airport as a strategic gateway

The committee said Long Thành International Airport covers about 5,000 hectares and has total investment exceeding $16 billion. It is planned to meet the 4F standard—the highest standard per ICAO.

Upon completion, the airport is projected to handle about 100 million passengers and 5 million tonnes of cargo annually, positioning it as one of the largest air-transport hubs in the Asia-Pacific region and elevating Đồng Nai’s role from an intra-regional connector to a national strategic gateway.

Urban connectivity and public transport plans

The committee said Đồng Nai is also oriented to develop strong urban-space connectivity and modern public transport. It cited plans for metro lines linking Đồng Nai with Ho Chi Minh City—particularly Nhơn Trạch–Long Thành—and the Long Thành airport, which it said will create a more integrated urban space, reduce infrastructure pressures, and optimize the allocation of residents, workers and economic activity.

A representative of the Đồng Nai People’s Committee said this foundation supports the formation of a multi-centre urban area where Đồng Nai develops alongside Ho Chi Minh City, shares and complements growth, and creates a new regional growth axis.

Conditions met for centrally administered city status

During a central delegation’s survey and appraisal of the dossier to establish 10 wards in Đồng Nai and form a centrally administered city, Do Thanh Binh, a member of the Party Central Committee and Minister of Internal Affairs, assessed that after consolidation, Đồng Nai’s development space would be enlarged and its strategic position clearer. He said the province has affirmed its role as a dynamic growth pole in the Southern key economic region and as a major hub connecting domestic and international economic corridors, with many development indicators among the national-leading group.

Nguyen Van Ut, Chairman of the Đồng Nai People’s Committee, said Đồng Nai “has fully met the seven conditions for establishing a centrally administered city and achieved 13 of 15 urban-criteria for a Class I city.”

The committee said upgrading to a centrally administered city would provide more opportunities to reform governance, organize development space, and attract growth drivers more effectively, gradually affirming Đồng Nai’s role as a crucial growth pole of the Southeast and the country.

Policy approval and next steps

Experts cited Đồng Nai’s position as a core connecting axis within Vietnam’s major economic centers, as well as an international trade gateway and strategic hub for the southern region. They said the governance model for a centrally administered city would help organize urban space in a coordinated, integrated and efficient way, strengthening regional linkages and optimizing infrastructure investment.

Earlier, at the second plenary session of the 14th Central Committee, the Communist Party’s Central Committee approved the policy of establishing a centrally administered city in Đồng Nai. The Politburo instructed the Government to complete the dossier for submission to the National Assembly for consideration and decision.