Danang has been designated by the central government to be the core city of the Key Economic Zone in central Vietnam, the entrance to the UNESCO World Heritage sites, and the terminal point of the East-West Corridor linking with Laos, Thailand and Myanmar. It is clear that Danang’s location makes it a strategic location from which your business can access potentially rich Vietnamese and other Asian markets.
I. STRATEGIC LOCATION
The coastal city of Danang is situated at the very heart of Vietnam, 759km from Hanoi and 960km from Ho Chi Minh City. It lies on the north-south communications axis of land (National Road 1A), rail, sea and air routes. Danang borders Thua Thien - Hue Province in the north, Quang Nam Province in the south and the west, and the Eastern Sea in the east. It is located in a typical tropical area influenced by monsoons with an annual average temperature of 25.70C. The city has a natural land area of 1,256km2 and a population of 887,069 as of 01 April 2009. Administratively, it has six urban, one rural and one archipelago districts.
I.1. Danang - The dynamic city of the Key Economic Zone in central Vietnam
On 13 August 2004, the Prime Minister of Vietnam signed a decision to establish a Key Economic Zone in central Vietnam comprising Danang City and the provinces of Thua Thien-Hue, Quang Nam, Quang Ngai and Binh Dinh, a move aimed at leveraging its geological location, potentials and advantages to be one of the nation’s dynamically developed areas. Danang thereby, has the crucial role of a growth nucleus and giving impetus to the socio-economic growth of the central coast and Central Highlands region.
Recently, the Vietnamese government has focused much developing this Key Economic Zone. Many major infrastructure projects have been completed or are being implemented, including the Hai Van Pass Tunnel, one of the biggest tunnel projects in South East Asia, linking Hue with Danang; the Danang - Quang Ngai Highway; Chu Lai Open Economic Zone (Quang Nam province); Dung Quat Economic Zone (Quang Ngai) with the development of an oil refinery, and petro-chemical industry; Nhon Hoi Economic Zone (Binh Dinh); and upgrading and expansion of the Danang International Airport and seaport.
I.2. Danang - The Eastern gateway of the East- West Economic Corridor
The East - West Economic Corridor is one of the five economic corridors initiated by ASEAN. It is sponsored by the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and ODA from Japan in the Greater Mekong Sub-region (GMS). This approximately 1,450km road link run through four GMS countries, from Mawlamyine seaport city in Myanmar across seven provinces of Thailand to Laos and finally to Vietnam at the Lao Bao border gate in Quang Tri Province and on to Danang port.
The relevant road networks in Laos and Thailand and the land route from Danang port to Savannakhet are almost finished. The completion of the second bridge over the Mekong River in 2006 has facilitated the land transportation of passengers and cargo to and from Danang and northeast Thailand provinces. The EWEC will not only offer an unprecedented opportunity for countries along the route to accelerate regional cooperation and raise living standards but will also provide businesses with better access to raw materials, service markets, capital, technology and labour, to facilitate investment and cross-border trade, and diversify economic activities and exports.
Danang port is a pivotal part of the East-West Economic Corridor, the gateway to the Pacific Ocean of the virtually untapped hinterlands of Laos, northeast Thailand, Myanmar and central Vietnam. With the liberalization of trade and investment in the ASEAN region, Danang's seaport location will be an important advantage creating favorable conditions for the development of its foreign economic relations, giving impetus to making it the centre of the Key Economic Zone of central Vietnam.
East-West Economic Corridor
I.3. Danang – The entrance to World Natural and Cultural Heritages
Danang is on the 1,500km World Heritage Road stretching from Vinh to Dalat along the coastl of central Vietnam. Travelling along Highway 1A from Danang, visitors can conveniently access four of the five UNESCO World Heritage Sites in Vietnam, invaluable assets endowed by nature or created by the forefathers, comprising Phong Nha-Ke Bang National Park, Hue Imperial City, Hoi An Old Town, and My Son Cham Sanctuary.
Just over 100km to the north of Danang is Hue City, the last capital of the Vietnamese imperial dynasty, with its royal palaces, kings’ tombs and fascinating scenery. In addition to tangible heritages, the royal music - Nha Nhac, which was performed only at royal ceremonies and festivals in Hue Imperial City, has been recognized as one of the human intangible masterpieces by UNESCO. About 300km north of Danang is Phong Nha - Ke Bang National Park. Phong Nha Cave is 13,000 meters long and has 14 caves 10-40 metres high with fanciful limestone formations. In Phong Nha - Ke Bang Natural Park, there is a primitive forest where many rare and valuable species such as the blue gibbon, purple carp, golden tortoise and the millennia oak survive.
30km southeast of Danang is Hoi An old town, a once crowded commercial port in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. Visitors can find the varied architecture of Vietnam, China and Japan in over one thousand cultural relics preserved there. 70km southwest of Danang is My Son sanctuary with relics of more than 70 brick and sandstone works vividly reflecting the diverse architectural styles and culture of the Cham people from the fourth to the thirteenth century.
With its advantageous location, plentiful tourism potential and reasonably developed tourism facilities, Danang is certainly an ideal destination for visitors as well as investors in central Vietnam.
II. DEVELOPED PHYSICAL INFRASTRUCTURE AND INVESTMENT SUPPORT SERVICE
Danang has achieved the fastest rate of infrastructure development in Vietnam. For the past decade, it has used internal and external forces to be well on the way to a green, clean and beautiful city, for which it has received national recognition.
Danang is an important communications hub of the central region, Western Highlands and Vietnam with its international airport, deep-water seaports and north-south road and rail routes.
Danang Port is the third largest commercial port in Vietnam after Saigon and Haiphong. With a navigation depth of 11m, warehouses and modern handling equipment funded by the Japanese Government, it can receive 45,000 DWT vessels including container and cruise ships. Its annual cargo handling capacity is about 4 million tons. There are regular shipments from Danang port to and from Hong Kong, Singapore, Japan, Taiwan and South Korea.
Danang International Airport is one of the three best airports in Vietnam. In addition to domestic flights, there are weekly flights from Danang to Singapore and Bangkok. Flights to Hong Kong, Japan and South Korea will be operating in the near future. At the moment, Danang International Airport is being expanded along with building a new terminal to meet the increasing demands of passengers and cargo transportation.
Road system
The communication system inside and outside the city is being continually expanded and newly built. Many large construction projects are in use or in the completion stage including major streets; the Hai Van Pass Tunnel; and the Song Han, Tuyen Son and Thuan Phuoc bridges. A new cityscape is being created to facilitate transport and tourism development in the most densely populated urban area of central Vietnam.
Post and Telecommunications
Danang is one of the three major national post and telecommunications centres. It has an international marine optical fiber cable station (SE-ME-WE 3); and an international transmission line with a speed of 355 Mbps and the top quality of ASEAN countries. Danang Post and Telecommunications can supply various modern services to meet customers' demands.
Power and water supply
Power for production and domestic use in Danang is supplied by the national electricity grid through the north-south 500KV high voltage line. The existing capacity of the Danang Water Plant is over 80,000m3 per day. A new plant is now under construction with a capacity of 120,000m3 per day, ensuring about 210,000m3 per day in the coming time. In order to meet the development of the city, the power and water supply systems have been rehabilitated with the assistance of international organizations.
Other investment support services: Most of the major banks and financial companies of Vietnam have branches in Danang. Some branches of foreign banks and international insurance companies are now operating effectively in the city. These services are continuously being upgraded to satisfy investors’ needs. There are about 47 banks and bank branches, nine insurance companies and four auditing companies in Danang.
III. DYNAMICALLY GROWING ECONOMY
Danang has enjoyed 10 years of exponential economic growth and is a key player in Vietnam’s endeavours to be one of the most stable and resilient world economies.
Danang is one of the national economic, cultural, scientific and technological centres, especially of the central region and the Western Highlands. During the past years, it has had continuous and stable economic growth in line with progress in social life, advanced infrastructure and better urban planning. GDP grew at an average rate of 12.47% in the period 2001-2006 and at 11.04% in 2008. The economy has been restructured positively, with the industrial and construction sector making up 47.59%, the service sector 49.4% and the agro-forestry and fishery sector 3.01%.
Currently, there are more than 10,000 business in all sectors operating in the city. The industrial output for the year 2008 had an increase of 17.6% against 2007. Major industrial products are seafood, rubber tires, garments, footwear, mechanical products, building materials, fine-arts handicrafts, etc. The city government is now focusing on developing IT, in particular the software industry, to be one of the key industries with high economic efficacy, considerably contributing to the city’s GDP growth. Moreover, Danang has four traditional craft villages, Non Nuoc with its fine-arts stone sculpture, Nam O producing fish sauce, Yen Ne making bamboo products and Cam Ne involved in mat-weaving.
In recent years, trade and import-export activities of the city have progressed significantly. Import-export turnover has increased continuously with an annual average growth rate of 10.37% in the period 1997-2006. The total export turnover of goods and services of the city in 2008 reached US$905.11 million, an increase of 19.6% compared to that of 2007. Major export products are textiles, garments, woodchips, seafood, children’s toys, fine-arts products, etc. Closely following the guidelines of actively expanding markets with multilateral economic relations, and positively penetrating traditional markets as well as developing new ones, products made in Danang are exported to more than 90 countries and territories worldwide. In addition, much attention has been paid to improving trade relations between Danang and countries along the East West Economic Corridor.
IV. ABUNDANT TOURISM POTENTIALS
Located on the “World Heritage Road” convenient to four natural and cultural UNESCO World Heritage Sites and closely connecting with the legendary Ho Chi Minh trail, Danang is known as a focal tourism destination in central Vietnam.
Danang is endowed with a 70km coastline with numerous wonderful beaches bright with sunshine much of the year such as Nam O, Xuan Thieu, Thanh Binh, Bac My An and Non Nuoc. This is why Danang has been recognized as having some of the best beaches in the world by Forbes – a reputable U.S. magazine.
One destination worth visiting is Son Tra Peninsula. It is a natural conservation area and eco-tourism site suitable for the development of exciting sea and sports activities such as mountain climbing, diving, stream bathing, fishing and so on.
Ngu Hanh Son, the Marble Mountains is one of the city’s symbols with a range of mysterious caves and old pagodas. At the foot of the Marble Mountains is a village with hundreds of talented and well-known stone sculptors.
Danang is also famous for Bana Resort, known as the “Dalat of central Vietnam”, with a mild climate year round and diverse fauna and flora.
When in Danang, visitors have a good opportunity to access many historical relics. The Museum of Cham Sculpture with more than 400 original masterpieces of Cham sculpture carved from the sixth to the thirteenth century is the only museum in South East Asia preserving the unique Cham cultural heritages. The exhibits in the Revolutionary Museum thoroughly reflect the Danang people’s heroism during the great war of resistance.
It is Danang’s traditional festivals such as Quan The Am, and Cau Ngu with various activities such as “bai choi” singing, “ho cheo thuyen” singing (boat rowing song), “ho khoan” singing (question and answer song), and boat racing that vividly reflect the rich cultural life and national identity of the people of Danang. In particular, Hat Tuong with its harmonious combination of stage decoration, music and traditional dance is the best of classical art in Danang.
With its advantageous location, diverse tourism potential and synchronized tourism facilities, Danang is an important link to this focal tourism area of Vietnam. The annual average growth rate of visitors to Danang in the period 2001-2005 was 10.87% with a growth rate of international visitors of 19.05%. The growth rate in 2008 was 24%. Tourism turnover had an average growth rate of 7.98%/year from 2001 to 2005 and 36% in 2008. Tourism facilities and services are improving more and more in accordance with international standards to meet visitors’ requirements.
Recently, to attract investment in tourism, Danang developed a tourism master plan of the area which has beautiful landscapes and the best coastal environment in Vietnam. This is along Son Tra - Dien Ngoc coastal road, stretching from Furama Resort to the Marble Mountains. This area is designated for establishing a complex of world ranking luxury hotels and tourist services. Many major projects have been licensed and are managed by high-end brands such as Hyatt Regency, Raffles and Mariot, with five-star hotels and resorts to make a breakthrough for tourism development in Danang.
V. PLENTIFUL AND EDUCATED HUMAN RESOURCES
Danang’s education and training have created a workforce with a well-deserved reputation for high skills, hard work, flexibility and loyalty which ensure your business has a constant supply of highly skilled and cost-effective staff.
Danang has an abundance of human resources. The labour force is 50% of the population. Most are young and healthy and a quarter of the working-age people have professional and technical skills. The labor costs in Danang are lower than in other major cities in Vietnam.
Danang has high educational development indexes with fairly complete education systems. This creates favorable and firm foundations to carry out the target of enhancing the quality of human resources and life.
At present, junior secondary education is universalized and the city is aiming at senior secondary universalization. There are 14 universities and colleges and 15 professional secondary schools with nearly 140,000 students. These institutions provide training in most of fields including science, technology, IT, economics, business administration, foreign languages and pedagogy.
The University of Danang is cooperating with overseas universities in France, the USA, Japan, Australia, Canada, and New Zealand to train human resources in Danang as well as abroad.
Danang Software Technology Center (Softech) is one of the best software producers in Vietnam and the top-ranged IT training facility in central Vietnam. In past years, Softech has had close relations with companies from India (Aptech Co.,Ltd) and Japan (AOTS) to train international software programmers, IT technicians and engineers. In addition, there are about 55 vocational centres providing workers with short-term training courses, involving computer, sewing, mechanics, electricity, electronics and construction.
Thousands of personnel are trained annually in universities and professional and vocational secondary schools to meet the demand for manpower for the city and the central region. This is another advantage of the city for attracting foreign investment.
VI. QUALITY OF LIFE
Danang is about its people, heritage and beaches. The richness of the culture, together with its skilled, experienced and educated workforce, provides the foundation for a unique and innovative business platform – ensuring that investors achieve their true business goals.
Along with urbanization, the economic growth in the past years has continually improved Danang people's material and spiritual lives.
The road networks, public services and urban facilities that have been built and renewed to make the living conditions in Danang more comfortable. The city’s appearance has much changed with planned residential areas, new roads, parks, exercise grounds, supermarkets, trade centres and promenades. Traditional cultural values and arts performances are well preserved and developed. Many cultural facilities, education and training establishments, health and entertainment services such as conference and exhibition centres, multi-purpose performance houses, schools, hospitals and golf courses are being set up to better the local people’s lives as well as to meet the demands of foreigners who are living here and shall come to invest and travel in the city. In addition, the cost of living in Danang is very reasonable.
Danang is one of the most beautiful, clean and safe cities in Vietnam. Landscapes areas in the urban centre are ever increasing. Solid wastes are collected and treated well. Many movements such as 'For the Sake of a Beautiful, Clean and Green City', 'Development of the Cultural Lifestyle', “Prevention of Social Evils', etc. and the programs of “Five Nos” (No hunger, no illiterate people, no beggars, no drug addicts in the community, no killings for property) and “Three must-haves” (having accommodation, having jobs, having civilised lifestyle), etc. have been implemented, attracting the community's participation.
Danang today is a city with a good cultural environment and lifestyle, improved literacy and beautiful natural scenery. It can be said that Danang is an ideal place for living, working, investing and visiting.
ORIENTATIONS FOR SOCIO-ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
* Targets
To continuously develop Danang to be a major national urban area and the major socio-economic centre of central Vietnam with the role of a services centre, a seaport city, an important domestic and international transportation and transit hub, the post-telecommunications and finance-banking centre; and one of the centres of health, culture and sports, education and training, science and technology in central Vietnam.
I. Some specific targets in the period 2006-2010
- Average GDP growth rate: 11-12%
- Average CPI: US$2,000
- Export revenue increase: 23-25% p.a. on average
- Economic structure by the year 2010: Service 49.1%, industry 47.5%, agriculture 3.4%
- Annual population growth rate: 0.03%.
- Annual job creation: 32,800
II. Some specific targets in the period 2010-2020
- Average GDP growth rate: 12-13%
- Average PCI by the year 2020: US$4,500 – 5,000
- Annual export revenue increase: 23-25% p.a. on average
- Economic structure by the year 2020: Service 55.7%, industry 42.7%, agriculture 1.6%
- Annual population growth rate: 1%.
- Annual job creation: 32,000 – 35,000.