Pilot establishment of Van Don Economic Zone management board

Hanoi (VNA) - The Van Don Economic Zone is set to become a green, modern and smart island city, and economic and cultural hub of the region by 2030.

A corner of Co To, Quang Ninh (Photo: VNA)

The government has recently issued a Pilot Resolution on the establishment of Van Don Economic Zone management board under the management of the People's Committee of Quang Ninh province.

The Government assigned the provincial authorities to submit a plan to the Prime Minister on the decision for the function, tasks, responsibilities and organisational structure of Van Don Economic Zone management board.

Van Don (Quang Ninh) is a mountainous island district located in the northeast of the country. It is home to more than 600 islands, islets, with a natural land area of over 551 sq.km, accounting for over 9 percent of the province’s total area. Its sea area spreads over 1,600 sq.km, composed of Cai Bau and Van Hai islands.

Van Don has Bai Tu Long Bay which is as beautiful as Ha Long Bay, with hundreds of beautiful islets for high-class resort tourism. It is important that all are unspoiled and untouched by humans.

Additionally, Van Don also has huge "clean" land sites. Therefore, investors of great caliber are free to show their ideas and offer world-class products and services.

Within a 5-flight hour radius from Van Don airport, it is possible to access major markets such as East Asia, ASEAN, China with a population of over 3 billion people and a total gross domestic product of more than 22 trillion USD.

According to the master plan on the socio-economic development of Van Don Economic Zone, Quang Ninh province until 2030 with a vision to 2050, Van Don Economic Zone will be built into a green, modern and smart island city, and an economic and cultural hub of the region.

By 2025, it is set to become one of the country’s economic driving forces by 2025, and one of the worth-living cities in Asia-Pacific, a vibrant economic hub with a focus on tourism, high-class products and services; an attractive place for people to live, work and play in harmony with nature.

By 2030, its total production value is estimated at 5.6 billion USD, contributing to over 10 percent of export value to the State budget.

The average population growth between now and 2020, 2021-2025, 2026-2030 will be 6 percent, 11 percent and 8 percent, respectively.

The population size will increase from 52,000 in 2019 to 140,000 by 2030. About 89,000 jobs will be created, a synchronous health care network will be developed by 2030 while there will be 15 doctors per 10,000 people and 3 pharmacists per10,000 people.

Quang Ninh is zoning off Van Don as a high-quality administrative-economic special zone with a long-term and broad vision.

Van Don is oriented to become a new administrative-economic zone, not like the old special economic zone model during 1970-1980. In particular, it will catch development requirements in terms of free trade, modern services and especially a city of green, clean, beautiful islands that is able to combat extreme climate change, and becomes a model of climate change response in the region.

It is required to ensure eco-friendly development model, a streamlined administrative apparatus, effectively tap potentials, strongly attract investment resources, foster a new driving force of development, propel growth to make Quang Ninh an economic locomotive in the north, ensuring national defense and security, contributing to maintaining independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity.

Quang Ninh has chosen the consulting firm Arcadis & Callison RTKL based in the US, the Netherlands and some other countries, to make planning for Van Don./.