From April 30, 2026, Dong Nai was officially upgraded to become Viet Nam’s seventh centrally governed city and a grade-I urban area. Its new status, broader scale and enhanced resources are expected to create strong momentum for the locality to achieve an economic breakthrough toward green and sustainable development.

Affirming its role as a key economic growth pole

Alongside Viet Nam’s national reform process, Dong Nai’s economy has recorded strong development, transforming from a largely agricultural province into a dynamic industrial and service hub in the southeastern region.

Thanks to its strategic location and effective investment attraction policies, Dong Nai soon developed a large-scale industrial park system, drawing strong domestic and foreign investment flows. Its economic structure has shifted markedly toward industrialisation and modernisation, with industry and construction playing a leading role and contributing a large share to GRDP.

​Thirty years ago, many major corporations chose Dong Nai as the site for their production facilities. Chang Shin Vietnam Co., Ltd. began investing in Dong Nai in 1995. From an enterprise with 5,000 workers and output of nearly 10,000 pairs of shoes per day, the company has grown to nearly 40,000 employees and now produces more than 120,000 pairs of shoes daily.

According to Kim Si Jung, General Director of Chang Shin Vietnam Co., Ltd., alongside production development, the company has always paid close attention to workers’ lives. Cultural, social and employee welfare activities are held regularly, helping strengthen the bond between workers and the enterprise.

To date, Dong Nai has established 58 industrial parks with a total area of more than 14,600 hectares. These parks have attracted more than 2,200 foreign direct investment projects from 51 countries and territories, with total registered capital exceeding US$43 billion. Many leading global companies and corporations have chosen Dong Nai as a long-term industrial investment destination and have continued to expand production and business operations. 

Dong Nai’s industrial sector has become a key pillar and the main driver of local socio-economic development, while also making an important contribution to the country’s economy.

According to experts, Dong Nai’s recognition as a centrally governed city comes at a time when Long Thanh International Airport is gradually nearing completion. Together with a series of expressway projects, seaport infrastructure, large-scale industrial parks and plans to develop a free trade zone, these factors are expected to drive high and sustainable growth for the city in the coming years.

Beyond industry, Dong Nai’s agriculture also holds a key position. The locality is known as one of Viet Nam’s major centres for pig farming, rubber and cashew production. At the same time, its socio-economic infrastructure, particularly transport and logistics systems, has been developed in a more coordinated manner, creating favourable conditions for regional connectivity and investment attraction.

Key projects such as Long Thanh International Airport are expected to provide a major boost, positioning Dong Nai as an important trade and transport hub in the region.

Nguyen Van Ut, Deputy Secretary of the City Party Committee and Chairman of the Dong Nai City People’s Committee, said Dong Nai has one of the largest economic scales in the country. It is a strongly developed locality with the stature of a national-level economic centre and significant influence across the southern region and the country as a whole.

This, he said, creates favourable conditions for domestic and foreign enterprises to cooperate, invest and expand production and business operations in Dong Nai.

A new status and a new strategy for Dong Nai’s economy

In recent years, Dong Nai has maintained high and stable economic growth, ranking among the leading localities nationwide. The city’s economic scale has continued to expand, while processing and manufacturing industries have developed strongly and become the main growth drivers.

The service sector has also become increasingly diverse, supported by urban development and modern commerce. Efforts to accelerate economic restructuring have helped improve growth quality, enhance the investment environment and strengthen local competitiveness.

With a population of nearly 4.5 million, Dong Nai’s GRDP reached more than VND677.9 trillion in 2025, contributing about 5 per cent of national GDP and ranking fourth nationwide. Budget revenue exceeded VND100 trillion, while GRDP per capita reached more than VND150 million.

Dong Nai is among the localities with the largest economic scale and highest levels of industrialisation in Viet Nam. Industry, construction, trade and services account for more than 81 per cent of its economic structure. The city also serves as an integrated development space with extensive regional linkages and a synchronised transport infrastructure system connecting waterways, roads, railways and air routes.

Dong Nai’s development target in the coming period is to achieve high growth based on sustainability. For many years, selective investment attraction and green development have been top priorities for the locality.

This orientation has become even more important following Dong Nai’s upgrade to a centrally governed city. Green economic development is now considered a necessary condition for the city to match its new scale and align with global trends.

By 2050, green economy and circular economy models are expected to become core pillars as Dong Nai works toward its net-zero target. To realise these goals, the city is actively advancing national strategies and treating green growth as a driver of sustainable development, stronger competitiveness and deeper international integration.

In the industrial sector, Dong Nai is upgrading existing industrial parks and developing new ones toward ecological, green and circular models.

Bien Hoa Industrial Zone, the predecessor of Bien Hoa 1 Industrial Park, was established in the 1960s and is regarded as the cradle of Viet Nam’s industry. Having fulfilled its historic mission, the industrial park is now undergoing functional transformation to become a major urban, commercial and service centre for Dong Nai and the wider region.