Open sea view

On the morning of October 1, Ho Chi Minh City University of Economics (UEH) coordinated with Khanh Hoa Provincial People's Committee and partners to organize the International Conference "Ocean Future: Smart Technology and Sustainable Marine Life". Attending the conference were Mr. Le Huyen - Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee; Professor, Dr. Nguyen Dong Phong - Chairman of UEH Council; Professor, Dr. Su Dinh Thanh - Director of UEH; nearly 100 scientists, experts, scholars from the US, Korea, Italy, Malaysia, Singapore and representatives of departments, branches and sectors of the province.

Great potential

Khanh Hoa province has an important strategic position, the gateway to the East Sea, with nearly 500km of coastline and more than 200 islands. In terms of infrastructure, the province has a synchronous transportation system, deep-water ports capable of receiving large ships up to 300,000 tons, creating outstanding advantages in logistics and maritime transport. Currently, the province strongly develops sea and island tourism in famous bay areas such as: Nha Trang, Van Phong, Cam Ranh, Vinh Hy. In addition, Khanh Hoa is also known as the largest center for salt, shrimp seed, and bird's nest production in the country, and has a solid foundation in fisheries, offshore farming and high-value seafood processing; a major shipbuilding and ship repair center in the country. These are all industries that create high added value and promote economic restructuring towards modernization.

Ho Chi Minh City University of Economics signed a cooperation agreement with Six Senses Ninh Van Bay.

Speaking at the workshop, Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee Le Huyen emphasized that Resolution No. 01 of the Provincial Party Committee on double-digit economic growth in the period of 2025 - 2030 affirmed that breakthroughs in science and technology development and digital transformation are two specific goals to realize the vision of becoming a high growth pole of the country. This is not only an orientation but also a practical order, requiring the province to take drastic and synchronous steps. At the same time, Khanh Hoa clearly identified strategic pillars including: Developing ocean technology as a key industry; applying high technology in aquaculture, exploitation and protection of marine resources; comprehensive digital transformation in tourism, services and coastal urban management; synchronous investment in digital infrastructure.

Professor, Dr. Su Dinh Thanh assessed that Khanh Hoa is located near the international shipping route, has abundant resources from maritime, tourism, aquaculture and green energy. This creates great opportunities for the province in developing a sustainable marine economy. However, to fully exploit this potential, the province needs solutions based on science and technology, connecting relevant parties, including: Scientists, businesses, the State and the community.

Breakthrough from the sea

Khanh Hoa is entering a historic period with the goal of becoming a centrally-governed city by 2030; an international sea tourism and service center, and one of the country's high growth poles in the marine economy. This sea-oriented vision is concretized by the strategy of developing strategic spearheads.

The core of the new growth pole is Van Phong Economic Zone. This area is planned to become a multi-industry marine economic development center, focusing on the function of an international container transit port - a strategic breakthrough to put Khanh Hoa on the global logistics map. This will be followed by the synchronous development of industries requiring modern technology and large capital such as: Oil refining - petrochemicals, liquefied natural gas (LNG), port logistics services, shipbuilding and clean industry. The southern axis extending to Ca Na will be a key area for energy and logistics. Energy, oil refining - petrochemicals and logistics development projects here will form a supply chain, in which Ca Na General Port is oriented to become an inter-regional logistics center, connecting Khanh Hoa with neighboring provinces.

Khanh Hoa has many outstanding advantages to develop marine economy. Photo: Vuong Manh Cuong

In parallel with the development of growth poles, Khanh Hoa is reshaping its core industries. The province aims to become the country's renewable energy center, focusing on developing solar power and offshore and onshore wind power. This sector will go hand in hand with the development of mechanical engineering, ship repair and building, taking advantage of seaports to provide technical services for marine energy projects. In addition, traditional aquaculture activities are being converted to high-tech offshore aquaculture models to optimize the value chain and enhance adaptability to climate change.

Associate Professor, Dr. Trinh Tu Anh - Director of the Institute of Smart Cities and Management, UEH commented: “Khanh Hoa has great advantages in terms of sea and ocean. In order to make the best use of these advantages, Khanh Hoa needs to work with universities and research institutes to evaluate the effectiveness of marine economic development and the level of people's participation in this development process. After that, scientists and local authorities will build a comprehensive and comprehensive strategy for ocean economic development.”

Catch the wave of technology

To realize the vision to 2030, Khanh Hoa has identified science, technology and digital transformation as one of the specific goals to turn the province into a high-growth pole. Khanh Hoa is making the most of the achievements of artificial intelligence (AI), Internet of Things (IoT), big data (Big Data) and ocean technology to reshape the economy and life. Modern technology has been and is being strongly applied in the field of smart marine farming, with IoT used to monitor the environment, combining solar energy and automatic feeding technology, creating an efficient production model, reducing risks.

Van Phong area is the nucleus for the development of Khanh Hoa's marine economy.

Smart technology also plays an effective role in protecting the marine environment. The deployment of a smart marine monitoring system helps provide early warnings of epidemics, pollution and climate change, demonstrating the province's strong commitment to developing the marine economy in conjunction with biodiversity conservation and scientific management of marine space, ensuring green and sustainable growth.

In the field of services and management, comprehensive digital transformation of the marine tourism industry, development of e-logistics (electronic logistics) connecting strategic seaports and application of AI in urban management are necessary steps. The goal is to build Khanh Hoa into a green, smart coastal city, where technology helps digitize and optimize all aspects of operations.

Dr. Cho Kwanphil - Lecturer of the Department of Environmental and Space Systems Engineering - Handong International University (Korea) said that Khanh Hoa has very ideal conditions for developing marine economy and smart cities. Therefore, it is necessary to focus on development to make this place more prosperous and attractive. In particular, it is necessary to build open marine data, as a data platform for businesses, helping to attract investment in the marine economy; build focal points that combine businesses with universities and the government; create a favorable environment for innovation activities; test ocean technology.

DINH LAM - CONG DINH

Source: https://baokhanhhoa.vn/kinh-te/202510/mo-tam-nhin-huong-bien-e6208dc/