Thanh Hoa: 5 years of a journey of aspiration (Part 2) - Opening from a strategic vision

(Baothanhhoa.vn) - In 2023, Thanh Hoa is the fourth locality in the country to have its provincial planning approved by the Prime Minister for the 2021-2030 period, with a vision to 2045. Not only is it a "map" for development orientation, it is also considered an important "compass" that shapes the future development of the province. From strategic vision to specific actions, Thanh Hoa is gradually opening up new development spaces, affirming its position as one of the major centers of heavy industry, high value-added agriculture and services in the region and the whole country.

The factory manufacturing and installing electrical wiring harnesses invested by BOB Thanh Hoa Company Limited will bring products to the market from the beginning of 2025. Photo: Tung Lam

Promoting its particularly important strategic position with its potential and distinct advantages, Thanh Hoa is striving to develop its economy and society rapidly, sustainably and harmoniously between regions. The provincial planning for the 2021-2030 period sets out "ambitious" goals: average GRDP growth of 10.1%/year; GRDP per capita by 2025 of about 4,200 USD; total social investment capital for the 2021-2025 period of 750,000 billion VND; export turnover of 8 billion USD in 2025 and 15 billion USD in 2030...

To realize the goal, the entire political system, business community and people in the province have unanimously identified resources and solutions. Growth pillars have been focused on creating conditions and encouraging development; processing and manufacturing industry has grown at an average annual rate of 15.3%, including some products with leading output in the country such as: petrochemical refining, steel, cement. A number of concentrated, large-scale, high-tech agricultural production areas and models have been formed, following the value chain. Key livestock products and products with advantages have developed strongly. Tourism has made a breakthrough development, creating the premise to become a key economic sector.

The province has identified and prioritized attracting investment in key areas. Industry focuses on petrochemical refining, metallurgy, mechanical engineering, energy, electronic components, medical equipment, pharmaceuticals, construction materials, textiles, and footwear. Agriculture focuses on industrial livestock farming associated with processing, high-tech agriculture, and clean food production along the chain, along with processing of export forestry products and animal feed. Services prioritize tourism, resort hotels, software development, digital technology, and logistics in key economic zones. Infrastructure focuses on investment in industrial parks and clusters, seaports, information technology, and digital transformation. With the determination to reform procedures and quickly clear land, many large projects have been deployed and put into operation, contributing to shaping a new development landscape for the province.

Among the projects that have come into operation is the Nghi Son High-Tech Mechanical Factory of Dai Dung Nghi Son Mechanical Engineering Joint Stock Company. Less than a year after the approval of the project and construction permit, the factory officially began commercial operation in March 2025. Phase 1 was deployed on an area of ​​over 10 hectares, with an investment capital of over VND 900 billion, a capacity of 50,000 tons of products/year, equipped with modern production lines, applying 4.0 technology, automatic robots and using clean energy, meeting the green building gold standard (LEED Gold). The factory's products are ready to be exported to many demanding markets such as the US, EU, Japan, Australia, and the Middle East.

Mr. Trinh Van Ky, factory production manager, said: “Thanks to the invitation and facilitation of the province, especially the quick site arrangement, the project was implemented on schedule. During the construction process, all difficulties were promptly resolved by the local government. We are continuing to implement phase 2 to expand the production scale and product structure, contributing to raising the Thanh Hoa mechanical brand”.

In the field of services and trade, a notable highlight is the groundbreaking of AEON MALL Thanh Hoa Trade Center at the end of 2024. With a total investment of about 4,157 billion VND, this is the project with the largest land use scale of AEON MALL in Vietnam at the present time. The project is expected not only to create a modern and classy commercial service space for Thanh Hoa, but also to open more "doors" for local products to reach the Japanese market and many countries in the global retail chain of AEON MALL. The appearance of AEON MALL not only has the meaning of expanding the consumer market, improving service quality, but also contributing to promoting economic restructuring towards services and trade, increasing investment attraction and affirming the role of Thanh Hoa as a new growth pole in the North Central region.

Mr. Tetsuyuki Nakagawa, General Director of AEON MALL Vietnam Co., Ltd., affirmed: “Thanh Hoa is a populous and rapidly developing province. We hope and will turn this place into an indispensable destination for Thanh Hoa people as well as domestic and international tourists.”

Along with clearly defining the industry orientation, the provincial planning has concretized the territorial space with 4 dynamic centers and 5 economic corridors. Nghi Son becomes the southern growth pole, associated with heavy industry and seaports; Thanh Hoa - Sam Son City area (old) develops high-quality services, sea-cultural tourism; Lam Son - Sao Vang forms high-tech agriculture, new urban areas associated with Tho Xuan airport; Bim Son - Thach Thanh area concentrates on industry and services. The coastal economic corridors, North - South, Nghi Son - Na Meo... play the role of "backbone" to expand development space; especially the Nghi Son - Na Meo route with the advantage of connecting seaports - airports - national highways, opens up a large space for industry, logistics and international cooperation.

Initial results are clear. In the 2021-2025 period, the average growth rate of production value of districts, towns and old cities in the four dynamic centers reached 13.63%, higher than the average of the whole province; by 2025, production value in the centers accounted for more than 67% of the whole province. Nghi Son Economic Zone and industrial parks continue to become attractive destinations for investment capital, with 179 approved projects (including 41 FDI projects), total registered capital of more than 104,000 billion VND and 613 million USD. This area also makes an important contribution to the budget, with total revenue estimated at over 123,000 billion VND per year, accounting for more than 52% of the total budget revenue of the whole province.

The Nghi Son - Na Meo economic corridor is gradually affirming its role as a strategic development axis of Thanh Hoa. The connecting route from Nghi Son Economic Zone to Tho Xuan airport has been invested in, forming a direct route connecting the industrial center - seaport with the aviation hub, while expanding the connection with National Highway 1A and the main routes 45, 47, 15, 217. Not only facilitating the transportation of goods, this corridor also opens up space for the development of industry, services, logistics and high-tech agriculture on a large land fund.

According to the Standing Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee Nguyen Van Thi, Thanh Hoa is oriented to build the Nghi Son - Na Meo corridor into a new growth engine, associated with exploiting tourism potential, with many historical relics and unique cultural values. In particular, the Na Meo International Border Gate is identified as a strategic connection point between Vietnam and Laos. Although the volume of goods is not too large at present, the goods exchanged are quite diverse, contributing to promoting international trade and cooperation. With the orientation of investing in infrastructure development and modern industrial parks, Thanh Hoa is realizing the goal of turning Nghi Son - Na Meo into an important economic driving force of the North Central region.

In the 2026-2030 period, Thanh Hoa is determined to continue attracting priority sectors such as chemicals, energy, metallurgy, electronics, medical equipment, pharmaceuticals; developing high-tech agriculture, processing agricultural and forestry products for export; promoting marine tourism, ecology, logistics, digital trade; investing in infrastructure of seaports, airports, industrial parks, and smart cities. Along with that, there is the determination to improve the investment environment, improve the quality of human resources, promote digital transformation, thereby consolidating the position of the Northern growth pole, spreading development to the region and the whole country.

Tung Lam

Lesson 3: Key projects - unleashing new momentum

Source: https://baothanhhoa.vn/thanh-hoa-5-nam-mot-hanh-trinh-khat-vong-bai-2-khai-mo-tu-tam-nhin-chien-luoc-260688.htm