Dong Nai is located in the "strategic intersection" of the entire Southern region.
On March 26, in an exchange with Lao Dong Newspaper, Mr. Nguyen Kim Long - Standing Vice Chairman of Dong Nai Provincial People's Committee - said: What is very meaningful is that the policy of establishing Dong Nai city directly under the Central Government not only originates from the aspirations and legitimate desires of the Party Committee, government and people of Dong Nai province, but more importantly, that desire has been concerned, recognized by the Central Government and placed in the general strategic development vision of the country.
Looking broader, Dong Nai is not developing alone. Dong Nai is right in the "strategic intersection" of the entire Southern region. This locality is both a gateway connecting with Ho Chi Minh City, and a bridge connecting the Southeast with the Central Highlands, the South Central Coast, and has a spillover effect on the Mekong Delta.
In particular, with the presence of Long Thanh International Airport, Dong Nai is not only a locality with large infrastructure, but also a convergence of a new development space: industry, logistics, urban areas, services, international trade and aviation economy. Once Long Thanh airport operates synchronously with ring roads, expressways, seaports, inter-regional railways, Dong Nai will not only "go with" Ho Chi Minh City, but also share, complement and together create a new driving force for the development of the entire region.
Dong Nai meets 7/7 criteria for establishing a centrally-run city
Also according to Standing Vice Chairman of Dong Nai Provincial People's Committee Nguyen Kim Long, Dong Nai currently has almost fully converged the core conditions of a centrally-run city, meeting 7/7 criteria.
Regarding population size, the required standard is 2.5 million people or more, Dong Nai reaches 4,491,408 people; in terms of natural area, the required standard is 2,500 km2; Dong Nai reaches 12,737.18 km2; in terms of the ratio of wards to the total number of commune-level administrative units, according to regulations, it must reach 30% or more, Dong Nai currently has 23 wards and 10 communes that have met the conditions and criteria for developing into wards, reaching 34.73%; in terms of urbanization rate, the required standard is 45%, Dong Nai reaches 56.99%; in terms of location and function in the planning determined by competent authorities, Dong Nai has been identified as an important industrial, logistics, and transportation hub, playing a role in promoting the development of the region and the whole country, associated with the urban development orientation of Long Thanh airport.
For the criterion of type I urban area, Dong Nai province has completed the dossier and sent it to the Ministry of Construction for appraisal and recognition, through self-assessment, Dong Nai basically achieved 13/15 criteria (according to regulations, only 12/15 criteria are eligible); in terms of socio-economic development structure and level, Dong Nai fully meets the component indicators: self-balanced budget, proportion of industry - construction and services reaches 81.39%, average income per capita in the last 3 years is higher than the national average, GRDP growth rate in the last 3 years has reached or exceeded the national GDP growth rate, and the poverty rate is lower than the national average.
Dong Nai has full conditions to become a new growth pole
According to the Provincial People's Committee, the establishment of Dong Nai city will be a strategic step, creating a foundation for Dong Nai to rise from the position of a large industrial province to become a modern regional-level urban area, capable of leading development and creating new growth momentum for the entire Southeast region.
As a land with more than 325 years of formation and development, Dong Nai is one of the cradles that opened up the South; a place of intersection of many cultural, religious, and commercial flows; and also a land rich in patriotic and revolutionary traditions. If organized according to the model of a centrally-run city, Dong Nai will have more conditions, more mechanisms and more room to harmoniously combine modernization with preservation, between rapid growth and sustainable development, between expanding urban space and preserving unique cultural and historical values.
At that time, Dong Nai will not only be a large city in scale, but also a city with depth, bravery and its own identity.
Looking ahead, Dong Nai city will be a new development model: a high-tech industrial city, modern urban area, logistics center, international service center and high-tech agriculture; and also an airport city, eco-urban area, regional and global connecting urban area. This is not only a new development space for Dong Nai alone, but also a strategic component in the development structure of both the Southeast region and the nation.
With the special advantages of Long Thanh International Airport, along with the system of highways, beltways, seaports, industrial parks, logistics centers and modern urban areas gradually forming synchronously, Dong Nai has all the conditions to become a new growth pole, with strong spillover effects, capable of sharing development pressure with Ho Chi Minh City and expanding the development amplitude for the entire Southern region.
In 2025, Dong Nai's GRDP reached approximately 677,932.31 billion VND, budget revenue reached 102,962 billion VND, and GRDP per capita reached 152.8 million VND/person.
