I have been to Da Nang many times, but every time I set foot here I feel something new. Waking up in the morning and walking along My Khe beach, looking at the faces of the people here, I clearly see a strong, positive energy and an aspiration for the future.
More than 10 years ago, after a period of “contemplation”, Da Nang decided to choose the tourism slogan “Fantasticity – Magical City”. That is not only the goal and aspiration of the people of Da Nang but also the command to develop the city to rise up, worthy of being the center of the region not only in the field of tourism but also in the fields of economy, society and investment.
However, no matter how impressive a slogan is, it will still be just a slogan if there is no consensus and response from the people. What is special about Da Nang is the voluntary compliance and consensus with government regulations that, at first glance, seem very difficult to implement. For example, the code of conduct for tourists that Da Nang has implemented since 2015. This is considered the first set of tourism codes in the country. Da Nang "declares war" on acts of soliciting and soliciting tourists; cheating and overcharging for services; violating traffic safety; destroying relics or environmental landscapes... At famous specialty markets, there are standard scales so that buyers can verify for themselves...
Creating big changes from small things. Da Nang is gradually becoming a place “worth living - worth visiting - and worth contributing” with new standards.
However, it is undeniable that after a long period of achieving certain results, in some stages and in some areas, Da Nang has somewhat stagnated. Partly because it has not been able to expand its development space due to limited area, and partly because it has not created new momentum.
The Resolution of the Politburo and the planning of Da Nang set out major tasks. In which, the goal by 2030 is determined: Building Da Nang city into one of the major socio-economic centers of the country and Southeast Asia with the role of a center for startups, innovation, tourism, trade, finance, logistics, high-tech industry, information technology, supporting industry; one of the centers of culture - sports, education - training, high-quality healthcare, science - technology development of the country; Center for organizing regional and international events; Seaport city, international coastal city with the position of the nucleus of the urban chain and growth pole of the North Central and Central Coast regions, the North Central Highlands region and reaching the level of the Asian region; Ecological, modern and smart urban area, livable city; national defense, security and sovereignty of the sea and islands are firmly guaranteed.
Therefore, in 2024 and especially 2025, Da Nang must create a new source of energy for development. For other localities, this may be a problem, but for Da Nang, approaching and developing new directions has been the strength and pride of this city. There have been experts who have expressed their opinions on creating a new slogan for Da Nang to replace the current slogan "Fantasticity - City of Wonders". Many opinions agree on a slogan that Da Nang can apply: Inspiring City - Pioneering City.
In fact, Da Nang has been a pioneer in green tourism, a pioneer in removing bottlenecks to attract foreign investment, and a pioneer in building smart and modern cities. So in the coming time, in which areas will Da Nang be a pioneer?
The first is to pioneer in building a free trade zone model. In June 2024, the National Assembly agreed to establish the Da Nang free trade zone associated with Lien Chieu seaport, with the goal of attracting investment, finance, trade, tourism and high-quality services. This is a functional area with defined geographical boundaries, established to pilot mechanisms and policies aimed at attracting investment, finance, trade, tourism and high-quality services. If successfully implemented, it will create a premise to promote socio-economic development of Da Nang city and the whole region.... However, this is a new policy, not yet implemented in Vietnam, the Da Nang free trade zone is of a pilot nature; the policies are experimental steps, while doing, we will gain experience to gradually perfect it. There are favorable prospects but there are also risks. This requires Da Nang's pioneering spirit.
The resources and potential of Da Nang in the development process are the human factor. In the article "Digital transformation - An important driving force for developing productive forces, perfecting production relations to bring the country into a new era", General Secretary To Lam commented: "We are facing the need for a revolution with strong and comprehensive reforms to adjust production relations, creating new momentum for development. That is the digital transformation revolution, applying science and technology to restructure production relations in accordance with the remarkable progress of productive forces. Digital transformation is not simply the application of digital technology to socio-economic activities, but also the process of establishing a new, advanced and modern mode of production - "digital production mode", in which the characteristic of productive forces is the harmonious combination of humans and artificial intelligence; data becomes a resource, becomes an important means of production; At the same time, production relations also have profound changes, especially in the form of ownership and distribution of digital production materials.
The process of establishing a “digital production method” requires people who master technology. Resolution No. 136/2024/QH15 on the organization of urban government and piloting a number of specific mechanisms and policies for the development of Da Nang city has an important content: creating a corridor for Da Nang to accelerate in the race to develop the semiconductor industry.
Chairman of the People's Committee of Da Nang City Le Trung Chinh stated the goal: "Da Nang "takes the lead, goes fast" in developing human resources for the semiconductor industry in Vietnam to catch the investment wave". Da Nang aims to become one of the three largest semiconductor and microchip centers in Vietnam by 2030, forming a network of high-quality human resource training associated with the synchronous development of the semiconductor and microchip ecosystem. Da Nang focuses on three breakthrough directions: policy, human resources and infrastructure. In particular, Da Nang focuses on and takes advantage of all resources to train and attract at least 5,000 high-quality human resources for the semiconductor, microchip and artificial intelligence industries.
Secretary of the Da Nang Party Committee Nguyen Van Quang said: “In the immediate future, Da Nang will train a human resource capable of working globally. This is one of the very big goals, not to train human resources to serve Da Nang or Vietnam but to aim for human resources that meet global job requirements.”
Da Nang is facing new opportunities and new growth drivers. But with the energy from each Da Nang citizen, this city will complete its important mission: the pioneering mission.
(Article from the Central Highlands - Central Spring Labor publication 2025)
