From aspiration to responsibility
With notable achievements in recent years, Da Nang has gradually established itself as one of the most attractive destinations for investors and tourists alike. The investment environment has undergone a clear transformation, marked by increasing transparency and efficiency. Central to this shift has been deep administrative reform combined with active listening and support for businesses, thereby strengthening investor confidence in the city’s administration.
Moreover, a diversified and flexible investment promotion strategy has not only opened up opportunities for cooperation with international investors but has also encouraged domestic capital flows into key sectors, laying the foundations for sustainable breakthroughs. In the first 11 months of 2025, total domestic investment in Da Nang reached 209.783 trillion VND, including 90 newly licensed projects. Foreign direct investment continued its growth momentum, with total FDI amounting to 502.9 million USD, of which 118 newly licensed projects accounted for 276 million USD in registered capital.
In the context of today’s digital and green economy, investor confidence—whether from large or small players—is no longer expressed through vague commitments. Instead, it is measured through concrete indicators, including implementation timelines, the scale of human resources, infrastructure investment, policy frameworks, digital data repositories, internet speed and bandwidth.
According to Associate Professor Dr Dang Tung Lam, Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Economic Science (University of Da Nang), the city has been entrusted with a special mission as one of the two locations designated to host Viet Nam’s international financial centre, with a focus on innovation. “However, to turn this vision into reality, Da Nang must establish market mechanisms that are sufficiently attractive to international investors and capable of building confidence within the business community,” he stressed.
Policies must quickly translate into practice
Amid the dynamic pulse of Da Nang’s economy in recent years, the spirit of innovative entrepreneurship has spread to every corner of socio-economic life—from farms and local cultural start-up spaces to lecture halls, laboratories and scientific and technological communities. In developing the innovation-driven start-up ecosystem, the Party organisation and city authorities have consistently emphasised their role as facilitators and leaders. As a result, Da Nang’s innovation start-up ecosystem has now taken shape with all key components in place and has recorded strong growth with many notable outcomes.
Da Nang is one of Viet Nam’s pioneering and exemplary cities in digital transformation, consistently ranking among the national leaders for many years across all three pillars: digital government, digital economy and digital society. In October 2025, the city was honoured by the Ministry of Science and Technology as an “Outstanding city in digital transformation for the 2020–2024 period”.
Da Nang is one of Viet Nam’s pioneering and exemplary cities in digital transformation, consistently ranking among the national leaders for many years across all three pillars: digital government, digital economy and digital society. In October 2025, the city was honoured by the Ministry of Science and Technology as an “Outstanding city in digital transformation for the 2020–2024 period”.
As one of the few localities to have issued early and relatively comprehensive programmes and plans for digital transformation and smart city development, Da Nang has created an attractive investment environment for digital technology enterprises in areas such as semiconductor microchips, artificial intelligence (AI) and blockchain. This has been achieved by mobilising resources ranging from digital infrastructure and digital human capital to special mechanisms and policies at both central and local levels, including corporate income tax incentives, innovation encouragement and controlled pilot schemes.
However, alongside policies that have sought to “listen to” the aspirations and contributions of innovative start-ups, delays in policy implementation remain a major barrier. These delays have resulted in a lack of coherence in policies for science, technology and innovation-driven start-ups, and have prevented them from being fully embedded in entrepreneurial activities across the city.
From the perspective of a leading AI enterprise directly deploying solutions in practice, Le Ngoc Tri, Director of EM&AI Joint Stock Company, noted that despite clear opportunities, there is an urgent need to systematically remove barriers related to data and data-sharing mechanisms; pilot and public procurement frameworks; financial resources and growth support; ecosystem linkages; and the full-scale application of AI in processing and supporting public service delivery.
According to Ho Quang Buu, Vice Chairman of the Da Nang People’s Committee, to meet development requirements in the new phase, the city is facing major tasks centred on three key schemes: the development of science and technology in Da Nang for the 2026–2030 period; building Da Nang into an innovation centre of international standing for 2026–2030; and digital transformation and smart urban development, with a regional orientation by 2030.
“These are all large-scale and challenging initiatives with very high requirements, stemming from the direction and expectations of the central authorities. However, we believe that while the challenges are significant, this also represents a major opportunity for Da Nang to transform itself strongly. The key issue is that the city must act in a coordinated, decisive and faster manner; otherwise, it will be difficult to meet the expectations of both the central authorities and the city itself,” Ho Quang Buu said.
