Thai Nguyen’s Development Master Plan for 2021 to 2030

Thai Nguyen has become a hive of manufacturing in recent years and is still drawing huge investments from foreign firms. In this light, the Vietnam Briefing takes a look at what key decision-makers have planned for the future of the province.

Northern Vietnam’s Thai Nguyen province has become a hub of manufacturing activity in recent years. In particular, it has become the key manufacturing hub for South Korea’s Samsung in Vietnam.

This has been due to several factors. Its proximity to the major population center that is Hanoi for one, but also, after years of foreign-invested enterprises establishing themselves in the province, it has become well-equipped to accommodate the needs of manufacturing firms.

That said, as the province and indeed Vietnam on the whole, continues to develop and welcome more business, it will need to change and adapt to the needs of these new arrivals.

With this in mind, earlier this year the Prime Minister issued Decision 222/QD-TTg (herein referred to as Decree 222) approving a masterplan for Thai Nguyen province from 2021 to 2030 with a vision to 2050. Here are the key details.

See also: The Performance of Vietnam’s Key Economic Zones in 2022

Goals and targets

Economic development

Decree 222 lays out a number of key goals and targets for the province to be achieved in the next decade or so. These include:

• Reach an average GRDP growth rate of between 8 and 8.5 percent a year;
• For industry and construction to account for 60 percent of GRDP;
• For services to account for 32.8 percent of GRDP; and
• Agriculture, forestry, and fisheries account for 7.2 percent of GRDP.

It’s hoped that this will give the province a GRDP per capita (at current prices) of about US$8,900 per person.

The population of the province is expected to reach 1.52 million people with the breakdown of the workforce as follows:

• Industry and construction to account for 37 percent;
• Agriculture, forestry, and fisheries for 27 percent, and
• The service industry to account for about 36 percent.

By 2025 key decision makers hope to see an urbanization rate of 48.5 percent, increasing to 61.7 percent by 2030.

The rate of trained workers is also expected to reach 80 percent with 37 percent of trained workers having completed formal training or education.

Social development

Thai Nguyen’s master plan also outlines a number of social targets for the province to accompany its economic aspirations. These include:

• For 95 percent of schools to meet national standards by 2030; and
• For the healthcare system to have one doctor and 60 hospital beds per 10,000 head of population.

Infrastructure development

Along with social and economic development, the master plan also includes a handful of targets for infrastructure development. These include:

• For all residents to have access to clean water;
• For 95 percent of waste created in urban areas to be collected and processed in accordance with national standards; and
• For all newly established industrial zones and urban areas to have centralized wastewater treatment.

See also: Vietnam’s Thai Nguyen Province – Investment Guide for Investors

Economic sector development

Decree 222 also outlines development strategies for core sectors of Thai Nguyen’s economy.

Industry

Per the master plan, Thai Nguyen’s planners envision a high-value manufacturing future for the province. They are looking to environmentally friendly industries as well as electronics. They also want to see industrial clusters developed with a vision toward becoming a modern economic center.

Furthermore, there is a push to broaden Thai Nguyen’s service sector. Specifically, planners want to see logistics, finance, banking, real estate, and information technology, and communications businesses establishing themselves in the province.

See also: Investing in Industrial Parks in Vietnam

Trade, services, and tourism

In trade, services, and tourism planners see Thai Nguyen as becoming a center of regional trade. They intend to realize this vision by focusing on attracting supermarkets and trade fairs, as well as building trade centers.

As part of this part of the plan, they will also promote the expansion of e-commerce and actively promote the province’s cultural and tourism products.

They also want to see tourism, specifically resort and ecological tourism linked to the province’s history and culture, form a key component of the tourism industry.

Agriculture, forestry, and fisheries sector

Finally, key decision-makers in Thai Nguyen want to see the agriculture sector transformed through new technology. This, it is hoped, will facilitate the development of clean, organic agricultural products

Furthermore, key decision makers foresee the development of large-scale agricultural production areas focused on produce like tea, fruit trees, pork, chicken, wood, and cinnamon.

Key takeaways for foreign firms

Decree 222 provides broad goals and targets for Vietnam’s Thai Nguyen province. These address the needs of its residents and businesses, but also foreign firms. Specifically of note for foreign enterprises is the push toward high-tech manufacturing. This is common all over Vietnam, however, Thai Nguyen, with a number of major tech firms already manufacturing in the province, is likely to be among the provinces leading the charge forward. Foreign firms, particularly those producing high-tech goods, considering manufacturing in Vietnam, should keep this in mind.

That said, there are a number of other factors firms should consider when looking for the right location in Vietnam. These are best discussed with boots-on-the-ground professionals like the experts at Dezan Shira and Associates – your partner for growth in Southeast Asia.

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