Unleashing Hanoi’s Economic Potential: How Ha Nam Province Attracts Major Investors to Drive Breakthrough Growth

Unleashing Ha Nam’s Potential

Strategically located in the heart of the Red River Delta, just a 45-minute drive from Hanoi and with excellent connectivity to neighboring provinces, Ha Nam has long been a shining example of successful investment attraction. In the first six months of 2024 alone, Ha Nam attracted 29 new investment projects, including 10 FDI and 19 domestic investment projects. This has significantly contributed to the province’s economic growth, ranking 4th in the country and 1st in the Red River Delta region.

Notably, in addition to the industrial sector, Ha Nam is attracting major investors in urban development, tourism, services, and trade, to elevate its status as a destination boasting over 2,000 unique historical and cultural relics.

As PGS TS Tran Dinh Thien, former Director of the Vietnam Economic Institute, rightly pointed out, praising any advantages is meaningless unless they are translated into competitive strengths. One crucial factor in this transformation is the involvement of businesses. “To achieve this, we must invite the right caliber of enterprises. Ha Nam has long been renowned for its investment appeal, but the quality of investment has been low, and the caliber of investors has not been high enough to turn the tide,” said Mr. Thien.

The Phu Thu Interchange connecting the Phap Van – Ninh Binh Expressway with Hanoi Capital’s Ring Road 5 in Ha Nam is under construction.

For a long time, apart from the Tam Chuc tourist area, most of Ha Nam’s historical sites and scenic spots remained off the radar for tourists. The province, which serves as the southern gateway to Hanoi, lacked modern urban areas. Commenting on the weaknesses of local tourism, Mr. Truong Quoc Huy, Chairman of Ha Nam Provincial People’s Committee, acknowledged that the tourism products were not diverse, the infrastructure was modest, and transportation connections were not well-integrated. These limitations have prevented Ha Nam from attracting a large number of international tourists, mainly catering to domestic travelers. Therefore, Ha Nam is determined to attract major investors to create key projects for the province.

“With the simultaneous implementation of multiple new infrastructure and transportation projects, large-scale urban projects combining amusement, entertainment, and themed parks, especially with the participation of leading tourism enterprises like Sun Group, Ha Nam’s tourism is bound to make significant strides, attracting numerous domestic and international tourists,” Mr. Huy confidently asserted.

The Bac Chau Giang area offers convenient transportation links and vast land areas, making it ideal for developing large-scale urban areas with comprehensive amenities.

The Appeal of Dynamic Projects

On August 8, Ha Nam Province commenced the construction of the Sun Urban City project in Bac Chau Giang, the planned new administrative center of the province in the future. This project, with a scale of 420 hectares and a total investment of VND 35,000 billion, is developed by Sun Group with the orientation of becoming a suburban resort city with 1,001 amenities south of Hanoi.

According to Mr. Truong Quoc Huy, the project will bring a new face to Phu Ly city, aiming to develop an eco-friendly, modern, and convenient urban area, improve the local economy by shifting from agriculture to services and trade, and ultimately enhance the livelihoods of local residents.

Sun Urban City will bring a new look to Phu Ly, Ha Nam. Illustrated image

“The people whose land is recovered for this urban project will be provided with job conversion to tourism and trade services right in the project area, offering them better jobs and higher incomes. From an urban management perspective, this project has a very low construction density of about 18%, but it will significantly contribute to the provincial budget. We will use this budget to focus on investing in transportation infrastructure, schools, hospitals, and other social utilities to improve the quality of life for local residents,” said Mr. Huy.

The provincial chairman also expects that with the integration of large parks, such as Sun World Park, a sports park, a festival park, a cultural park, and an eco-park, Sun Urban City will become a timeless urban area, harmoniously blending modern elements with nature. Upon completion, Sun Urban City in Ha Nam will undoubtedly become an ideal suburban resort city for Hanoi and Red River Delta residents during holidays and weekends.

The diverse amenities of Sun Urban City will elevate the standard of living for the locals. Illustrated image

Looking back at the tourism and entertainment ecosystems combined with high-class real estate projects that Sun Group has invested in across the country, they have all been dynamic projects that have beautified the region, attracted visitors, contributed to the state budget, and created jobs for local people, such as the Sam Son Sea Square Urban Area – Sun Grand Boulevard and Sunset Town in Phu Quoc. In Sam Son, with the appearance of the Sea Square, the festival landscape axis, and a grand water park, the number of tourists in the first six months of this year reached 6 million, accounting for 65% of the total tourists in the province. In Quang Ninh, when Sun World Ha Long was inaugurated in 2016, the mining region welcomed 8.3 million tourists; by 2019, this number had almost doubled to 14 million.

It is believed that with its inherent advantages in tourism and the upgraded transportation infrastructure, the mega-projects and high-class event chains to be implemented by Sun Group in the coming time will contribute to enhancing the appeal of Ha Nam as a destination, striving to achieve the goal of welcoming 10 million visitors by 2030 and aiming for the further goal of becoming a centrally-run city by 2050 as per the approved planning.