Secretary of the provincial Party Committee Nguyen Van Doc said after the Politburo announced a project on rapid and sustainable socio-economic development and the pilot construction of Van Don and Mong Cai special administrative-economic units in October 2012, the province has actively coordinated with relevant ministries and centrally-run agencies to build a project in the field.

Based on the Conclusion No 21-TB/TW issued on March 23, 2017 by the Politburo on projects building Van Dong special administrative-economic unit (in the northeastern province of Quang Ninh), Bac Van Phong (in the south central coastal province of Khanh Hoa), and Phu Quoc (in the Mekong Delta province of Kien Giang), the three localities have joined hands to build a draft law on special administrative-economic units, which was submitted by the Government to the ongoing fourth session of the 14th National Assembly for further discussion.

The Van Don special administrative-economic unit project defines key industries of tourism-service, industry and agriculture.In the first phrase (2018-2022), the project will focus on casino entertainment tourism, seaport, aviation, trade, international shopping centers, innovation technology, and start-up centers, while the second phrase (2023-2026) will feature parks, fisheries, aquatic processing, logistics services, education and training, financial services, and healthcare. The third phrase (2027-2030) will aim at biological technology, green technology, and hi-tech agriculture.

Van Don is a district comprising more than 600 islands. It is approximately 175 km from the capital city of Hanoi, 80 km from the northern port city of Hai Phong and 50 km from Ha Long city. It boasts rich ecosystems, beautiful beaches and islands, which hold a lot of potential to become a world-class maritime tourism destination.

Special administrative-economic units are magnet for investment, high technology and advanced management mode for the formation of a high growth area that generates more resources and accelerates local economic restructuring and development.

The Ministry of Planning and Investment, which is in charge of drafting the Law on Special Administrative-Economic Units, expected that with preferential incentives, the three special zones - Van Don, Bac Van Phong, and Phu Quoc - would attract investment worth dozens of billions of dollars, which would generate huge sums in terms of added value and boost average income to 12,000-13,000 USD per capita.

It estimated that the special zones would contribute billions of dollars in taxes and fees to the State budget.

Vietnam has 17 coastal economic zones, 26 border economic zones and 328 industrial zones, which altogether have attracted some 153 billion USD investment, accounting for 52 percent of registered foreign direct investment in Vietnam, created three million jobs and contributing 42 percent to industrial production and 52 percent of exports.

Globally, there are some 4,500 special economic zones in 140 countries, and most countries have laws regulating these zones, according to the ministry.-VNA