With nine-month GRDP growth reaching 12.08 percent, the highest in six years, Hai Phong recorded notable achievements in FDI attraction, public investment disbursement, and land clearance. Behind these results lies Resolution 11, which created a transformation in governance, unblocked bottlenecks, and drove growth.

The midnight phone call from the city Party Secretary

Pham Van Thep, Head of the Hai Phong Economic Zone Authority, recalled a phone call in early July 2026, when the city had completed its first two quarters but economic growth had yet to meet expectations.

At that time, businesses faced numerous challenges and many projects lagged behind schedule due to obstacles in land clearance, procedures, and a lack of synchronized coordination among agencies and localities. Hai Phong City Party Secretary Le Ngoc Chau repeatedly raised these concerns with the Standing Committee of the City Party Committee and the Party Committee of the City People's Committee.

“The city leader told me that he wanted a policy strong enough, deep enough, and with long-term vision to address bottlenecks and promote socio-economic development, one that would go beyond the mindset of a single term in office,” Thep recalled.

About two or three days later, at midnight, Thep received a call from City Party Secretary Le Ngoc Chau. The Secretary asked: “I intend to issue a resolution to boost economic development, in line with the central government’s new policies. What do you think?”

“Hearing that, I was overjoyed and proposed right away: if the City Party Committee can issue this resolution, business fields including ours will benefit the most. Having a dedicated resolution to resolve practical obstacles would be great,” Thep related.

Resolution opens green lane for projects

On July 15, Hai Phong issued Resolution No. 11-NQ/TU on strengthening leadership to achieve average annual GRDP growth of at least 13 percent in the second half of 2026 and throughout the 2026-2030 period.

Immediately afterward, the city Party Committee established five supervisory teams, each headed directly by a member of its Standing Committee. The teams worked with local authorities, visited grassroots-level units, gathered feedback and directly addressed obstacles and concerns arising during implementation.

According to Thep, the most noticeable change at the Hai Phong Economic Zone Authority was in how work was assigned. Previously, deputy heads were responsible for individual areas such as construction, planning and the environment. They are now assigned responsibility by region and locality and are held accountable for all aspects of their designated areas.

“In the past, each official only knew his own domain. After the resolution was issued, they had to understand one another’s work and coordinate closely. Departments and agencies must also cooperate and work alongside local authorities, businesses and residents to accomplish their assigned tasks,” Thep stressed.

With 27 industrial parks undergoing land clearance and construction, the management board has held more than 30 in-person meetings to direct work and resolve obstacles. For 105 secondary projects, it has worked with businesses to address difficulties and accelerate progress, aiming to bring factories into operation as soon as possible. A “green lane” mechanism has also been introduced to shorten administrative processing times.

Approving a project is no longer considered the final outcome. Success is measured by whether factories become operational, workers have jobs and products are created.

By mid-2026, the Hai Phong Economic Zone hosted 1,071 FDI projects with total capital exceeding $46 billion. In the first six months of the year, the city attracted roughly $2.93 billion in FDI capital, reaching 81.4 percent of the annual plan. By the end of September, after three months of implementing Resolution 11, attracted FDI capital reached approximately $3.64 billion, up 64.4 percent compared to the same period and fulfilling 93.3 percent of the annual target. 

According to Thep, for the first time, all three targets assigned by the city to the management board - revenue, construction value, and FDI attraction - exceeded planned targets.

In the first nine months of 2026, Hai Phong's GRDP increased by 12.08 percent, the highest rate in six years. In the third quarter alone, growth reached 13.09 percent, industrial output rose 15.98 percent, and total realized investment capital reached nearly VND97,825 billion.

To translate its targets into action, Resolution 11 assigned more than 600 main tasks and 1,054 sub-tasks to departments, sectors, and localities. Each task was specified with a timeline and tied to responsibility and performance results, forming a basis for monitoring, inspection, and issue resolution.

This approach clarifies the link between policy and implementation. When responsibilities are assigned to specific units, coordination requirements among agencies become more concrete. From processing investment procedures and preparing land to monitoring factory operations, every stage is tied to the overall schedule. 

Hoai Anh