Khanh Hoa develops potential of marine and island resources

After the merger, Khanh Hoa province possesses a lot of potential for sea and island development. The space for development are expanded, the ecosystem is diverse and rich in resources, creating favorable conditions for the province to develop its economy and reach out to integrate deeply with the international community.

Great potential from marine and island resources

On May 28, 2025, at a meeting with ministries and branches on sustainable development of the marine economy, Deputy Prime Minister Tran Hong Ha emphasized: "To develop the marine economy sustainably, the prerequisite is to build and effectively operate an inter-sectoral, inter-regional and inter-national coordination mechanism". The new context after the merger has opened up a huge space for Khanh Hoa province to develop with more than 490km of coastline stretching from Vung Ro Bay to Ca Na; including famous bays, namely Van Phong, Nha Phu, Nha Trang, Cam Ranh and Vinh Hy. Along with that, the province also has more than 200 large and small islands, many sheltered bays and lagoons along with deep-water ports, a diverse climate, and characteristics of the sea, coastal, delta and mountainous regions.

A sea and island area of ​​Khanh Hoa from above - Photo: VUONG MANH CUONG

As the province with the longest coastline in the country, it has opened up for Khanh Hoa a potential seamless sea tourism corridor with a combination of famous beaches (Doc Let, Nha Trang, Bai Dai) and pristine destinations (Vinh Hy, Binh Tien, Nui Chua). At the same time, the international seaport system: Van Phong, Cam Ranh, Ca Na and clean energy create a driving force to attract FDI (foreign direct investment) into logistics, processing industry, and green industry. Van Phong Port with a natural depth of more than 20m, has enough foundation to develop the largest international transit port in Vietnam. Ca Na Port is located in the south of the province, supporting the export of agricultural products and energy. This is also an advantage to promote the development of the marine economy; tourism; high-tech processing and manufacturing industry; logistics services; energy industry; exploitation of marine resources and minerals; research and planning of deep-sea aquaculture and offshore wind power development.

According to Dr. Vo Trong Thach - Deputy Head of the Applied Physics Department, Institute of Oceanography, Khanh Hoa province's issuance of Plan No. 4887, dated April 24, 2025, to implement Resolution No. 37, dated February 27, 2025 of the Government on the Plan to implement the National Marine Spatial Planning for the period 2021 - 2030, with a vision to 2050, is a step to concretize strategic orientations in the locality. The plan emphasizes the development of blue economy, circular economy and carbon emission reduction in line with global trends and sustainable development goals. In particular, when new technology applications such as artificial intelligence (AI), IoT, Blockchain, digital maps in marine management, monitoring, traceability of aquatic products and environmental protection have created many differences compared to previous documents.

Promoting and strongly developing the marine economy

Tran Hoa Nam - Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee said: With the synchronous implementation of programs and plans of the Central and local governments, Khanh Hoa province is currently one of the four key fishing grounds in the country. Aquatic product output in the first 6 months of 2025 reached more than 138,000 tons (117,000 tons of exploitation, 21,000 tons of aquaculture), export turnover reached 408.68 million USD. In the new development stage, to promote the potential and advantages of the sea and islands, the province will prioritize investment in the construction of transport projects according to approved plans to develop a synchronous and modern transport system, as a basis for the province to promote its role as a marine economic center, the main gateway to the East Sea, connecting the Central Highlands with the South Central Coast, with regions and areas in the country and trading with countries around the world.

Fishermen in Dai Lanh commune harvesting fish raised in HDPE round cages. Photo: BICH LA

Along with that, the province has implemented development zoning, in which it has determined: Van Phong Bay area to become a modern marine economic center; North Van Phong area to become an international-class tourist and resort city with a long-term orientation to develop a duty-free zone and an international transit port when conditions are sufficient; South Van Phong area to become an industrial center associated with seaports; Cam Ranh Bay area is a key economic - social area associated with national defense and security.

The southern area of ​​Khanh Hoa province focuses on building coastal roads and expanding development along the East - West axis to create regional and inter-regional connections. At the same time, the province has identified the southern key economic area (Phuoc Dinh commune and Ca Na commune) as a growth pole to promote the potential and advantages of seaports, dry ports and logistics service centers, industrial parks, urban areas, and tourism. The southern area of ​​Khanh Hoa province also focuses on attracting FDI projects in the fields of energy, renewable energy, and high-tech agriculture.

At the same time, the province implements zoning for exploitation and use of coastal marine resources to effectively implement Resolution No. 37 of the Government; concentrates resources, reviews and adjusts provincial planning and related planning to ensure adequate allocation of economic resources; focuses on planning key and focal areas to fully promote the province's potential in the new development stage.

According to Tran Hoa Nam, in order to continue implementing Resolution No. 48 of the Government approving the Strategy for sustainable exploitation and use of resources, protection of marine and island environment until 2030, with a vision to 2050, the province has also proposed the Government and the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment to provide information, databases, national marine spatial planning maps and a list of place names of islands, shoals, reefs, etc. in Khanh Hoa province so that the locality has a basis to implement comprehensive management, protection of marine and island environment, sustainable development of marine economy; have mechanisms and policies to encourage businesses and people to participate in the management, conservation, exploitation and sustainable development of marine economy, protection of marine and island resources and environment, etc.

In the coming time, the province will continue to promote the propaganda and dissemination of legal documents on seas and islands of our State and the International Law of the Sea, the Law of the Sea of ​​Vietnam; affirming Vietnam's sovereignty, sovereign rights and jurisdiction over the Paracel and Spratly archipelagos through the coordination of international conferences and seminars in Khanh Hoa province. At the same time, the province will strengthens training courses and knowledge development to improve professional qualifications, state management experience as well as professional skills in the process of implementing the task of comprehensive resource management, marine and island environment protection, and sustainable development of the marine economy.

Thai Thinh

Translated by T.T