New Special Policies Set to Unlock Hai Phong’s Development

Breakthrough mechanisms and policies

From September 1, Hai Phong City officially received from the Ministry of Construction the handover of 489.2 of the 517.5 km of national inland waterways in the city to manage and maintain, and to organise management of port and inland-waterway terminal operations on the national inland-waterway routes. The city budget is entitled to 100% of fee and charge revenues from the national inland-waterway routes and from managing port and inland-waterway terminal operations in the city. This is one of the special policies stipulated in National Assembly Resolution No. 226/2025/QH15.

National Assembly Resolution No. 226/2025/QH15, effective from July 1, 2025, has been described as a “lever” for Hai Phong’s breakthrough development. The Resolution contains 12 articles and six groups of special mechanisms and policies, allowing certain mechanisms and policies to be piloted to create a favourable legal framework for Hai Phong to accelerate its development. The groups cover investment management; financial and State-budget management; planning, urban, natural-resource and environmental management; science and technology and innovation management; income incentives for officials, civil servants and public employees managed by the city; and the establishment and mechanisms and policies of the city’s Free Trade Zone.

The area where the Southern Coastal Economic Zone of Hai Phong is expected to be established, with the Free Trade Zone—with numerous breakthrough incentive mechanisms and policies—as its “heart”.

The most notable point is the establishment of a Free Trade Zone with many outstanding special mechanisms and policies to attract investment, finance, trade, tourism, high-quality services and highly qualified human resources. Specifically, the City People’s Committee may decide to establish and adjust the boundaries of the Free Trade Zone associated with the Dinh Vu–Cat Hai Economic Zone and the Southern Coastal Economic Zone of Hai Phong. The Hai Phong Economic Zone Authority will directly manage the Free Trade Zone, provide public administrative services and support businesses investing, producing and operating there.

The Free Trade Zone will include production areas, a port and port-logistics area, a logistics centre, a trade and service area, and other types of functional zones.

Regarding mechanisms and policies in the Free Trade Zone, the Resolution provides that foreign investors may establish economic organisations in the Free Trade Zone without an investment project and without completing investment-registration certificate procedures before establishing the organisation. The area will apply outstanding incentives such as visa exemption and 10-year temporary residence cards for foreign experts, scientists, talented people, managers, highly qualified workers and family members working at enterprises headquartered in the Free Trade Zone; corporate income-tax incentives; and simplified investment and administrative procedures. The Free Trade Zone is expected to attract capital from high-tech corporations, international financial institutions and research and development centres worldwide.

Resolution No. 226 grants Hai Phong special authority to manage investment, finance and the budget. The city may approve investment policies for projects to build port terminals and port-terminal areas with investment capital of VND 2,300 billion or more belonging to Hai Phong seaport.

The city may borrow through the issuance of local-government bonds, borrow from domestic financial institutions and other domestic organisations, and borrow from foreign loans taken by the Government and on-lent to the city, with total outstanding debt not exceeding 120% of the city budget revenue it is entitled to under the decentralisation arrangement. This is considered a “boost” to remove bottlenecks in urban transport infrastructure.

Hai Phong may establish a venture-capital fund to invest in high-tech projects and innovative start-ups. The city budget is entitled to 100% of additional revenue from fee and charge-policy adjustments for investment in socio-economic infrastructure and other expenditure tasks.

“Golden opportunity”

Le Trung Kien, a member of the Standing Committee of the City Party Committee and Head of the Hai Phong Economic Zone Authority, affirmed that Resolution No. 226 taking effect on July 1, at the same time Hai Phong City merged with Hai Duong Province and officially began operating under the two-tier local-government model, made the Resolution even more meaningful. In particular, the city successfully organised the investment promotion conference “Hai Phong – A Strategic Destination in the New Era” on the sidelines of the third meeting of the APEC Business Advisory Council (ABAC III). At the conference, the city awarded investment-registration certificates for 32 projects and seven memoranda of understanding with total committed capital of more than USD 15.6 billion. This provides a firm foundation for Hai Phong’s breakthrough development in the coming period.

The world’s leading investors highly value the advantages of the Free Trade Zone and see it as a magnet that can help Hai Phong create a new breakthrough and attract domestic and foreign investment capital.

Under Resolution No. 226, Hai Phong City will focus on developing key sectors such as seaport services and tourism.

To enable Hai Phong to maximise the advantages of Resolution No. 226, maintain its breakthrough momentum and effectively attract high-quality FDI, Minister of Finance Nguyen Van Thang suggested that the city immediately and effectively implement the special policies approved by the National Assembly in Resolution No. 226/2025/QH15. The Ministry of Finance will support Hai Phong in rapidly developing the Southern Coastal Economic Zone of Hai Phong. It will urgently work with the city to successfully pilot operations of the Hai Phong Free Trade Zone under breakthrough policies, turning Hai Phong into a strategic global trade gateway.

Pham Tan Cong, Chairman of the Viet Nam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI), said Hai Phong was facing a “golden opportunity” for breakthrough development. In particular, the establishment of a Free Trade Zone (FTZ) in Hai Phong is expected to provide unprecedented strategic competitive advantages through outstanding policies. VCCI is committed to accompanying Hai Phong in attracting high-quality investment capital, developing effective public–private partnership models, and promoting innovation and sustainable development.

Le Ngoc Chau, Deputy Secretary of the City Party Committee and Chairman of the City People’s Committee, stressed that Resolution No. 226/2025/QH15, which allows the establishment of a Free Trade Zone in the Dinh Vu–Cat Hai Economic Zone and the Southern Economic Zone of Hai Phong, together with the city’s specialised Western Economic Zone, will create one of the country’s most open and attractive investment environments. With its ambition to advance, the city will use the advantages of Resolution No. 226/2025/QH15 to build Hai Phong into a leading national economic centre and a strategic regional and international trade hub; a major seaport city at the forefront of industrialisation, digital transformation, green transformation and innovation.

The city will focus on key sectors such as logistics, seaport services, tourism, education, and science and technology; complete synchronous infrastructure with convenient connectivity; and bring Hai Phong’s development to the level of leading Asian cities.

Source: Collected