The economic landscape of Nghe An: Creating momentum and strength for a new era.Part 2: Overcoming adversity and leaving a lasting impression.
Over the past five years, attracting investment has emerged as a significant bright spot in Nghe An's economic landscape. However, this is not the only positive aspect. A broader perspective shows that, despite facing what is considered the "most challenging" term, Nghe An has still achieved remarkable successes. The province has successfully weathered the storms, making a clear mark, especially in key economic indicators, thereby forming a solid foundation for entering a new phase of development.
Content:Thanh Duy /Present:Hong Toai• January 20, 2026
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Over the past five years, attracting investment has emerged as a significant bright spot in Nghe An's economic landscape. However, this is not the only positive aspect. A broader perspective shows that, despite facing what is considered the "most challenging" term, Nghe An has still achieved remarkable successes. The province has successfully weathered the storms, making a clear mark, especially in key economic indicators, thereby forming a solid foundation for entering a new phase of development.
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In the early years of the term, the province's economy had to operate amidst "adverse winds": the prolonged Covid-19 pandemic, disruptions to global supply chains, increased geopolitical instability, and complex natural disasters. However, instead of faltering, Nghe An's economy demonstrated remarkable resilience and ability to withstand these challenges. The average GRDP growth rate for the period 2021-2025 reached nearly 8%, higher than the 6.97% of the 2016-2020 period. Year after year, the growth rate remained fairly stable: 6.31% in 2021; rising to 8.92% in 2022; 7.14% in 2023; a breakthrough to 9.01% in 2024; and continuing to maintain momentum at 8.44% in 2025.
Continuous growth has led to the province's economy expanding along an increasingly clear trajectory. While the GRDP in 2020 was just over 144,523 billion VND, it increased to 155,441 billion VND in 2021; nearly 176,000 billion VND in 2022; and almost 193,374 billion VND in 2023. By 2024, the province's economy will surpass 200,000 billion VND for the first time, with a GRDP of over 216,943 billion VND. In 2025, the GRDP is projected to reach approximately 236,500 billion VND (equivalent to 9.4 billion USD), accounting for about 1.8% of the national GDP (514 billion USD). Compared to 2020, the size of the economy has increased nearly 1.7 times.
Growth is measured not only by the size of the economy but also by the living standards of the people, reflected in the average GRDP per capita per year. From 43.6 million VND in 2020, Nghe An's average per capita income increased to 46.21 million VND in 2021; 51.2 million VND in 2022; 56.03 million VND in 2023; 62.48 million VND in 2024 and is expected to reach approximately 68 million VND in 2025, a 1.67-fold increase compared to the beginning of the term.
Another important pillar reflecting the resilience of the economy is state budget revenue. The budget can be considered the main financial resource of the local economy; in recent years, this resource has been increasingly strengthened in a stable and growing direction. In 2020, budget revenue reached VND 17,767 billion; in 2021 it increased to VND 19,911 billion; in 2022 it reached VND 22,491 billion; in 2023 it reached VND 21,508 billion; in 2024 it reached VND 25,564 billion; and by 2025, this figure is expected to reach VND 29,271 billion, an increase of nearly 1.65 times compared to 2020, approaching the VND 30,000 billion mark.
From a locality once considered a "low-lying area" in terms of exports, Nghe An has undergone a strong transformation. In 2020, total export turnover only reached 1.51 billion USD, while the target set for the entire 2020-2025 term was only 1.765 billion USD. The reality far exceeded expectations. In 2021, exports reached 2.428 billion USD; in 2022, 2.539 billion USD; in 2023, 3.105 billion USD; in 2024, 3.881 billion USD; and in 2025, an estimated 5 billion USD is expected, with merchandise exports exceeding 4.52 billion USD.
Looking back, it is clear that the achievements are not the result of a temporary breakthrough, but rather the fruit of a flexible and adaptable management process. Faced with rapid, complex, and unpredictable changes, the province has steadfastly adhered to the motto of "proactive, flexible, creative, decisive, and effective," promptly adjusting policies and creating crucial turning points in its management. Successfully controlling the pandemic and shifting from a "zero Covid" strategy to "safe and flexible adaptation to Covid-19" was a turning point, paving the way for the recovery and restart of socio-economic activities.
Had it not been for the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic and natural disasters, many of Nghe An's economic indicators could have reached even higher levels. However, in the context of numerous challenges, the results achieved clearly demonstrate strong leadership, the ability to navigate adversity, and the mindset of transforming difficulties into impetus for reform.
On that foundation, Nghe An's economy is accumulating the necessary stability and openness to enter a new phase of development with a long-term vision and higher expectations. The Deputy Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee and Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee, Vo Trong Hai, has repeatedly emphasized that, through practical experience, the spirit of innovation and the aspiration for development in Nghe An are strongly spreading from the political system to the business community and the people, and the period from 2026 to 2030 is considered the "time of maturity" for Nghe An to make a stronger breakthrough in its development process.
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If the period from 2021 to 2025 is considered a "warm-up" phase, then the term of the 14th Party Congress is defined as a period of acceleration and breakthrough. This is a period that demands the establishment of a new growth model, because if we continue to rely on traditional drivers, the goal of double-digit growth as well as the aspiration to become a developed, high-income country by 2045 will be very difficult to achieve. Therefore, the period from 2026 to 2030 is a turning point, the boundary between the risk of losing advantages and the opportunity for strong economic growth.
Speaking at the press training conference on the 14th National Congress of the Communist Party of Vietnam, Professor Dr. Ta Ngoc Tan – former member of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Vietnam, Standing Vice Chairman of the Central Theoretical Council, and Standing Deputy Head of the Editorial Team for the 14th Congress Documents – stated that the draft Congress Documents clearly define the core orientation for the next phase as establishing a new growth model linked to restructuring the economy, promoting industrialization and modernization on the foundation of science, technology, and innovation. Along with industry, the shift in the rural economic structure needs to be promoted towards a green, ecological, circular direction, linked to value chains and with higher efficiency. The private sector is identified as one of the most important driving forces of the national economy. In particular, Professor Dr. Ta Ngoc Tan emphasized that breakthroughs in science and technology development, innovation, and education and training should be the central driving force for national development in the new era.
Within that overall development trend, Nghe An has established a clear and strategic development vision. Accordingly, by 2030, the province strives to become a relatively prosperous province in the country, a national-level growth pole, and a regional center in the North Central region in the fields of high-tech industry and agriculture, healthcare, education and training, science and technology, trade, logistics, and tourism.
Nghe An province has set targets for average Gross Regional Domestic Product (GRDP) growth of 12% or higher; GRDP per capita of approximately 165-190 million VND; average annual increase of 12% in state budget revenue; and total social investment for the entire period of approximately 1,150 trillion VND.
To realize the above objectives, Nghe An province has identified a strong focus on innovating its growth model, restructuring the economy towards modernization and sustainability, and improving the quality of growth and competitiveness. Based on this, the province has clearly defined four pillars of growth for the next five years: Industry will play a breakthrough driving role, with a focus on high-tech industries, processing and manufacturing industries, and supporting industries; modern trade and services will become the spearhead, concentrating on logistics, finance and banking, tourism, education and training, and high-quality healthcare; agriculture will continue to be the foundation, developing towards high-tech applications, linked to value chains and marine economic development.
Assessing the potential for local development, Dr. Nguyen Sy Dung - Member of the Prime Minister's Policy Advisory Council, former Deputy Head of the National Assembly Office - believes that Nghe An has significant advantages in terms of scale, its central position in the North Central region, and diverse development space. If the province chooses the right key sectors linked to science and technology and the knowledge economy, such as processing and manufacturing industries, logistics, digital services, and high-quality education and training, then the possibility of achieving a breakthrough is entirely feasible.
From a practical management perspective, the Standing Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee, Bui Thanh An, pointed out six key growth drivers that need to be focused on in the coming period. These include: Industry, which will continue to be promoted by closely monitoring large projects, promptly addressing difficulties for attracted investors, and bringing projects into production to create added value; Agriculture, which needs fundamental reform, shifting from a focus on numbers to reshaping the crop and livestock structure for the 2026-2030 period; Tourism, which must change its development mindset, linking it with spatial and product replanning to gradually move away from the budget tourism model; and expanding development space, focusing on strategic projects, alongside decisive administrative reforms and the requirement for efficient operation of local governments at both levels.
It can be said that, with aspirations awakened, a vision established, and clearly emerging growth drivers, Nghe An is standing at the threshold of a new development cycle. Whether to break through or miss out, to advance strongly or slow down in increasingly fierce competition, all depends on the ability to seize this "ripe moment." The saying "Time never comes again" is therefore not just a philosophical reminder but should become a message for the road ahead, because history has never rewarded hesitant or indecisive steps.
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(To be continued)
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