Resolution No. 16-NQ/TW: Building Dong Nai into Vietnam’s first aerotropolis

Long Thanh Airport is the development nucleus of Dong Nai City and the centerpiece of the emerging Long Thanh Airport City. Photo: Pham Tung

As part of its development strategy, Dong Nai City has identified the Long Thanh Airport City and the Dong Nai River corridor as two new growth drivers.

Long Thanh Airport as Dong Nai’s growth hub

Politburo Resolution No. 16 calls for the comprehensive development of the Long Thanh airport city and surrounding areas, integrating them into a regional connectivity network spanning Southeastern Vietnam, the Mekong Delta, the South Central Coast, the Central Highlands and cross-border economic corridors, to become a driver of growth with spillover effects for Dong Nai City.

A rendering of the Long Thanh Airport City model awarded first prize in the competition for master planning ideas for Long Thanh Airport City and surrounding areas. Photo: Pham Tung.

Within this development framework, Long Thanh Airport is envisioned as more than an international airport. It is expected to become a hub linking aviation, logistics, high-tech industry, commerce, urban development and quality of life. As a key growth driver, Long Thanh Airport is also positioned by Dong Nai City at the heart of its aerotropolis model and as the city’s growth nucleus in its new phase of development.

According to Truong Thi Huong Binh, Member of the City Party Committee’s Standing Board, Director of the Department of Finance, the official opening of Long Thanh Airport at the end of 2026 will spur the development of a value-added service chain around the airport, including aviation logistics, distribution centers, free-trade facilities, financial and banking services, hotels, convention facilities and smart urban areas. This will give Dong Nai new economic growth drivers and mark a major step forward in its growth and international integration.

Long Thanh Airport officially welcomes its first passenger flight on December 19, 2025. Photo: Pham Tung.

To turn Long Thanh International Airport’s potential and advantages into a driver of growth, Dong Nai City is implementing the Long Thanh Aerotropolis Development Plan, covering 43,000 hectares and linked to the Dong Nai River development corridor and the Dong Nai riverside boulevard, with the aim of creating a major growth pole in the city’s southern area.

The area will feature hubs for aviation services, logistics, international trade, finance and conferences, alongside modern urban areas. Together, these will help expand Dong Nai’s urban, industrial and service development space while strengthening its links with Ho Chi Minh City.

“For Dong Nai City, Long Thanh is more than an airport; it is a nucleus for developing a new economic ecosystem. Its greatest value lies not only in passenger and cargo transport, but also in the surrounding services, including logistics, trade, engineering, education, healthcare, hospitality, convention facilities, data, finance and international services,” said Huynh Ho Dai Nghia, a public policy expert at the University of Social Sciences and Humanities, Vietnam National University Ho Chi Minh City.

Architect Khuong Van Muoi, former Vice Chairman of the Vietnam Association of Architects, said that while many cities around the world have airports, Long Thanh offers a different model, with the city taking shape after the airport is built. With fully integrated, state-of-the-art developments, the application of Industry 4.0 technologies and the growth of high-tech industries, Long Thanh Airport City could become a major future growth pole, driving development across the wider region.

“With a major international airport like Long Thanh Airport, a large number of international visitors will arrive to connect with destinations across the region for investment, employment and tourism opportunities. It can therefore become a major growth pole for Dong Nai in particular and southern Vietnam as a whole,” Muoi said.

A catalyst for expanding development space

For Dong Nai City, if Long Thanh Airport is the “infrastructure catalyst,” the Long Thanh Airport City will be the “catalyst for expanding development space.” It will feature a diverse airport-centered economic ecosystem encompassing logistics hubs, a free-trade zone, high-tech industries, aviation-support industries, MICE facilities, finance, healthcare, international education, smart urban areas, high-quality services and ecotourism.

Long Thanh Airport is being fast-tracked for the launch of its first phase by the end of 2026. Photo: Pham Tung.

According to Nguyen Van Ut, Deputy Secretary of the Dong Nai Party Committee, Chairman of the City People’s Committee, the scale and stature of Long Thanh International Airport will provide a powerful impetus for Dong Nai’s development. More than a transport infrastructure project, the airport will serve as a growth hub, driving the expansion of industry, trade, services, logistics, urban development and tourism.

Resolution No. 16 does not treat the airport city as a stand-alone project around Long Thanh Airport. Instead, it places it within a broader model of a polycentric city supported by the digital economy, aviation industries, high technology and inter-regional logistics.

Dr. Ngo Viet Nam Son, Chairman of NgoViet Architects & Planners, said the Long Thanh Airport Aerotropolis should not be confined to its current planning area, but should be expanded to encompass Nhon Trach and closely integrated with Ho Chi Minh City.

Transport links to Long Thanh Airport are being developed by Dong Nai City in coordination with relevant agencies and local authorities ahead of the airport’s operations. Photo: Pham Tung.

Meanwhile, Professor John D. Kasarda of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, who also heads the Aerotropolis Institute China, said Dong Nai City has all necessary conditions to develop an aerotropolis centered on Long Thanh Airport.

An aerotropolis has two core components, an airport city, located within the airport, with aviation, logistics and commercial facilities forming a multimodal, multifunctional airport city at the core; and an airport-linked urban area outside the airport, comprising connecting corridors, business clusters and aviation-oriented industries that complement one another while providing access to the airport and the city’s major transport infrastructure.

Under the master plan, the Long Thanh Airport project will be developed in three phases. Phase 1 will have an annual capacity of 25 million passengers and 1.2 million tonnes of cargo. Phase 2 will raise capacity to 50 million passengers and 1.5 million tonnes of cargo annually. In Phase 3, the final phase, the airport is expected to handle 100 million passengers and 5 million tonnes of cargo a year.

Professor John D. Kasarda said that successfully developing an aerotropolis centered on Long Thanh Airport will require Dong Nai City to establish policies and provide the technical and social infrastructure needed to foster aviation-related high-tech industries, including digital technology, electronics and semiconductors, and biotechnology. The city should also adopt policies and create conditions to attract world-class talent. “This is critical to attracting multinational corporations to invest and do business here and to building an aviation-centered economic ecosystem,” Kasarda said.