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| Nguyen Dinh Tri, a farmer in Ninh Son district, Ninh Thuan province, in his new-variety grape garden__Photo: VNA |
Located in the southern central coast, Ninh Thuan province borders Khanh Hoa province to the north, Binh Thuan province to the south, Lam Dong province to the west and the East Sea to the east with a coastline of 105 km. Being situated at the intersection of three strategic axes: national highway 1A, the eastern part of North-South expressway, North-South railway and national highway 27, it is regarded as the gateway connecting the key southeastern economic region with other southern central localities and southern part of the Central Highlands.
The province is now accessible by sea, railway, road and air. Its Thanh Son military airport will be converted into dual-purpose (military and civil) airport. In addition, Ca Na seaport complex is currently under construction to accommodate ships of up to 300,000 DWT.
To increase the connectivity between it and southern central coast and southern key economic regions, the province is speeding up the construction of seven provincial roads, including the Cam Lam-Vinh Hao section of the western part of the North-South expressway, national highway Nos. 1, 27 and 27B, a 14.8-km-long road connecting the North-South expressway with national highway 1 and the Ca Na seaport and a 62.5-km road linking Ninh Son district of Ninh Thuan province and Duc Trong district of Lam Dong province. The province will also upgrade 10 existing provincial roads into grade-III and grade-IV roads. It is planning to build a 41-km road connecting Ca Na seaport and southerner Central Highlands.
To facilitate local people’s travel and tourism development, the province will develop three navigable channels, namely Ninh Chu-Mui Dinh-Ca Na; Binh Son-Hon Do-Thai An-Vinh Hy; and Binh Tien-Bai Kinh-Vinh Hy, and 10 wharves to be connected to coastal tourist sites.
Ninh Thuan boasts great potential in sunlight and wind for renewable energy development. It has the average wind speed of 7.5 meters per second, the highest in the country, for 10 months of the year, making it ideal for steady operation of wind turbines and wind power development. In addition, the province receives some 2,840 hours of sunlight per year, also the highest in the country, with the average solar radiation of 1,800 kWh per year, which is ideal for solar power generation.
The province has received the Government’s nod to be developed into a renewable energy hub of the country, especially after the Prime Minister issued Decision 1319 on November 10, 2023. With the constant support from the Government, ministries and sectors, Ninh Thuan is now home to 54 renewable energy projects with a total capacity of around 3,400 MW hooked to the national power grid. These projects have not only increased land use efficiency, especially the value of land areas unsuitable for agriculture, but also reduced greenhouse gas emissions by 97.9 percent compared to traditional power generation, thus contributing to realizing climate change response goals and enhancing the environmental protection.
Director of the Ninh Thuan Planning and Investment Department Le Kim Hoang told the Vietnam Law & Legal Forum magazine that the province has so far attracted USD 896 million in foreign direct investment for 12 renewable energy projects.
The renewable energy sector is one of the province’s three economic pillars apart from tourism and agriculture and has grouped Ninh Thuan into the list of localities with the fastest economic growth over the last five years. It has created an impetus for the development of other sectors such as construction, real estate, trade and services.
The provincial authorities have offered investors the highest investment incentives including corporate income tax incentives, import duty exemption and land and surface water rental exemption or reduction. Specifically, projects in sectors or trades eligible for special investment incentives will be exempted from land and surface water rentals forup to three years after land and surface water lease decisions are issued. Those projects will also enjoy 10-percent corporate income tax rate for 15 years from the time of income generation or exemption for four years from the time of income generation and 50-percent reduction of payable corporate income tax amounts in the subsequent nine years.
With a coastline of 105 km, pristine beaches, sand dunes and lush green forests, Ninh Thuan province is ideal for beach breaks, adventurous trekking trips and camping.
The province plans to welcome 3.5 million tourists, including 455,000 foreign holidaymakers, and rake in VND 2.9 trillion (USD 127.08 million) next year. The figures are expected to reach 6 million, 900,000, and VND 5.9 trillion (USD 245 million) in 2030, respectively.
To achieve the targets, the Ninh Thuan Culture, Tourism and Sports Department is working with the Khanh Hoa Tourism Department in devising “two localities one destination” tour.
Ninh Thuan will also focus on developing three groups of tourism products. The first group consists of sea tours, Cham heritage tours, hi-tech agriculture farm tours and Nui Chua World Biosphere Reserve ecotours. The second (new) group provides sand-salt tours, hunting tours, railway tours and wellness tours. The last group includes community-based tours, recreational and culinary tours and wind and solar farm tours.
In addition, the province will continue organizing inter-regional and inter-provincial cultural and tourist events in Phan Rang-Da Lat-Nha Trang-Phan Thiet tourism development quadrangle and the Nha Trang-Ninh Thuan-Lam Dong tourism triangle. It will take part in tourism cooperation with other central coastal localities and between six southern central provinces and the Central Highlands, southeastern region, Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi. It will also coordinate with the Central Highlands tourism center in promoting its image in domestic and foreign trade promotion programs.
In 2023, the hospitality industry organized a series of cultural and sports events to entertain visitors. These events include the Ninh Thuan-Binh Thuan open golf tournament, the Ninh Thuan-Binh Thuan kitesurfing tournament, the Vietnam International Travel Mart (VITM) Can Tho and famtrips to Ho Chi Minh City, Binh Thuan, Ninh Thuan, and Lam Dong. The Phan Rang-Thap Cham culinary and culture week was also held with a street art performance, a cuisine festival and running.
The province also organized the Ninh Thuan Culture and Tourism Day in Can Tho city to introduce folk songs and dances, traditional musical instruments, Bau Truc pottery making and My Nghiep brocade weaving to audiences.-
Provincial facts
Land area: 3,358 sq. km
Administrative units: Phan Rang-Thap Cham city and six districts of Bac Ai, Thuan Bac, Ninh Hai, Thuan Nam, Ninh Phuoc and Ninh Son
Population: nearly 600,000
Ethnic groups: 32 ethnic groups with the Kinh (Viet) being the most populous, followed by the Cham and Raglai ethnic minority groups.
Socio-economic figures
- Export turnover: USD 130 million in 2023
- Main exports: seafood, cashew nuts, aloe vera jelly, pomelo, dragon fruit, etc.
- FDI projects: 38 ones totally capitalized at USD 1.1 billion in 2023
- Gross regional domestic product (GRDP): growing by 9.4 percent in 2023, ranked ninth among 63 provinces and cities in the country and second among 14 central coastal localities.
- Industrial parks: Thanh Hai in Phan Rang-Thap Cham city, Du Long in Thuan Bac district, Phuoc Nam and Ca Na in Thuan Nam district
- Farm produce bearing geographical indications: Ninh Thuan grape and lamb
Tourism
- Famous tourist attractions:
+ Nui Chua national park (recognized as the world’s biosphere reserve in September, 2021) covering 29,865 hectares with more than 1,500 plant species, 84 mammal species, 163 bird species, 83 reptile and amphibian species and 350 coral species
+ Phuoc Binh national park with 1,321 plant species and 327 nimal species, including four species endemic to the Indochina, namely red-cheeked gibbon, black-shanked douc langur, Owston’s palm civet and giant muntjac
+ Cham’s temples: Hoa Lai, Po Klong Garai and Po Rame towers
+ Nam Cuong and Mui Dinh sand dunes
+ Chapor waterfall
+ Song Sat reservoir
+ Vinh Hy bay
+ Rai (otters) cave
+ Thai An vineyard
+ Son Hai and An Hoa sheep grazing fields
- Craft villages: My Nghiep traditional weaving and Bau Truc pottery villages of the Cham community in Phuoc Dan town, Ninh Phuoc district
- Travellers: 2.4 million in 2022 and 2.9 million, including 40,000 foreign visitors, in 2023
- Tourism turnover: VND 2.3 trillion (USD 95.8 million) in 2023
- Festivals:
+ Cham’s Kate festival which is held for three days in October
+ Cham’s Ramuwan festival which takes place during the 9th month of the Islamic calendar
(Source: https://ninhthuan.gov.vn; https://sokhdt.ninhthuan.gov.vn/)
