At Chan May Port in Hue city. Photo: VNA  

Covering more than 27,000ha, the Chan May–Lang Co Economic Zone is emerging as a key economic, urban, industrial and eco-tourism centre in southeastern Hue, with functional areas dedicated to seaports, industry, non-tariff activities, urban development and tourism.

The zone enjoys a strategic location between Hue and Da Nang, near the North–South expressway and high-speed railway routes, and along the East–West Economic Corridor linking with southern Laos and northeastern Thailand. It also hosts Chan May, a deep-water seaport with significant potential for regional and international connectivity.

Ho Thi Thu Hoa, Director of the Vietnam Logistics Research and Development Institute, said the zone's strategic location and strong connectivity give Hue a major opportunity to develop a national logistics hub and establish a free trade zone.

She highlighted the need to expand warehousing, multimodal transport, digital logistics and value-added services, integrate logistics into development planning, improve the investment environment and strengthen logistics workforce training.

The logistics sector is already gaining a foothold in the zone. Construction of the Chan May Logistics Centre began in March 2025. Developed by LEC Group, the project has investment of more than 1.5 trillion VND (57 million USD) and covers over 33ha. The centre will feature modern warehouses, a goods coordination centre, customs services and multimodal transport facilities, providing integrated warehousing, transport and logistics solutions.

Another major investor is Kim Long Motor Hue JSC, whose investment of about 1 billion USD makes it the largest industrial investor in the economic zone to date.

Its automobile manufacturing and assembly industrial park covers more than 600ha in its first phase. In the first seven months of 2026, the company produced and assembled around 3,000 vehicles, generating estimated revenue of more than 5.62 trillion VND and contributing 475 billion VND to the state budget. The project has created jobs for approximately 3,500 workers.

The industrial park of Kim Long Motor Hue is being developed as a leading regional centre for automobile and auto-parts manufacturing, targeting a rate of domestically made components at 80–90%.

Kim Long Motor General Director Dao Viet Anh said increasing the localisation rate and mastering core technologies are the company's guiding principles for building a sustainable automobile manufacturing ecosystem in Vietnam.

The company plans to expand investment cooperation, joint ventures and partnerships to develop supporting industries, including factories producing gearboxes, glass and wiring. The goal is to raise the localisation rate above 90%, deepen participation in global value chains and boost exports.

Chan May–Lang Co has also attracted major projects in tourism, seaports, infrastructure and industrial production, including the Laguna Lang Co resort complex, the infrastructure investment and business project for Industrial Park No. 2 covering more than 204ha with investment of about 1.845 trillion VND, and the over-322ha Saigon–Chan May industrial and non-tariff zone worth 100 million USD. A social housing project in the zone, meanwhile, will provide 460 apartments for about 1,000 residents.

As of August 2026, two economic zones and six industrial parks in Hue had attracted total registered investment of more than 152 trillion VND. The Chan May–Lang Co Economic Zone accounted for about two-thirds of the total registered in the city's economic and industrial zones.

Infrastructure push gathers pace

Hue aims to become one of Vietnam's major marine economic centres during 2025–2030. Expanding Chan May Port and attracting more investment to the Chan May–Lang Co Economic Zone are central to that strategy.

Chairman of the Hue People’s Committee Le Tri Thanh said the city will accelerate the construction of Berths 4 and 5 at Chan May Port and complete procedures to call for investment in Berth 6. For Berths 7 and 8, it plans to select a capable investor to develop both berths in a coordinated manner.

The city will also review transport links across the Chan May–Lang Co area and identify priority routes for inclusion in the medium-term public investment plan.

Transport investment, Thanh said, must directly support production, logistics and links among functional areas while avoiding scattered and inefficient spending.

At Chan May Port, Hue is continuing work on Phase 1 of the western breakwater, which will stretch 1,600m and require around 1.8 trillion VND in investment. It has also proposed central government funding be allocated for Phase 3 of the northern breakwater worth 900 billion VND.

Phase 2 of Chan May Port's breakwater project, measuring 300m and costing nearly 760 billion VND, began construction in 2022. Earlier, Phase 1, measuring 450m and costing more than 700 billion VND, was built between 2018 and 2020, helping raise the annual operating rate of Berths 1, 2 and 3 to more than 97%.

To turn Chan May–Lang Co into a logistics hub, Hue is also inviting investment to major transport projects linking the economic zone with the national transport network.

A proposed 35km road connecting the Chan May–Lang Co Economic Zone with the eastern North–South Expressway has an estimated investment of around 10 trillion VND. The route will start at the economic zone and end at the Km101+200 interchange on the La Son–Hoa Lien section of the North–South Expressway.

Meanwhile, the proposed North–South Boulevard in the east of Hue is expected to stretch 75km and require around 20 trillion VND in investment under the public-private partnership (PPP) model. It will connect northern, central and southern parts of Hue, linking industrial parks, high-speed railway stations, the Chan May–Lang Co Economic Zone and Chan May Port.

The Hue People's Committee said this project is expected to strengthen regional connectivity, unlock the potential of lagoon and coastal areas, and provide an important transport backbone for industrial and logistics development.

With major industrial, logistics and tourism projects taking shape alongside large-scale infrastructure upgrades, Chan May–Lang Co is gaining momentum as Hue seeks to turn its strategic location and deep-water port into a stronger engine of growth./.