The coastal city of Da Nang has repeatedly posted strong growth of above 10 percent a year over the last decade, but this has been just like redecorating a house, rather than upgrading infrastructure to fortify it.

Nguyen Hong Cu, who teaches political economy at the Da Nang University of Economics, said the city’s growth has been greatly helped by public investment, which accounts for more than 50 percent of the total municipal spending, while investment from the private sector is poor.

“One positive sign of the public spending is that the city has been rapidly modernized and the infrastructure has been overhauled,” Cu, said.

But the doctor added that, on the other hand, the city’s economy has failed to develop in accordance with that growth, with most of the modernized infrastructure being roads and residential areas, while those necessary for boosting industrial development like warehouses, depots, and industrial parks are not adequately noticed.

On March 29, the city inaugurated two new bridges to mark its Independence Day. The two projects cost hundreds of millions of US dollars in total, while they are less than one kilometer apart.

Since 1997, Da Nang has built a total of eight new bridges, some of which consumed investment worth trillions of dong.

Meanwhile, Tran Van Linh, the CEO of a local seafood company, said most of the infrastructure investments have been carried out in the tourism sector, while the processing and manufacturing industries have been ignored.

“At the industrial parks across the city, there are very few investors, and no projects are big enough to contribute adequate revenues to the city’s treasury,” he said.

Restructuring source of incomes

Nguyen Thu, general director of Da Nang Port, said the city should seek other sources of revenue, rather than relying merely on selling land.

He suggested boosting infrastructure development to turn Da Nang into an export-import and logistics hub.

Mai Duc Loc, head of the city’s committee for economy and policy, urged the release of more policies to attract investment from large multinational groups.

Meanwhile, Tran Tho, the newly-elected chairman of the city, said in a meeting in late July that the local government should propose feasible solutions to help businesses maintain operation and develop.

“Only with healthy businesses will we have a sustainable source of revenue for the city’s budget,” he said.