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| Industry was a high-growth sector in 2025. Photo: Tuan Kiet |
Overcoming challenges
2025 was a year in which Hue and the Central region were heavily impacted by consecutive natural disasters and floods. Consequently, the economy suffered significant losses.
Hue initially set a goal of achieving double-digit growth. This target appeared within reach, as by the end of the third quarter, the city's overall growth rate exceeded 9.0%. However, four consecutive floods from late October to early November, three of them “washed away” much of the previous economic gains, with estimated losses of more than 3,270 billion VND. As a result, several sectors failed to meet projected growth targets; most notably was agriculture, forestry, and fisheries sector.
Nevertheless, Hue's economy still saw bright spots. The most prominent was the industrial sector, where newly operational enterprises, despite their short time in operation, made significant contributions to the city’s overall development. A prime example is KIM LONG MOTOR Hue Automobile Manufacturing and Assembly Complex; in addition to creating jobs and ensuring social welfare, the project aimed to contribute approximately 2,000 billion VND to the city budget in 2025. Kanglongda Vietnam Protective Technology Co., Ltd. was also expected to increase its budget contribution, with its 2025 output projected at 26,946 tons, a 12.3% increase year-on-year.
Furthermore, traditional enterprises with strong budget contributions, such as Carlsberg Vietnam Ltd., and enterprises operating in manufacturing sectors such as electricity generation, exports…, maintained stable production and business performance and increased their contributions in 2025. Consequently, the Department of Finance estimated that state budget revenue in 2025 rose by 20 - 22% year-on-year, reaching approximately 14,500 - 15,000 billion VND.
In addition, 2025 was also the year when the city and the country witnessed a series of simultaneous commencements and inaugurations of projects during major national and local holidays (April 30, August 23, and September 2, etc.). Accordingly, several key projects were completed and put into operation, including Nguyen Hoang Bridge, the technical opening of the bridge passing over Thuan An estuary, the inauguration of the technical infrastructure component of the City Cultural and Sports Square project, the FPT Education Complex, and the groundbreaking of social housing projects in the An Van Duong New Urban Area... These developments have opened up new opportunities for transport infrastructure, technical facilities, tourism, and services for Hue.
The year 2025 also marked the return of the tourism sector, with visitor numbers to Hue rising sharply compared to recent years. The target of welcoming around 5 million visitors was already achieved by the end of October. As a result, alongside industry sector, tourism - services sector is expected to grow by 12 - 15% in 2026. These two sectors are the decisive pillars for the city's overall growth, with each expected to contribute between 4.5 - 5.5 percentage points.
Another bright spot was the disbursement of public investment capital. In 2025, Hue consistently ranked among the top localities nationwide. This was also an important factor driving growth in other sectors. Accordingly, the city leaders closely directed and urged efforts to achieve a disbursement rate of over 95% of the 2025 capital plan.
Thanks to these efforts, 2025 recorded the highest GRDP growth rate in many years, nearly reaching 10% at certain points. However, due to objective factors - devastating impacts of natural disasters and floods - the year-end target was not fully met. Even so, Hue remained a locality with strong growth momentum, staying in the high-growth group nationally with a rate exceeding 8%.
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| Industry recorded strong growth in 2025. Photo: Tuan Kiet |
Developing growth scenarios
In a recent meeting regarding growth resources, Mr. Nguyen Khac Toan, Deputy Secretary of the City Party Committee and Chairman of Hue City People’s Committee, requested that departments, sectors, and localities find solutions to remove bottlenecks, especially those related to investment procedures and site clearance, while strengthening administrative procedure reform, and accelerating the disbursement of public investment capital, especially for key projects…
The city will maintain task forces to assist in resolving related difficulties, and establish a dedicated task force for key projects in the coming time. The city leaders also required assigned professional agencies to conduct weekly monitoring and supervision to provide accurate reports on project status and progress…, thereby proposing solutions to address obstacles so as to ensure that projects are completed on schedule.
At the same time, the city will strengthen investment promotion efforts, particularly for large-scale projects with low environmental impact, focusing on the Chan May - Lang Co Economic Zone, with the aim of turning it into one of Hue’s new growth engines.
Regarding growth targets, during a recent working session, Mr. Nguyen Dinh Trung, Member of the Party Central Committee and Secretary of the City Party Committee, noted that to achieve a growth rate of 10% or higher for the 2026 - 2030 period, and 11.5 - 12% by 2030, it is essential to develop growth scenarios for the entire term. Subsequently, based on the actual situation each year, more specific scenarios should be built for each year and each quarter. This requires a breakthrough in both mindset and methods of organization and implementation.
For a long time, we have developed a number of scenarios for implementing socio-economic development targets and tasks over the years. However, what needs greater attention is drawing lessons from each scenario in order to perform better in 2026 and the years ahead.
For a locality with unique characteristics like Hue, which endures numerous natural disasters and floods annually, it is imperative to have response and recovery scenarios to avoid being passive, and to prevent damage to the lives and property of people and the State.
Besides, long-term solutions are also needed so that natural disasters have the least possible impact on people and their assets. Planning the relocation of residents to higher ground alongside sustainable livelihoods; better protecting upstream forests; investing in sturdy wave-breaking dikes and embankments; and managing the safe operation of irrigation and hydroelectric reservoirs… remain fundamental, long-term solutions so that after each storm and flood season, losses are no longer counted in trillions of VND, enabling the economy to maintain stability and achieve sustainable development.