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| Picturesque landscape in Lang Co. Photo: Ngoc Hieu |
1. Viewed from the Hai Van Pass, Lang Co Bay unfolds like a delicate silk ribbon between the sea and sky. On one side lies the emerald sea, on the other, the tranquil Lap An Lagoon, with the majestic Bach Ma Mountain rising quietly in the distance. This beauty earned Lang Co recognition as one of the world’s most beautiful bays in 2009.
Yet, for more than 15 years, the name Lang Co has been spoken with more regret than pride. The question remains: 'When will Lang Co awaken?'
Lang Co’s beauty is unquestionable. But without a sound development strategy, that beauty risks slipping into slumber-lost among moss-covered boundary posts. Why does a land with such immense potential, international recognition, and a strategic position on the East-West Economic Corridor-with a deep-water port, railway access, and National Highway 1A-remain adrift?
At many expert forums, many specialists have argued that no matter how promising a region may be, without a flexible and proactive operating mechanism-one capable of screening out underqualified investors—it risks remaining nothing more than a beautiful blueprint on paper.
In Lang Co, once high-profile projects-like the $2 billion Six Miles Coast Resort-now lie abandoned, marked by half-finished buildings and rusting steel. Once envisioned as a “resort paradise,” the site is now dubbed a “million-dollar ghost project” by locals. Could Lang Co remain in slumber simply because we hesitate to act on broken promises?
The big issue doesn’t lie in a lack of planning, but in the failure to translate plans into action. The Lang Co-Canh Duong area was designated a National Tourism Area in 2018 and later identified as a southern growth engine in Thua Thien Hue’s provincial plan for 2021-2030, with a vision to 2050 (now part of Hue City).
Mr. Le Van Tao, who settled in Lang Co over three decades ago, shared: “I’ve seen teams come to survey, draw up plans, and then vanish. The stakes are covered in moss, the signs rusting away. So many projects left unfinished for years. Such a waste.”
While large-scale projects stand still, small flames of community-based tourism are quietly taking root. But without backing from infrastructure and management mechanisms, these efforts may never grow beyond a modest scale. Lang Co still suffers from fragmented infrastructure, incomplete intra-regional transport, and a lack of a tourism support center.
The launch of the Chan May Logistics Center, with an investment of over VND 1,500 billion, is a positive signal of the determination to transform this area into a southern coastal logistics hub for Hue. But this is only the initial step. Without continued development of the coastal road, investment in green transport, and the completion of key links between Da Nang, Hue, Chan May, and Lang Co, the center’s full potential may remain unrealized.
2. Encouragingly, Hue has recently taken proactive steps toward building an enabling, investor-friendly government. In many meetings, city leaders have emphasized the need for a proactive and professional operating mechanism-one that avoids fragmented responsibilities and overlapping authority. The city’s “no delayed projects” stance has been made clear, with investor replacement or project revocation now on the table.
A broader perspective is also needed: Lang Co cannot develop in isolation from Chan May - designated as a key economic zone along the East–West Economic Corridor, with strategic advantages including a deep-water port, industrial zones, urban zones, and integrated transport infrastructure.
Nearly 20 years into its development, Chan May-Lang Co has begun to assert its position-rising from a once-pristine land into a destination for major corporations, from the nearly $2 billion Laguna project to the Kim Long Motor automobile complex and international seaport clusters. It stands as clear evidence of the region’s strategic appeal-when backed by sound planning, attractive policies, and long-term vision.
In a recent exchange, planner and architect Ngo Viet Nam Son noted that for Hue to truly take off, it needs a clearly defined southern development axis—linking Hue City, Phu Bai Airport, and the Chan May-Lang Co area into a corridor for industry, logistics, and tourism. If properly master-planned, this infrastructure cluster could reshape the local economy and contribute to establishing a new growth pole in Central Vietnam, linking Da Nang, Hue, and Quang Tri into a sustainable development triangle.
According to Le Van Tue, Head of the City’s Management Board for Economic and Industrial Zones, the city is stepping up efforts to attract investment in green industries, supporting industries, and processing and manufacturing sectors. This is a sound strategy as it not only creates jobs but also drives labor restructuring toward industrialization and modernization, contributing to Lang Co’s long-term development.
Lang Co does not lack advantages. What it needs is a harmonious development ecosystem-where planning goes hand in hand with policy, infrastructure with promotion, investors with responsibility, and local people with shared benefits. “When will Lang Co awaken?” The answer rests in the actions of local authorities: in every investment flow carefully managed, in every road extended toward Lap An Lagoon.
A land of beauty cannot flourish on its own. It must be guided, nurtured, and sustained by innovative thinking, principled governance, and the concerted efforts of authorities, businesses, and local communities. Only through this synergy can Lang Co truly awaken-not merely as a tourist destination, but as a new engine of growth for Hue and Central Vietnam.