Open the "treasure" of Dak Lak

A corner of Buon Ma Thuot City, Dak Lak Province. (Source: Department of Foreign Affairs of Dak Lak Province)

Located in the center of the Central Highlands, Dak Lak possesses a strategic geographical position in terms of economy, defense and security, along with a convenient transportation system, easily connecting with the Central Highlands provinces, the coastal provinces of the South Central and Southeast regions.

Dak Lak is one of the development poles in the “development triangle” of Vietnam – Laos – Cambodia; with convenient roads and air routes, connecting with major economic centers such as Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, Da Nang, Hai Phong and a number of other provinces and cities. This advantage helps Dak Lak expand exchanges and links for socio-economic development and cooperation with localities inside and outside the country.

Huge potential

Dak Lak has the 4th largest natural area in the country, including nearly 5,400 ^km2 of agricultural land. Most of the land is fertile basalt, very suitable for growing crops with high economic value and annual output such as coffee, rubber, pepper, avocado, durian, mango, etc. The whole province currently has 237 OCOP products (including 31 4-star products, 206 3-star products) capable of export. Some agricultural products have been exported to many countries around the world such as durian, macadamia, banana, passion fruit, etc. Most notably, Buon Ma Thuot coffee has become a world-famous brand, protected by geographical indications.

In addition to the above products, Dak Lak also has strengths in hybrid corn, honey, cassava, and sugarcane. The province is focusing on developing high-tech agriculture to minimize the negative impacts of climate change as well as maximize efficiency in agricultural production through the application of modern technology.

The province also owns the largest forest area and timber reserves in the country, the whole province has more than 600,000 hectares of forestry land. Timber reserves reach more than 50 million m3 with many types of precious wood, which is very favorable for processing and exporting wood products. The system of ponds, lakes, rivers and streams is diverse and large such as Lak Lake, Ea Sup, Dak Minh, Ea Kao... At the same time, Dak Lak has many types of minerals with different reserves, of which some types of minerals have been identified as: kaolin clay with an estimated reserve of about 60 million tons, distributed in M'Drak, Buon Ma Thuot; brick clay distributed in Krong Ana, M'Drak and many places in the province.

Not only that, this locality also has many other types of minerals such as gold (Ea Kar), lead (Ea H'Leo), phosphorus (Buon Don), peat (Cu M'gar), precious stones (Opal, Jectit), paving stones, construction stones, construction sand... distributed in many places in the province, suitable for developing mining and processing industries.

Regarding tourism, Dak Lak has advantages with many locations that allow exploitation in the direction of combining landscape, ecological, environmental tourism and cultural traditions of many ethnic groups in the province such as Lak Lake, Dray Nur Waterfall, Buon Don Tourist Area, Kotam Tourist Area, Ea Kao Lake Golf Course Ecotourism Area... In particular, Dak Lak is one of the cradles nurturing the Central Highlands Gong cultural space, recognized by UNESCO as an oral and intangible masterpiece of humanity.

The Buon Ma Thuot Coffee Festival has become a prominent event of the Vietnamese coffee industry in general and of Dak Lak province in particular. The 9th Buon Ma Thuot Coffee Festival, scheduled to be held in March 2025, promises to bring investors, experts, tourists, and coffee lovers the opportunity to learn more about coffee, coffee cultivation, investment cooperation opportunities in the province, and interesting experiences through a series of activities within the framework of the Festival, from seminars, coffee-specialized exhibitions to cultural and tourism events.

Open new development space

The planning of Dak Lak province for the period 2021-2030, with a vision to 2050, along with the aspiration to rise strongly, aiming to build Dak Lak province to be increasingly rich, civilized, and unique, is opening up a new development space for the province.

According to the planning of Dak Lak province for the period of 2021-2030, with a vision to 2050 approved by the Prime Minister, Dak Lak will become a province with ecological space, identity, creative connections, a favorite and livable destination. The province has an economy following a green and circular growth model, with an economic scale rising to be among the top 25 developing provinces in the country.

Dak Lak aims to develop to match its functions at many levels in the Central Highlands, national and international levels.

Buon Ma Thuot City is the “World Coffee City”, a regional urban center, a cultural center, a center for biodiversity conservation in the Central Highlands and the Vietnam-Laos-Cambodia Development Triangle, a center for research and application of international agricultural science and technology.

By 2030, the province's urban system will have 31 urban areas; research on the establishment of Dak Rue border gate economic zone; focus on developing Hoa Phu and Phu Xuan industrial zones; research on the establishment of new potential industrial zones (M'Drak, Ea Kar, Ea H'leo); develop 26 industrial clusters in the province. Develop the Central Highlands sports complex in Buon Ma Thuot city. Develop 4 golf courses at Ea Kao lake, Ea Nhai lake, Lak lake, Buon Don.

Based on the set goals, Dak Lak identified key tasks that need to be focused on to promote digital transformation, create breakthroughs in administrative reform, improve the investment and business environment; focus resources on completing key infrastructure, prioritizing the development of science and technology, innovation, environmental protection, improving the quality and efficiency of local promotion activities abroad and expanding local-level cooperation.

Attractive "plus points"

Diverse natural resources, abundant young human resources… have quickly turned Dak Lak into an ideal destination for domestic and foreign investors.

Over the years, Dak Lak province has always focused on attracting and calling for investment and identified the investment environment as the leading factor, deciding the results of attracting investment to the locality. To meet the diverse needs of investors, the province has become more proactive and professional in the chain of promotion activities.

Specifically, the locality has closely coordinated with central ministries and branches to advise on removing barriers in mechanisms and policies, perfecting legal regulations; determined to promote and continuously reform administrative procedures, improve the Public Administration Performance Index (PAPI) and the Provincial Competitiveness Index (PCI) to create a favorable, open investment environment, accompany and provide maximum support for investors to implement projects in the area.

The province also strives to implement local promotion programs in other countries; strengthen dialogue, proactively invite foreign businesses and investors through meeting programs organized in the province.

The province has also proactively completed the establishment and approval of adjustments to land use plans, general urban development plans, especially land use plans of agricultural and forestry farms transferred to local management as a basis for competent authorities to approve proposed investment projects in the province.

The more attractive “plus point” of the investment environment in Dak Lak is that the province has focused its investment resources on developing socio-economic infrastructure, developing synchronous and modern transport infrastructure. For example, the province focuses on accelerating the investment progress of key projects and works to promote regional connectivity, especially the Khanh Hoa - Buon Ma Thuot Expressway, the Eastern Ring Road of Buon Ma Thuot City, upgrading Buon Ma Thuot Airport, building Dak Rue border gate trade infrastructure, and Phu Xuan Industrial Park Project.

Along with that is the construction of a systematic investment promotion program; the construction and publication of lists of investment attraction projects to serve as a basis for interested investors to propose project implementation...

By creating unique and attractive highlights, many large investors have confidently decided to invest in the province. In three years (2021 - 2023), the total investment attraction of the province reached nearly 113,000 billion VND, accounting for 35% of the total GRDP at current prices; there were about 3,911 newly established enterprises with a total registered capital of over 53,350 billion VND, bringing the total number of enterprises operating in the province to 12,775 units.

Also in the past three years, the province has decided to invest in 31 projects with a total registered investment capital of over VND 11,672 billion; decided to adjust the investment policy of 75 projects, considered selecting investors by auction for 8 projects, and considered selecting investors by bidding for 6 projects. Thus, both capital mobilization and new projects have increased sharply, which shows that capital has been "converted" into factories, production lines, investment projects in production and business to serve the socio-economic growth of the province, create more jobs for workers, and contribute significantly to the local budget.

By the end of June 2024, Dak Lak had more than 47 investors coming to learn about the investment environment, 38 investors submitted application documents for investment policy with a total value of 3,746.8 billion VND.

Currently, Dak Lak is making efforts to attract investment in areas with outstanding strengths. The province determines that success in attracting investment will open up opportunities for Dak Lak to gradually improve its image in the eyes of domestic and international investors and friends. Therefore, investors should come to Dak Lak to visit, learn and open the "treasure" of rich potential of this fertile Central Highlands land!