Developing Hoa Binh Lake National Tourism Area into a Regional-Scale Destination

On the morning of November 10, Comrade Tran Duy Dong — Alternate Member of the Party Central Committee, Deputy Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee, and Chairman of the Provincial People’s Committee — chaired a conference to hear the Department of Construction and the Department of Finance report on the Master Plan Adjustment Scheme for the Hoa Binh Lake National Tourism Area to 2035, Vision to 2050, alongside the deployment status of private investment projects in the Hoa Binh lake bed area.

Attending the conference was Comrade Vu Viet Van — Member of the Standing Committee of the Provincial Party Committee and Vice Chairman of the Provincial People’s Committee; alongside leaders of relevant departments, sectors, units, and localities.

Chairman of the Provincial People’s Committee Tran Duy Dong chairing the conference.

According to reports from the Department of Construction and the consulting unit, the research scope for adjusting the master plan of the Hoa Binh Lake National Tourism Area to 2035, vision to 2050 covers an area of approximately 52,200 hectares, located within the administrative boundaries of wards: Hoa Binh, Thong Nhat, Tan Hoa and communes: Da Bac, Cao Son, Tien Phong, Quy Duc, Tan Mai, Muong Hoa, and Thung Nai.

The adjustment aims to align with new administrative units and Phu Tho province’s development orientation, effectively exploiting the landscape potential, lake bed ecosystem, and local cultural identity.

Vice Chairman of the Provincial People’s Committee Vu Viet Van delivering remarks at the conference.

This area is identified as a tourism focal point for the Northern Mid-land and Mountainous Region, developing in a green, smart, and sustainable direction; while concurrently serving as an ecological and resort zone west of Hanoi Capital and a Northwest tourism growth pole for Phu Tho province.

The target strives for Hoa Binh Lake to be recognized as a key national tourism area by 2030; and to become a high-quality lake, resort, and cultural tourism destination of the entire country and the Southeast Asian region by 2050.

It is forecasted that by 2035, the tourism area will welcome approximately 2 million tourist arrivals, reaching around 6.5 million tourist arrivals by 2050.

Director of the Department of Construction Nguyen Xuan Quang reporting the Master Plan Adjustment Scheme for the Hoa Binh Lake National Tourism Area.

According to the proposed option, spatial development is structured under “Two Axes – Three Corridors – Five Driving Centers”, taking the CT03 Hanoi – Hoa Binh – Moc Chau Expressway and National Highway 6 as primary drivers.

Concurrently, adjusting from 6 sub-zones down to 5 development sub-zones, forming centers for: overall zone tourism management and service; resort (Hoa Binh – Da Bac); high-end resort (Muong Hoa); spiritual cultural tourism (Thung Nai); eco-tourism (Tan Mai – Quy Duc); and adding a new ecological-entertainment western gateway center (Tien Phong – Cao Son)...

Areas are oriented toward developing eco-tourism, resort, cultural, spiritual, and entertainment activities in tandem with landscape preservation and elevating citizen livelihoods.

To date, the planning adjustment dossier has been perfected by the Department of Construction following opinion-gathering and appraisal processes. The Department requested the Provincial People’s Committee to consider and report to seek policy approval from the Standing Committee of the Provincial Party Committee as a basis for approval according to regulations.

Discussing at the conference, delegates analyzed techno-economic indicators and backbone infrastructure systems, proposing to boost economic structure shifting toward high-quality tourism, under-canopy eco-agriculture, and sustainable aquaculture. Particularly, emphasizing strict requirements to guarantee defense–security and hydropower reservoir safety...

Overview of the conference.

Delivering concluding remarks on this content, Chairman of the Provincial People’s Committee Tran Duy Dong emphasized that adjusting the Master Plan for the Hoa Binh Lake National Tourism Area must guarantee innovative thinking with a long-term, strategic vision and breakthrough character.

Among these, aiming to build the tourism area into one of the country’s tourism development engines, possessing regional-level competitiveness.

He basically agreed on the planning scope of approximately 52,200 hectares, orienting development in a green, smart, sustainable direction rich in unique identity; connecting with tourism centers within the province and neighboring areas, while concurrently guaranteeing water source security, dam safety, national defense, and security.

Beside this, the Chairman requested the Department of Construction and the consulting unit to review and recalculate the land use structure, especially tourism service land funds—ensuring headroom to attract strategic investors and develop large-scale, modern, high-quality projects.

Prioritize types of eco-tourism, resorts, entertainment, golf courses, and high-end healthcare linked with preserving and promoting ethnic cultural identity.

Concurrently, continue perfecting spatial organization options following multi-center models, supplementing a driving center in Tien Phong commune, and strengthening connections with the CT03 Expressway alongside road and waterway transport systems to ensure synchronization and feasibility.

The Chairman particularly emphasized that planning adjustments must strictly comply with higher-level plans and regulations on protecting lake beds, protection forests, landscapes, and ecosystems; minimizing forest land conversions and industrial projects or manufacturing facilities with environmental pollution risks.

Units need to review and supplement centralized wastewater collection and treatment orientations, guaranteeing water source quality—especially water source security for the Hanoi Capital area; identifying high landslide-risk zones to establish appropriate resettlement plans; and accurately reviewing defense and security land areas.

The Chairman also requested reviewing the list of priority investment projects, supplementing new tourism development orientations, connecting infrastructure works, and projects capable of generating development momentum.

On the basis of fully absorbing comments at the conference, the Department of Construction coordinates with relevant units to urgently complete planning dossiers, focusing on clarifying adjusted contents, new highlights, and strategic orientations to report and seek opinions from the Standing Committee of the Provincial Party Committee according to regulations.

Leadership of the Department of Finance reporting on the deployment status of private investment projects in the Hoa Binh lake bed area.

Following that, the Department of Finance reported the deployment status of private investment projects in the Hoa Binh lake bed area.

However, the majority of projects have not completed investment or entered operation and use—failing to maximize the efficiency of land resources and registered investment capital.

Among the total 23 projects approved for investment policies, only 3 projects have entered business and manufacturing operations; 8 projects are under construction investment and incomplete; the remaining 10 projects have not completed land and construction procedures, and 2 projects were not deployed.

Chairman of the Provincial People’s Committee Tran Duy Dong concluding the conference.

Giving directives on this content, Chairman of the Provincial People’s Committee Tran Duy Dong ordered the establishment of an inter-disciplinary inspection team to comprehensively review each individual project.

Resolutely terminate operations and recover project land to maintain original forest states and natural landscapes for long-delayed projects (spanning 8 to 15 years) where investors lack deployment capabilities.

For large-scale projects where investors possess capabilities but encounter objective bottlenecks (such as site clearance work), the province will consider granting maximum schedule extensions under regulations, while requiring investors to provide progress commitments and clear procedure completion roadmaps.

The Chairman assigned relevant departments, sectors, and local authorities to work substantively and closely, guiding investors to complete investment certificate adjustment procedures and execute full financial obligations in accordance with legal regulations.

Dinh Vu