Gia Lai is seeking to turn its expanded economic space following the provincial merger into stronger value chains by linking raw material areas with processing, logistics, trade and markets, while improving conditions for private investment and business growth.
The province’s new scale is creating opportunities to reorganize economic resources, but local officials and business leaders say a larger administrative area alone will not create greater competitiveness.
They argue that planning, infrastructure, administrative procedures, capital, human resources, technology and market access must develop in coordination, allowing businesses to invest with greater confidence and participate more deeply in regional, national and international markets.
Phan Thanh Thiên, General Director of Trường Sinh Group, Chairman of the Vietnam Agricultural Business Council and a member of the Executive Committee of the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI), said the key challenge following the merger was not simply the creation of a larger administrative space but the ability to reorganize resources across a broader economic area.
Raw material zones, processing industries, logistics, trade and markets now have an opportunity to become interconnected rather than developing separately, he said.
From an investor’s perspective, Thiên said the province should use the merger as an opportunity to change its investment approach. Synchronized planning, infrastructure developed ahead of demand, streamlined procedures and greater business innovation would give the province more room to develop, he said.
Public investment as a catalyst
Chairman of the Gia Lai Provincial People’s Committee Phạm Anh Tuấn said the State must take the lead in planning and infrastructure.
Speaking at the seminar “Infrastructure Connectivity – A Driver for Investment Attraction and Tourism Development in Central and Central Highlands” on Aug. 13, Tuấn said the State should first establish the foundation through planning, development concepts and essential infrastructure investment. Once basic infrastructure is available, businesses will be more confident about investing in subsequent projects.
Thiên said the spillover effect should be a central consideration in public investment.
Roads, bridges, logistics systems and industrial park infrastructure, when developed in the right locations, can attract private projects, creating what he described as “seed capital.”
Public investment planning should therefore assess how much social capital, employment, new economic activity and market opportunities each budgeted dong could generate for businesses, he said.
If public investment is directed toward areas where private companies could operate more effectively, the State risks replacing rather than supporting the market.
Thiên said Gia Lai should instead lead investment in infrastructure that can open the way for private capital and help establish new growth poles.
From a resource management perspective, Director of the Department of Finance Trần Cang said public investment disbursement must be linked to project progress and effectiveness.
The priority should be removing bottlenecks, particularly in site clearance and investment procedures, so projects can become operational quickly and contribute to economic growth.
The objective, he said, is not simply to disburse capital but to put completed projects into use and focus on infrastructure bottlenecks that can unlock private investment in production, processing, services and trade.
Linking production, processing and markets
As new development spaces emerge, Thiên said raw material zones could be organized on a larger scale, while processing industries should be located where raw materials, land and infrastructure offer advantages.
Expectations from the Private Sector
Plan No. 16-KH/TU dated August 21, 2025, issued by the Provincial Party Standing Committee to implement Resolution No. 68-NQ/TW dated May 4, 2025, of the Politburo, sets specific targets for the private sector:
- By 2030, the goal is to have 50,000–55,000 active businesses; at least one large enterprise participating in the global value chain.
The private sector is expected to grow at an average annual rate of 10.5–11.5%, contributing 83–86% of the province’s gross regional domestic product (GRDP) and 35–40% of total state budget revenue; labor productivity to increase by 12.5–13% per year; and over 30% of businesses to engage in innovation activities.
- By 2035, the target is about 70,000 active businesses. The private sector is expected to grow at an average annual rate of 10.5–11%, contributing 85–87% of GRDP and 40–45% of total state budget revenue; labor productivity to increase by 11–11.5% per year.
Logistics should be connected to transportation hubs and seaports, allowing businesses to participate more deeply in the chain from production and processing to distribution and exports.
Infrastructure investment therefore needs to be aligned with economic planning and the organization of economic space, ensuring that projects directly serve production areas, processing zones, logistics networks and markets.
Nguyễn Thị Sen, Chairwoman of the Provincial Business Association, said the opportunities created by the merger would matter only if they translated into practical business conditions.
A larger market, she said, would not be enough. Businesses still need affordable access to land, infrastructure, capital, human resources and markets, as well as clear information, transparent procedures and predictable processing times.
Land and administrative procedures remain major bottlenecks. Businesses seeking to invest need to know where planning is taking place, which land funds are available, what procedures are required and how long those procedures will take.
Sen called for a one-stop mechanism to guide businesses throughout the project cycle, alongside continued efforts to publish and digitize planning data, land funds and the progress of application processing.
Infrastructure should also be directly connected to production. She recommended prioritizing routes linking raw material areas, processing facilities, industrial parks, logistics centers and markets to reduce transportation times and logistics costs while expanding market access.
Businesses will be more willing to invest when they can clearly assess planning, procedures, infrastructure, markets and policy stability, she said.
Access to capital and markets is another concern, particularly for small and medium-sized enterprises.
Investment needs are growing in technology, factories, digital transformation and product quality, while some businesses struggle to meet collateral and credit documentation requirements.
These issues are also being addressed through the implementation of Resolution No. 68-NQ/TW, dated May 4, 2025, of the Politburo on private sector development.
The Provincial Party Standing Committee issued Plan No. 16-KH/TU on Aug. 21, 2025, to implement the resolution locally. The plan sets out eight groups of tasks, including improving the institutional framework, facilitating private-sector access to resources, promoting science and technology, innovation, digital and green transformation, and strengthening connections among businesses.
For businesses, these factors are closely linked. Clear planning supports site selection, connected infrastructure reduces costs, transparent procedures improve investment planning, while capital, human resources and market access determine whether businesses can implement and expand their operations.
Growth depends on business capacity
For Gia Lai, the process creates two parallel requirements: the State must continue building the foundations that the private sector cannot create on its own, while businesses must strengthen their capacity to operate in a broader economic space.
A larger economic area does not automatically produce greater competitiveness.
Opportunities will translate into results only if businesses improve management, technology, products, market access and their ability to participate in value chains.
The province therefore needs not simply more businesses, but enterprises capable of expanding, creating value and competing more deeply in the market.
During the first seven months of 2026, Gia Lai attracted 178 projects with total capital exceeding VND 167.185 trillion (about US$6.6 billion), while 2,366 new businesses were established, with registered capital nearly tripling from a year earlier.
The province aims to establish 7,000 new businesses in 2026, including 3,200 converted from household businesses and 3,800 newly attracted enterprises. The private sector is targeted to grow by 10–10.5%.
Thiên described the targets as ambitious but said the quality of newly established businesses was more important than their number.
“First and foremost, businesses must grow in mindset, not just in scale,” Thiên said. Companies that previously focused on provincial markets must now consider regional, national and international markets.
In agriculture in particular, he said businesses need to move from producing what they have to producing according to market demand.
Technology and management as growth drivers
Bidiphar provides an example of how technology and management can strengthen business capacity.
Phạm Thị Thanh Hương, General Director of Bình Định Pharmaceutical and Medical Equipment Joint Stock Company (Bidiphar), said science, technology and innovation are drivers of growth, while management provides the foundation for maintaining that capacity.
Bidiphar has invested in advanced technologies and gradually developed higher-value products.
The company produced injectable antibiotics in 1992 before expanding into amino acid and multivitamin infusion solutions, applying freeze-drying technology and investing in cancer drug production.
Alongside technological development, Bidiphar has implemented management systems and standards including ISO 9001, ISO/IEC 17025 and ISO 13485, while complying with GMP principles.
It has also deployed ERP-SAP, human resources management systems, DMS and Power BI, and gradually introduced artificial intelligence into management.
Hương said the objective was not to accumulate software but to turn data into a business resource. Connected and continuously updated information allows managers to monitor operations, identify trends earlier and make decisions based on data rather than relying mainly on experience.
This direction is also reflected in Gia Lai’s implementation of Resolution No. 57-NQ/TW, dated Dec. 22, 2024, of the Politburo on breakthroughs in science and technology, innovation and national digital transformation.
Plan No. 31-KH/TU, issued by the Provincial Party Standing Committee on Jan. 26, 2026, sets a target for the digital economy to contribute 18% of GRDP in 2026, while total factor productivity is expected to contribute 44% to growth.
The plan also calls for greater application of science and technology, innovation and digital transformation across sectors.
Agriculture at the center of value creation
Strengthening business capacity is closely tied to agriculture, a major source of export goods for Gia Lai.
In the first seven months of 2026, the province’s export turnover was estimated at US$2.354 billion, up 2.7% year-on-year, while imports reached US$654.58 million, up 15.4%.
Coffee alone generated about US$976.45 million, accounting for roughly 41.5% of the province’s total export turnover.
The figures highlight the importance of agricultural products to Gia Lai’s exports while underscoring the need to generate greater value from raw material areas.
One Project, Many Spillover Values
A processing project, once operational, not only produces the final product but can also stimulate many other economic activities.
According to Mr. Thái Như Hiệp—Chairman of the Members’ Council and General Director of Vĩnh Hiệp Co., Ltd., and Vice Chairman of the Vietnam Coffee and Cocoa Association—when the plant operates, requirements for raw material quality, production standards, and traceability are also raised.
This opens opportunities for expansion to suppliers, logistics, packaging, engineering, services, and human resources. Farmers have more outlets if they meet the chain’s requirements; suppliers gain new markets; and localities can form production and service links associated with the sector.
“A project, therefore, does not just create a factory but can form an entire economic ecosystem,” Mr. Hiệp shared.
Thái Như Hiệp, Chairman of the Members’ Council and General Director of Vĩnh Hiệp Co., Ltd. and Vice Chairman of the Vietnam Coffee and Cocoa Association, said agriculture still had significant potential, but high production volumes did not necessarily translate into high value.
Vietnam’s agro-forestry-fishery exports reached about US$70.09 billion in 2025, with coffee accounting for about US$8.6 billion, up 52.5% from the previous year.
The challenge is therefore not simply producing and exporting raw materials, but moving further into processing, branding and other higher-value stages.
Hiệp said the long-term goal should be to ensure that every ton of coffee generates more value before reaching consumers, requiring greater emphasis on deep processing, technology, branding, traceability and market expansion.
Vĩnh Hiệp is preparing a series of key projects with expected total investment of about VND 18.8 trillion (about US$740 million), including a deep-processing plant, a transshipment warehouse complex, an agricultural artificial intelligence research center and an experiential tourism center.
According to Hiệp, investment in processing can generate broader improvements across the value chain, from raw material production and standards to traceability, warehousing, logistics, packaging, branding and human resources.
At the local level, Gia Lai is also seeking to strengthen production and export management.
At a conference reviewing the province’s socio-economic performance during the first seven months of 2026, authorities called for continued development of concentrated raw material zones linked to processing companies, stronger connections between production, processing and consumption, and greater focus on planting-area codes, traceability, deep processing, brand development and market expansion.
The province has also launched a program to develop 1,000 pioneering enterprises during 2026–2030, targeting businesses with competitive capacity, innovation and the potential to lead their sectors.
For Hiệp, a leading enterprise is not simply one with high revenue. It is a company willing to invest where others have not, experiment with new technologies, enter new markets and establish new standards.
For Gia Lai businesses, the challenge now extends across the entire value chain, from raw material areas to factories and from products to markets. Improving quality and value at every stage will determine how deeply they can participate in the wider economy.