13 special economic zones of Vietnam: Phu Quoc pearl island from city to special economic zone

Phu Quoc Special Economic Zone belongs to An Giang province and will start operating from July 1, 2025.

Phu Quoc Special Zone has an area of over 575 km2 ^and a population of 157,629. From July 1, 2025, Mr. Le Quoc Anh (former Secretary of Phu Quoc City Party Committee) will be Secretary of the Party Committee of the special zone. Mr. Tran Minh Khoa (former Chairman of Phu Quoc City People's Committee) will be Chairman of the People's Committee of the special zone.

A corner of Phu Quoc special economic zone. PHOTO: NGO TRAN HAI AN

Hot land talk

In October 2004, the Government issued a project for the overall development of Phu Quoc Island, Kien Giang Province until 2010 and vision to 2020.

However, at the conference summarizing 20 years of implementing the project (held in April 2024), the Government had to admit that "the goals were basically achieved".

Vinpearl Safari Phu Quoc is a place that attracts many tourists when visiting the special zone. PHOTO: NGO TRAN HAI AN

Notice No. 189/TB-VPCP dated April 27, 2024 of the Government Office on the Prime Minister's Conclusion at the conference summarizing the above project, stated: "Phu Quoc's development is not commensurate with its potential and advantages; it is developing rapidly, with many unsustainable factors (clean water, electricity, telecommunications waves, environmental sanitation, no factories, waste and wastewater treatment centers suitable for the population size...).

Economic and technical infrastructure is not yet synchronized. Management of forests, land and resources is still inadequate, especially in terms of project implementation, construction order, urban order, environment, compensation, resettlement support, and complaint settlement. The lives of a part of the population are still facing difficulties"…

The problem of "hot development" of Phu Quoc started in 2004 and the period 2013 - 2018 really exploded when many investors came to build and develop commercial services and especially tourism, causing land prices to skyrocket.

According to statistics, up to 80% of investors from Hanoi buy land in Phu Quoc. The price of coastal land in Hon Thom commune in 2015, from several tens of millions of VND to hundreds of millions of VND/ha.

Phu Quoc Special Zone has beautiful white sand beaches. PHOTO: NGO TRAN HAI AN

During 2017-2019, with the news that Phu Quoc was about to become a special economic zone, investors from Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City rushed to buy land, causing transfer prices to increase day by day.

There are plots of land that are bought and sold 4-5 times a day, with prices rising from 5 billion to 20 billion VND/acre. In particular, people flock to alleys to buy land, regardless of whether it is planned land or has all the necessary documents.

Phu Quoc night market. PHOTO: NGO TRAN HAI AN

This has led to chaos in encroachment on forests, forest land, state-managed land, and illegal subdivision, sale, and construction on the island.

There are areas at risk of hotspots, such as: Ganh Dau, Chuong Vich (Ganh Dau commune); Duong Bao (Duong To commune); Rach Ham, Cay Sao (Ham Ninh commune) and An Thoi ward...

Smiles of Phu Quoc people. PHOTO: NGO TRAN HAI AN

During the French colonial period, Phu Quoc was a district of Ha Tien province. After 1956, Phu Quoc district belonged to Kien Giang province. After April 30, 1975, Phu Quoc was a district of Kien Giang province (Duong Dong town and 3 communes of Cua Duong, Duong To, Ham Ninh).

Phu Quoc in the 1990s. PHOTO: BKG

On February 17, 1979, the Government Council rearranged the administrative boundaries of 3 communes in Phu Quoc district. At the end of April 1993, Tho Chau commune was established on the basis of Tho Chau archipelago, and Bai Thom commune was established. In mid-March 1997, Ganh Dau commune was established. In early 2023, An Thoi commune was dissolved to establish An Thoi town and Hon Thom commune.

On September 17, 2014, the Government recognized Phu Quoc island district as a class 2 urban area.

On December 9, 2020, the National Assembly issued a resolution to establish Phu Quoc City in Kien Giang province on the basis of the natural population area of Phu Quoc district.

On January 21, 2025, the Prime Minister issued a decision to recognize Phu Quoc city as a class 1 urban area, directly under Kien Giang province.

An Thoi fishing village, Phu Quoc. PHOTO: MAI THANH

In June 2025, the National Assembly Standing Committee issued Resolution No. 1654/NQ-UBTVQH15 on the arrangement of commune-level administrative units of An Giang province.

Accordingly, the entire natural area and population of Duong Dong ward, An Thoi ward and the communes of Duong To, Ham Ninh, Cua Duong, Bai Thom, Ganh Dau, Cua Can become Phu Quoc special zone, belonging to An Giang province.

Sun Premier Village Primavera Resort in Phu Quoc special zone, also known as Mediterranean town. PHOTO: NGO TRAN HAI AN

In June 2022, Kien Giang province established a special task force to inspect and handle violations of the law on land, forestry and construction in Phu Quoc city, and discovered 685 hectares of state-managed land and forest land being violated (1,744 cases), but so far the city has only recovered more than 198 hectares.

Phu Quoc Special Economic Zone with the strengths of "blue sea, white sand, yellow sunshine". PHOTO: NGO TRAN HAI AN

In particular, by the end of 2024, Phu Quoc currently has about 420 subdivisions, more than 8,707 plots, over 900 houses, an area of about 195 hectares that have not been approved by competent authorities for project investment policies, infrastructure construction permits, etc., and the locality is handling violations according to legal regulations.

In 2024, the People's Council of Kien Giang Province (old) warned: "In the past 6 months, the province has had 537 cases of social order crimes. The hottest is the situation of fraud and bribery occurring in Phu Quoc City".

Special economic zone for tourism only

In recent times, Phu Quoc has become an attractive destination for international tourists due to its many beautiful pristine beaches, warm weather, especially in winter, developed tourism infrastructure, with a transportation system, hotels, high-class resorts, etc.

Fireworks display at Sun Premier Village Primavera resort, Phu Quoc special zone. PHOTO: NGO TRAN HAI AN

In the first 6 months of 2025, Phu Quoc is estimated to welcome nearly 4.5 million visitors (up 33.3% over the same period, reaching 61.1% of the yearly plan), nearly 900,000 international visitors (up 76.7% over the same period, reaching 75% of the yearly plan), total revenue reaching about 21,588 billion VND (up 92.6% over the same period, reaching 91.9% of the yearly plan).

Some resorts in Phu Quoc special economic zone. PHOTO: NGO TRAN HAI AN

Phu Quoc's global tourism standards are lower than Da Nang's

Mr. Bui Quoc Thai, Director of An Giang Department of Tourism, emphasized this at the consultation workshop on the project to build Phu Quoc into a service center, high-quality eco-tourism, sea and island tourism of national and international stature (June 6, 2025).

Mr. Thai clearly stated: Phu Quoc is facing challenges in infrastructure and environment. Phu Quoc's global tourism standard only reaches 13%, lower than Da Nang (30%).

Phu Quoc from above. PHOTO: MAI THANH HAI

When developing the project, Kien Giang (old) had a strategy to position Phu Quoc as a high-quality eco-tourism center, ensuring harmonious tourism development.

Phu Quoc is currently focusing on attracting investors through the public-private partnership (PPP) model in the fields of renewable energy, high-end tourism and smart infrastructure, implementing strategic projects to serve APEC 2027.

An Thoi Port, Phu Quoc Special Economic Zone. PHOTO: MAI THANH

This project will help about 17,500 households in Phu Quoc special economic zone benefit from jobs, homestay development and tourism services, with the goal of achieving an average income of 150 million VND/household/year by 2030.

Sunset Town Phu Quoc is the name Sun Group gave to the project complex with Mediterranean architectural inspiration, built in An Thoi, Phu Quoc special zone. PHOTO: NGO TRAN HAI AN

With the selection as the venue for APEC 2027, Phu Quoc is focusing on promoting the image of Phu Quoc tourism as a safe and friendly destination.

Architectural complexes built by Sun Group in Phu Quoc special zone. PHOTO: NGO TRAN HAI AN

The locality is currently expanding Phu Quoc International Airport to reach a capacity of 10 million passengers by 2030 (2.5 million international passengers), with revenue of VND50,000 billion; by 2045, welcoming 15 million passengers (3 million international passengers), with revenue of VND75,000 billion; developing a seaport capable of receiving ships of 4,000 passengers.