Đà Nẵng has built its reputation on beaches, bridges and resorts. Now Vietnam's central coastal city is trying to add another string to its bow: innovation. Officials have unveiled a 2026–30 plan to turn the city into a national start-up and technology hub, and the details are surprisingly ambitious.
The headline targets: 500 start-ups by 2030, a fifth of them with foreign investors, and at least one homegrown unicorn — a company valued at US$1 billion. The city wants to lure eight to ten venture capital firms with a combined $250–300 million to back around 100 start-ups, and to break into the world's top 20 start-up ecosystems. Funding of VNĐ171 billion (about $6.8 million) has been earmarked, with more than half expected from private sources rather than the state.
There's something in it for foreign professionals too. Đà Nẵng says it will offer visa exemptions and work permits to eligible experts and consultants working on digital start-up projects, semiconductors and other high-tech fields — a notable loosening for a city better known for holiday visas. Officials describe the pitch as a full-service environment for global tech investors who want to live in the city long term, not just set up an office.
The physical anchor is a new Sơn Trà Innovation Zone, based at the Golden Bay Hotel on the Hàn River, where firms will demo work in AI, robotics and digital transformation. Planners also want the peninsula to serve as a live testing ground for drone logistics and autonomous vehicles. A professor from South Korea's Kyonggi University has flagged the area's resemblance to Busan's Innopolis district — coastal, port-linked, touristy and green — and suggested Đà Nẵng copy that R&D-cluster playbook. The zone will be tied into the city's new Free Trade Zone and International Financial Centre.
International tie-ups are stacking up fast. This year alone the city has signed deals with blockchain firm TRON Tech, UAE-based incubator NQuBator (opening doors to Middle East partners), Singapore's Quest Ventures and Vietnam's National Innovation Institute on a start-up acceleration programme, and — most eye-catching of all — a Stanford University cooperation on training for semiconductors and AI. Four US-based firms and family offices signed memoranda last month covering AI, chips, robotics and cybersecurity. Ten local universities have just launched semiconductor courses for 1,000 students.
Why should a traveller care? Because this is the city you'll actually be visiting. The tech push means better flight connections and infrastructure, a growing calendar of festivals and showcases such as the Sơn Trà Innovation Festival where visitors can try VR and other gadgets, and a young, international crowd adding cafés, co-working spaces and nightlife to the beach-brochure city. For digital nomads and remote workers, the visa signals are worth watching closely — Đà Nẵng is openly competing to attract exactly that kind of long-stay visitor. And if the drone logistics trials go ahead, you may one day watch your hotel order fly in over the Hàn River.
Story first reported by Vietnam News Life.
