Nam Dinh
Red River Delta province with 14.5% industrial growth (2024), attracting 73 new investment projects including the $4.2B Xuan Thien Green Steel Complex while expanding textile and electronics manufacturing.
Nam Dinh exists because the Red River Delta's southeastern reach created flat, well-watered land that supported first intensive rice cultivation, then textile mills, and now industrial parks hosting global manufacturers. In 2024, industrial production grew 14.5% as the province attracted 73 new investment projects—41 domestic and 32 FDI—with registered capital of VND 9.303 billion plus $252.9 million.
The formation story is textile tradition evolving into diversified manufacturing. Nam Dinh's weaving heritage dates to the Nguyen Dynasty; French colonists established modern textile mills; post-doi moi, the province became a leading destination for textile and garment FDI. Today Toray's Top Textiles Factory anchors the Rang Dong Textile Industrial Park, while Quanta Computer and Sunrise Material High-Tech factories represent manufacturing diversification.
The investment pipeline signals ambition beyond textiles. VSIP Nam Dinh (Hai Long Industrial Park Phase I) in Giao Thuy district brings Vietnam-Singapore Industrial Park expertise to the province. Xuan Thien Group's $4.2 billion Green Steel Project Complex in Nghia Hung could transform the coastal economy. New parks at Xuan Kien (Xuan Truong), Nam Hong (Nam Truc), and Minh Chau (Nghia Hung) expand industrial capacity.
The province prioritizes "new generation industries"—electronics, semiconductors, AI, hydrogen—while developing supporting industries to link FDI enterprises with domestic suppliers. Xuan Tien Industrial Park in Xuan Truong District has attracted major food processing and consumer goods projects, creating thousands of jobs.
By 2026, Nam Dinh aims to leverage its position in Vietnam's $37 billion textile FDI ecosystem while upgrading toward higher-value manufacturing. The province that wove cloth for emperors now weaves itself into global supply chains. Whether textile heritage enables or constrains that transition will determine if Nam Dinh becomes a Red River Delta industrial hub or remains a secondary textile center.