Phú Quốc Island has been approved to become an island city. — Photo vietnamnet.vn

 
KIÊN GIANG —The Prime Minister has just approved the General Planning Project of Phú Quốc City until 2040, aiming to develop the popular resort island in southern Việt Nam into a city.

The scope of planning is the entire natural land area of 589.27sq.km of Phú Quốc City, including the two wards of Dương Đông and An Thới and the seven communes of Cửa Cạn, Gành Dầu, Bãi Thơm, Hàm Ninh, Cửa Dương, Dương Tơ, Thổ Châu.

Dương Đông ward has an area of 15.6sq.km, and had a population of 44,607 in 2020, the most crowded ward on the island. This is the hub of the island, and home to most of the island's administrative agencies.

Phú Quốc Island aims to be an attractive urban area, a tourism service centre, integrated sea-island ecology, trade and service centre, and health care centre.

Phú Quốc focuses on developing technical infrastructure of transportation, ground elevation and rainwater drainage, water supply, energy supply, waste treatment, and telecommunications.

In the field of transportation, upgrading and renovating Phú Quốc International Airport will be a priority so that by 2030 it will have a capacity of 10 million passengers per year, and after 2030 it will be able to receive 18 million passengers per year.

The city will also carry out environmental protection solutions for the northern and northeastern areas of the island to preserve biodiversity, protect rare species, restore the forest ecosystem of Phú Quốc National Park, and protect the seagrass ecosystem, rare marine animals and coral reefs.

Blessed with white sand, turquoise beaches and balmy weather nearly year-round, and with two-thirds of the island covered in tropical forests, Phú Quốc is a tourism paradise.

It is the largest island in the country at 590,000sq.km, almost the same size as the city-state Singapore, and is known for white-sand beaches and resorts, mostly located along its palm-lined southwestern coast. 

Phú Quốc National Park, with mountains, dense tropical jungle, hiking trails and wildlife, covers more than half of the island. — VNS