According to the development plan, the Red River Delta, comprising Hanoi, Haiphong, Hai Duong, Bac Ninh, Vinh Phuc, Hung Yen, Thai Binh, Nam Dinh, Ha Nam, Ninh Binh and Quang Ninh provinces, will be an eastern gateway to the world and be a direct connection between the two dynamic economic areas of Southeast and Northeast Asia.

The region will serve as a springboard for the country to make "strategic breakthroughs" in socio-economic development, realize the economic restructuring plan, and renew the economic growth model.

Priority will be given to developing high quality transportation, consulting, design, finance and banking services. Innovation in telecommunications, education, training and health care will be encouraged, while trade, tourism, and science and technology will be promoted.

Growth for the service sector is targeted at 10 percent annually during the 2011-2020 period.

The region also strives to raise the per capita income to US$2,500 by 2015 and to around US$4,180 by 2020, which is 1.3 times the national average.

Focus will be placed on upgrading and modernizing the railway system towards forming high-speed rail routes from Hanoi to Ho Chi Minh City, Lao Cai, Haiphong and Lang Son.

It is hoped that 35 percent of Hanoi residents, as well as 15-20 percent of people in Haiphong and similar urban areas in the region, will be using public transportation regularly by 2020.