Vietnam’s Ministry of Science and Technology has announced that a sandbox for uncrewed airspace operations and management has been implemented in the province of Dien Bien.
The low-altitude economy is emerging as a new growth engine for Vietnam and the ministry says that the real economic value lies in the application ecosystem and accompanying services. But, as with many other national ambitions, technology may be ahead of policy.
“If we wait for the legal system to be fully perfected before implementation, Vietnam may miss out on development opportunities,” the ministry said on 31 July. “Conversely, if we implement it on a large scale without fully assessing the risks, we will not be able to guarantee national defence, security, flight safety or the interests of society.”
Consequently, the sandbox mechanism was chosen as a tool to address this problem. Through testing within a controlled scope, timescale and conditions, regulatory agencies can both assess practical effectiveness and gradually refine policies.
Approximately 6,000 flights will be deployed during the trial period, which runs until the end of May 2027. Focus areas will include agriculture, medical logistics and public services such as surveying, forest management, resource monitoring and early warning of natural disasters. The test areas, flight corridors and application fields have been identified.
Dien Bien is a mountainous province with fragmented terrain and high logistics costs; many remote areas still face difficulties in accessing healthcare services, transporting goods and supplying production materials. The province shares borders with Laos and China, has a large forest area, and frequently faces the need for resource monitoring, forest fire prevention and control, and rescue operations.
Nguyen Van Thuat, deputy director general of the Department of Digital Economy and Digital Society, said the Sandbox is more than just a regional pilot. “The greatest significance of the Project is the shift in the mindset of state management, from management based on assumptions to management based on data; from waiting for institutional perfection before implementation to allowing controlled experimentation to both promote innovation and refine policies in practice.”
The sandbox will also provide practical data on the socio-economic effectiveness, safety levels, operational capabilities and scalability of uncrewed airspace operation in mountainous areas. This data is expected to serve as a basis for research and proposals to improve mechanisms and policies for developing the low-altitude economy in the future.
Looking beyond Dien Bien, the ministry says nearly 10 localities nationwide have expressed interest in adopting similar projects.
For more information
Ministry of Science and Technology – Vietnam
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