1. Natural resources

- Forest resources: The total forestry land is 972,910.52 hectares, of which forests for production is 501,634.85 hectares, protected forests comprise 302,068.47 ha, special-use forests account for 169,207.2 hectares. The wood reserve is about 50 million m3. More than 1,000 million bamboos are a good resource of raw materials for developing forest-based industries.

Fauna and flora ecosystem: Nghe An forests have a diversified ecosystem with 1,513 kinds of higher class plants, 241 kinds of animals, which mainly live in the area of Biosphere Reserve Zone such as Pu Mat National Park, nature conservation zones: Pu Huong, Pu Hoat....These are big potentials for development of ecological, discovering, adventurous tourism.

Western Nghe An Biosphere Reserve Zone of Vietnam including Pu Mat National Park with area of 93,523 hectares and the two nature conservation zones Pu Huong (41,127 ha) and Pu Hoat (over 34,723 hectares) is the largest biosphere reserve zone of the Southeast Asia with various and plentiful rare flora and fauna species, which is potential for development of ecological tourism.

System of Caves: Nghe An has numerous limestone mountains with plentiful caves. Many famous caves have spectacular tectonics such as Tham Om cave, Bua cave, Tham Chang cave, Co Ngun cave (Quy Chau), Poòng cave (Quy Hop)….

- Marine resources: Nghe An has a 82 km coastline with a water surface area of 4,230 nautical square miles, 6 estuaries, over 3,000 hectares of saline, brackish water, 12,000 hectares of fresh, salty water, suitable for fishery and seafood processing development. Nghe An has developed 900-1000 hectares of brackish water for salt production with about 100,000 tons of salt/ year. There are plenty of beautiful and well-known beaches in Nghe An such as Cua Lo, Nghi Thiet, Dien Thanh, Quynh Phuong and two big islands of Hon Ngu and Hon Mat, which is a big potential for development of marine tourism.

- Mineral resources: Nghe An has a wide range of mineral mines; especially, minerals to produce building materials including about 4 billion tons of limestone for production of cement, over 900 million tons of white limestone, about 1.2 billion tons of clay for cement material, about 5 million cubic meters of clay for premium pottery and porcelain production, 500 million cubic meters of construction stones, 260 million cubic meters of basalt rocks, 150 million cubic meters of Granite, 300 million cubic meters of marble, etc. The wide range and variety of the above mentioned minerals is focally distributed. Main materials and additive materials are closely located, in good quality, near road system, so it is very potential and convenient for production of cement, pottery/porcelain, fine rock powder, tiling bricks, handicrafts, etc.

2. Humanity resources

The tradition of struggle for national liberation, natural and social conquest has made Nghe An a land rich in cultural and historical experience, treasure of architectural culture, and distinctive behavioural culture. Numerous historical heritages and relics bear the names of leaders, heroes, historical celebrities, scholars, scientists, cultural celebrities of Vietnam. At present, over 1,000 heritages and relics have been recognized in Nghe An, of which 125 units are acknowledged as national level, 109 recognized as provincial level; especially, the Kim Lien – Nam Dan heritage associated with the childhood of president Ho Chi Minh, the hero of national liberation and the world cultural celebrity has been recognized by the Government as a special national heritage of culture and history.

Nghe An has 24 well-known festivals associated with community life. They have nostalgic echoes of folk belief, reflecting local residents’ life and wishes. Festivals in Nghe An are organized all year round, but more at the beginning of the lunar year on the occasions of crop harvests, traditional lunar New Year, celebrations of regions and ethnics, memorial celebration to commemorate heroes who have protected and constructed the fatherland. Some festivals are attractive to numerous visitors such as Con Temple, Cuong Temple, Mai King Temple, Hoang Muoi Temple, Bua Cave, etc.

In addition to its traditional festivals, Nghe An has a variety of products and old-aged traditional handicrafts production villages associated with habits, customs, spirit, and community life activities of villagers. Traditional villages of handicraft have been preserved from generation to generation such as: bamboo knitting village in Xuan Nha (Hung Nguyen), blacksmith village in Nho Lam, village of stone sculpture handicraft in Dien Binh (Dien Chau), textile village in Phuong Lich (Dien Chau), brocading, embroidery handicraft of Thai and H’Mong ethnic minorities, rattan and bamboo handicraft in Nghi Loc, etc.

Furthermore, Nghe An has a variety of valuable intangible cultural heritages such as folklore, folk music, folk dance, customs, practices, festival, gastronomy culture, traditional villages of handicraft, etc. Especially, the folk song Vi Dam Xu Nghe is in the process of applying for UNESCO recognition of national intangible cultural heritage. These are extremely valuable resources of tourist value.

In short, the abundant and varied natural resources combined with the local human culture resources make Nghe An an attractive destination for domestic and foreign visitors.