Phan The Duc, Raffles Institution

Summary

This article analyzes the prospects for green-oriented development of the low-altitude economy in Vietnam in the context of green transition, digital transformation, and institutional innovation during the 2021-2026 period. The study clarifies that the low-altitude economy is not merely a field involving the application of unmanned aerial vehicles or short-distance air transport, but rather a new economic ecosystem based on the organized exploitation of low-altitude airspace, integrated with digital technologies, data, airspace governance, and application services. The article shows that Vietnam has established important foundational conditions for this field through the 2020 Law on Environmental Protection, the Green Growth Strategy, Resolution No. 57-NQ/TW, the 2024 Law on People’s Air Defense, Decree No. 198/2025/ND-CP, Decree No. 288/2025/ND-CP, the 2025 Law on Science, Technology and Innovation, together with mechanisms promoting private-sector development and innovation. However, green-oriented development of the low-altitude economy in Vietnam still faces five major bottlenecks: the absence of a dedicated national strategy; institutional fragmentation; limitations in digital infrastructure and low-altitude airspace infrastructure; the lack of sector-specific environmental criteria; and the absence of pilot mechanisms linked to localities, enterprises, and operational data. The article’s novel contribution lies in proposing a fourfold integration analytical framework, including airspace integration, environmental integration, data integration, and policy integration. On that basis, it recommends a roadmap for developing a green low-altitude economy in Vietnam through controlled pilot implementation based on public applications, selective logistics, precision agriculture, and AI-enabled environmental monitoring.

Keywords: Low-altitude economy; Green development; Environment; UAV; Public policy; Vietnam

Abstract

This article examines the prospects for developing a green low-altitude economy in Vietnam within the broader context of green transition, digital transformation, and institutional innovation during 2021-2026. The study argues that the low-altitude economy should not be narrowly understood as drone deployment or short-range aerial transport. Instead, it constitutes an emerging economic ecosystem based on the organized use of low-altitude airspace, integrating digital technologies, data infrastructures, airspace governance, and application-oriented services. The article finds that Vietnam has established several foundational conditions for this sector through the Law on Environmental Protection 2020, the National Green Growth Strategy, Resolution 57-NQ/TW, the 2024 Law on People’s Air Defense, Decree 198/2025/ND-CP, Decree 288/2025/ND-CP, the 2025 Law on Science, Technology and Innovation, and new mechanisms supporting private sector development and innovation. However, green-oriented low-altitude economic development in Vietnam still faces five major bottlenecks: the absence of a dedicated national strategy, fragmented governance, underdeveloped digital and low-altitude infrastructure, lack of sector-specific environmental criteria, and limited pilot mechanisms linking localities, enterprises, and operational data. The article’s main contribution is a fourfold integration analytical framework encompassing airspace integration, environmental integration, data integration, and policy integration. Based on this framework, the paper proposes a policy roadmap for Vietnam centered on controlled pilot schemes, selective logistics, precision agriculture, public service applications, and AI-enabled environmental monitoring.

Keywords: low-altitude economy; green development; environment; UAV; public policy; Vietnam

JEL Codes: O13, O25, O38, Q56, R58

1. Introduction

In recent years, the low-altitude economy has emerged as a new growth space in the global economy, especially as UAV technologies, eVTOL, unmanned traffic management, artificial intelligence, sensors, and digital mapping have developed rapidly. At the international level, ICAO has strongly promoted the governance frameworks for UTM and AAM as the foundation for the controlled expansion of low-altitude flight activities. At the same time, many studies have shown that this field can generate social benefits, logistics efficiency, industrial innovation, and improvements in public services if infrastructure and institutions are designed appropriately (ICAO, 2022; Al-Rubaye et al., 2023; Dulia et al., 2021). However, the academic literature also indicates that the low-altitude economy is not automatically green; its environmental impacts depend heavily on the type of vehicle, the intensity of operations, the electricity source, battery life cycle, noise, supporting infrastructure, and the manner in which it is integrated with existing ground transportation systems (Park et al., 2018; Liu et al., 2025; Raza et al., 2025).

For Vietnam, this issue has become particularly noteworthy since 2024, when innovation, digital transformation, green growth, and new growth drivers began to be emphasized more strongly in governance thinking. Resolution No. 57-NQ/TW dated 22 December 2024 of the Politburo identified science, technology, innovation, and national digital transformation as the leading strategic breakthrough; Vietnamese Government subsequently issued Resolution No. 03/NQ-CP dated 9 January 2025 to implement this Resolution, while continuing to update its action program in 2026. At the same time, Vietnam promulgated the 2024 Law on People’s Air Defense, Decree No. 198/2025/ND-CP, and Decree No. 288/2025/ND-CP, thereby creating a new legal framework for the management of unmanned aircraft and other flying vehicles. Alongside these were the 2025 Law on Science, Technology and Innovation, Resolution No. 193/2025/QH15 on breakthrough mechanisms for science, technology, innovation, and digital transformation, as well as Resolution No. 198/2025/QH15 and Decree No. 20/2026/ND-CP on special mechanisms for private-sector development. These developments suggest that the low-altitude economy in Vietnam is shifting from the realm of isolated technological experimentation toward a problem of institutionalization, marketization, and policy integration.

The analysis and assessment show that existing studies have mainly focused on drone technology, flight management, or growth opportunities, whereas the relationship between the low-altitude economy, the environment, and the institutional design of green development in Vietnam has not yet been systematically explained. By 2026, Vietnam’s official documents had already established frameworks for the management of UAVs, green growth, logistics, AI, and innovation, but no dedicated national strategy on the low-altitude economy was evident in the system of government documents. Instead, this field has only been mentioned as a new growth driver, and controlled pilot proposals have begun to appear at the local level, such as in Dien Bien. Accordingly, several questions arise: (i) how should a green-oriented low-altitude economy be understood under Vietnam’s conditions; (ii) to what extent have the current situation and the foundational conditions of the 2021-2025 period been formed; and (iii) what policy framework does Vietnam need in order to develop this field in a green, safe, and high-value-added direction from 2026 onward?

This article makes three main contributions. First, it clarifies the conceptualization of the low-altitude economy from the perspective of economics, management, and the environment, rather than viewing it solely as a technical field of aviation. Second, it proposes a fourfold integration analytical framework consisting of airspace integration, environmental integration, data integration, and policy integration, as a basis for evaluating Vietnam’s capacity to develop a green low-altitude economy. Third, it builds on international experience and Vietnam’s new legal context.

2. Theoretical foundation and literature review

2.1. Theoretical foundation of the low-altitude economy

In modern academic understanding, the low-altitude economy should not be narrowed to drone flights or short-distance air transport, but should instead be viewed as an economic ecosystem based on the organized exploitation of low-altitude airspace together with digital infrastructure, operational infrastructure, and the related application industries that emerge from it. At the end of 2025, China’s National Development and Reform Commission issued the Statistical Classification of the Low-Altitude Economy and Core Industries of the Low-Altitude Economy (pilot), which identified four major component groups: low-altitude manufacturing, low-altitude operation and exploitation, low-altitude infrastructure and information services, and low-altitude supporting services. This approach carries important methodological significance because it allows the low-altitude economy to be regarded as a comprehensive economic formation with a complete value chain, rather than as a disconnected collection of low-altitude flight applications.

When associated with green development, the low-altitude economy must be assessed on two simultaneous dimensions. On the first dimension, it can generate environmental benefits through precision agriculture, reduced input waste, real-time environmental monitoring, route optimization, reduced logistics losses in hard-to-reach areas, and rapid response to disasters, forest fires, pollution, or ecological incidents. Studies on drones in agriculture and environmental monitoring indicate that UAVs improve precision in the use of pesticides, fertilizers, irrigation water, and monitoring data, thereby reducing environmental externalities and improving resource efficiency (Guebsi et al., 2024; Arza-García et al., 2023; Westbrooke et al., 2023). On the second dimension, however, this field can also create new environmental risks related to life-cycle emissions, noise, batteries, electronic waste, ecological disturbance, and pressure on energy infrastructure if it expands without green criteria. Therefore, an environmentally friendly low-altitude economy does not simply mean deploying more drones; rather, it means development within a framework of life-cycle assessment, noise standards, clean electricity, flight-corridor planning, and data and social-risk control.

To date, one stream of research has focused on the socio-economic benefits and feasibility of AAM/UAV. Dulia et al. (2021) show that AAM can deliver substantial benefits to logistics, healthcare, agriculture, and infrastructure inspection if integrated effectively. Bridgelall (2024) and Al-Rubaye et al. (2023) emphasize that AAM can enhance operational efficiency, shorten travel time, increase spatial accessibility, and open up new service models, but these benefits depend on the maturity of the infrastructure-connectivity-management ecosystem. Meanwhile, ICAO considers UTM to be a foundational condition for ensuring the safety and scalability of unmanned flight operations in congested airspace.

Another stream of research has examined environmental impacts in greater depth. Park et al. (2018) show that the emission benefits of drone delivery depend heavily on the urban-rural context, parcel size, and the type of alternative ground transport. Liu et al. (2025) indicate that electric eVTOLs are not necessarily superior in emissions per passenger-kilometer compared with ground electric vehicles if battery technology and the electricity mix are not sufficiently clean. Recent reviews of agricultural spraying drones also point to great potential for saving water and chemicals and reducing toxic exposure, while emphasizing the need for operational standards to limit drift, battery consumption, and secondary impacts on ecosystems (Ramteke et al., 2025; Talaeizadeh et al., 2025). This reinforces an important conclusion: the environmental impact of the low-altitude economy cannot be assessed only at the stage of direct operation, but must cover the entire technology life cycle.

At the same time, some studies focus on risk governance, noise, and social acceptance. Recent research emphasizes that eVTOL/UAV noise may become a major barrier in both urban environments and quiet rural areas; social acceptance depends not only on absolute decibel levels but also on background sound, flight frequency, and perceived fairness in the distribution of benefits and costs (Smith, 2024; Woodcock et al., 2025; Alabi, 2025). Therefore, green development of the low-altitude economy must encompass environmental justice and social consensus, rather than merely optimizing revenue or the number of flights.

2.2. Research gaps and the analytical framework

From the above review, three gaps can be identified. First, international research is already quite rich in technology, operations, and localized environmental impacts, but there are still relatively few studies analyzing the low-altitude economy as an issue linking green growth, innovation institutions, and public policy in emerging economies. Second, in the case of Vietnam, there has been almost no integrated research combining the new legal framework on UAVs, the green growth strategy, and mechanisms for promoting innovation after Resolution No. 57-NQ/TW. Third, current studies tend either to be technically oriented or to remain at the level of general policy, while lacking an intermediate framework for evaluating the capacity to develop a green low-altitude economy. Therefore, this article proposes a fourfold integration framework. Airspace integration refers to the synchronization of planning, licensing, and flight operations management. Environmental integration refers to the incorporation of emission standards, noise, batteries, ecological data, and environmental impact assessment. Data integration refers to the linkage among AI, digital maps, meteorology, monitoring, and vehicle identification. Policy integration refers to the coordination among industrial policy, logistics, agriculture, environment, science and technology, and pilot mechanisms. This is the central analytical framework of the article.

3. Research methodology

This article employs a qualitative research approach based on policy analysis and the synthesis of secondary materials. Data sources include four groups: (i) official legal and policy documents of Vietnam for the 2021-2026 period; (ii) international guidance documents and standards of ICAO; (iii) international scientific studies related to AAM, UTM, drone logistics, precision agriculture, noise, and environmental assessment; and (iv) selected policy-practice information from state agencies and official policy media in order to reflect implementation developments in Vietnam. The study combines normative document analysis, policy comparison, deduction-induction, and critical synthesis. It identifies Vietnam’s foundational documents related to green development, environment, AI, logistics, innovation, the private economy, and UAV management. It then compares these documents with the governance logic of UTM/AAM and with international evidence on environmental benefits and risks.

4. The current state of green-oriented low-altitude economic development in Vietnam during 2021-2025

4.1. Development context

The 2021-2025 period witnessed a significant shift in Vietnam’s development thinking. The National Green Growth Strategy for 2021-2030, with a vision to 2050, under Decision No. 1658/QD-TTg, identified a development orientation based on greening economic sectors, innovating the growth model, and promoting sustainable consumption. The 2020 Law on Environmental Protection, effective from 1 January 2022, together with Decree No. 06/2022/ND-CP and its amendments in 2025-2026, further improved instruments for reducing greenhouse gas emissions, protecting the ozone layer, controlling environmental impacts, and promoting the carbon market mechanism. In other words, before the low-altitude economy began to be mentioned as a new growth driver, Vietnam had already formed a green institutional infrastructure that serves as a foundation for any new sector wishing to develop in an environmentally friendly direction.

At the same time, the Vietnamese economy in late 2024-2025 achieved a relatively high pace of recovery and growth. According to statistics released in early January 2026, GDP in 2025 increased by 8.02%, GDP per capita reached USD 5,026, and the share of the digital economy in 2024 reached approximately 18.3% of GDP, with a target of about 20% in 2025. These figures do not directly equate to the development of the low-altitude economy, but they show that Vietnam is at a favorable moment to experiment with new economic sectors based on data, AI, smart logistics, and automation technology. It is precisely this convergence of high growth, the digital economy, green transition, and institutional innovation that has created a policy window for the low-altitude economy in Vietnam.

4.2. The formation of foundational conditions for the low-altitude economy in Vietnam

The most important foundational condition is the transformation of the legal framework related to low-altitude airspace. The 2024 Law on People’s Air Defense and Decree No. 198/2025/ND-CP provide a new legal basis for the organization and operation of people’s air defense, including issues related to airspace management, force coordination, and the assurance of security and safety. In particular, Decree No. 288/2025/ND-CP on the management of unmanned aircraft and other flying vehicles established more clearly the conditions for registration, operation, use, licensing, and management. From the perspective of institutional economics, this is a very important shift: a market can only emerge when rights of exploitation, responsibilities, and risks are more clearly defined. However, the current regulatory system still leans more toward ensuring security, safety, and administrative order than toward promoting sectoral development according to the logic of industry, environment, and the market.

The second foundational condition is the framework for promoting science, technology, and innovation. Resolution No. 57-NQ/TW, Resolution No. 03/NQ-CP, Resolution No. 193/2025/QH15, the 2025 Law on Science, Technology and Innovation, and guiding decrees on finance, investment, the innovation ecosystem, and the National Technology Innovation Fund in 2025-2026 create more favorable mechanisms for technological experimentation, commercialization, support for innovative enterprises, and investment in core technologies. For the low-altitude economy, this is particularly important, because the highest value-added in this field lies not in simple device assembly, but in software, AI, sensors, flight-management platforms, data, and system integration.

The third foundational condition is the rise of practical applications directly related to the environment. In agriculture, by the end of 2024, the number of agricultural drones in Vietnam had exceeded 6,000, mainly concentrated in the Mekong Delta; official sources also indicate that UAVs are being used for spraying, crop monitoring, and the organization of concentrated agricultural services. In environmental monitoring, ecological management, search and rescue, and infrastructure inspection, many experimental and applied activities have emerged, including in UAV innovation competitions in 2025. This shows that although Vietnam’s low-altitude economy is not yet large in statistical scale, it has already developed important application seeds, especially in areas where environmental value and public-service value coexist alongside economic value.

4.3. The actual state of environmentally friendly development

On the positive side, UAV applications in agriculture provide the clearest evidence of the potential environmental friendliness of the low-altitude economy in Vietnam. On the one hand, UAVs enable precision spraying, reduce direct exposure of workers to chemicals, limit crop damage caused by trampling, shorten processing time, and may help reduce water use and plant protection chemicals if processes are optimized. On the other hand, in the context of Vietnam’s still fragmented agricultural production, and as the demand for service-based and digitalized production increases, drone service-team models can diffuse technology without forcing each farming household to invest in its own equipment. International experience in precision agriculture also indicates that drones are an important component of an ecosystem for green cultivation and more efficient resource governance.

In the field of logistics and spatial connectivity, the green potential of the low-altitude economy in Vietnam lies in its ability to reduce the cost of access to remote, mountainous, island, and hard-to-reach areas, or to support time-sensitive tasks such as emergency healthcare, infrastructure-fault inspection, and specialized transport. Vietnam’s Logistics Services Development Strategy for 2025-2035, with a vision to 2050, shows that the State is approaching logistics in the direction of high technology, digital transformation, and supply-chain efficiency. If integrated appropriately, low-altitude logistics can become a branch of green logistics, but only in selected segments where the marginal benefits of speed, accessibility, and loss reduction are sufficient to offset technology and infrastructure costs. In other words, the environmental advantage of low-altitude logistics does not lie in the mass replacement of trucks or motorbikes, but in solving spatial bottlenecks where ground logistics operates inefficiently.

In the field of environmental monitoring, the low-altitude economy makes it possible to upgrade the way in which the State and enterprises observe, detect, and respond to ecological risks. International studies on AI-integrated drones show superior capacities for monitoring water quality, detecting forest fires, tracking wildlife, identifying pollution sources, ecological mapping, and resource management. For Vietnam, where there are strong pressures from climate change, natural disasters, air pollution, resource depletion, and complex territorial-space management, the value of the low-altitude economy lies to a very great extent in environmental data services rather than merely in transportation. This is also a more appropriate development direction in line with environmental friendliness during the initial stage.

 4.4. Limitations, difficulties, and influencing factors

The first limitation is that Vietnam currently does not yet have a dedicated national strategy for the low-altitude economy. Existing documents provide frameworks for UAV management, green growth, AI, logistics, and innovation, but there is a lack of an integrated document clearly defining the concept, objectives, priority scope, pilot models, digital infrastructure, investment mechanisms, and environmental criteria for the field as a whole. As a result, there is a risk of fragmented development, uncoordinated implementation, or an excessive bias toward flying devices without the formation of a high-value-added ecosystem. Even in recent policy discussions, experts have emphasized that Vietnam must go beyond technological experimentation in order to address deeper issues of governance, data, and ecosystem integration.

The second limitation is the absence of sector-specific environmental criteria and instruments for the low-altitude economy. Vietnam already has the 2020 Law on Environmental Protection and its guiding decrees, but these instruments are designed at a general framework level; they do not yet provide sector-specific standards for UAV/eVTOL noise, battery life-cycle assessment, electronic waste, ecologically sensitive corridors, or EIA procedures specific to low-altitude infrastructure and operations. Meanwhile, international research increasingly stresses that if noise, technology life cycles, and electricity sources are not well controlled, the environmental benefits of AAM/UAV may be significantly reduced. Thus, Vietnam’s bottleneck today lies not only in the lack of technology, but also in the lack of an environmental regulatory language specifically tailored to this field.

The third limitation is that digital infrastructure and low-altitude traffic-management infrastructure remain rudimentary. ICAO considers UTM to be a foundational condition for safe development, while recent studies on AI-driven UTM show that conflict management, flight-plan approval, and automated deconfliction will become increasingly important as operational density increases. Vietnam has advantages derived from national digital transformation, the AI strategy, digital data, and innovation; yet there remains a substantial gap between general digital advantages and the actual capacity to govern low-altitude airspace. That gap is reflected in real-time data, specialized digital maps, low-altitude airspace surveillance, hyperlocal meteorology, remote identification, and interoperability among aviation authorities, defense agencies, local governments, and enterprises.

The fourth limitation is the thin market structure and limited capacity of domestic enterprises. Although Resolution No. 198/2025/QH15, Decree No. 20/2026/ND-CP, and innovation mechanisms open more favorable conditions for the private sector, Vietnamese enterprises in this field are still mainly small in scale and oriented toward distribution, integration, or localized applications, while capacities in core technology, standardization, and large-scale commercialization remain limited. This can easily lead to a development trajectory dependent on imported equipment, while data, platforms, and standards have not yet been sufficiently localized. From the perspective of green development, this is a nontrivial issue, because a low-altitude economy that is environmentally friendly but heavily dependent on exogenous technology, imported batteries, and closed platforms will find it difficult to optimize long-term benefits for Vietnam.

4.5. Opportunities and challenges

The greatest opportunity is that the low-altitude economy is increasingly being recognized as a new growth driver associated with digital transformation, innovation, the green economy, and the exploitation of new development spaces. High-level statements in early 2026 indicate that the Government emphasizes the exploitation of new growth drivers, including the low-altitude economy; at the same time, controlled pilot proposals have already appeared in Dien Bien. This shows that Vietnam is gradually moving from conceptual discussion toward policy experimentation. If properly designed, local pilot programs can generate real data, standardize procedures, and reduce policy risks before nationwide expansion.

However, the challenge is not only speed, but also the quality of the development model. If development proceeds in a movement-like manner, chasing landing pads, devices, or technology showcases without an environmental integration mechanism, Vietnam may repeat the cycle of investment first and governance afterward. International experience, as well as recent policy warnings from China, shows that the low-altitude economy is sustainable only when built on a system of safety governance, industrial statistics, smart infrastructure, insurance, data, and standardization. Therefore, the right question for Vietnam is not whether to develop the low-altitude economy, but which segments should be developed first, under what green criteria, and within what institutional model.

5. Policy implications and solutions

5.1. Formulating a national strategy for a green low-altitude economy

The foundational solution is to promulgate a national strategy, or at least a national-level project, for developing the low-altitude economy in a green and safe direction. This document should clearly define the concept, sectoral scope, priority segments, the roadmap for institutionalization, and a set of green development principles. Vietnam can learn from China’s experience in standardizing concepts and sectoral structures so as to avoid divergent local understandings, but it should not mechanically copy a large-scale investment model. Under Vietnam’s conditions, the strategy should follow a “less but better” approach: prioritizing public services, precision agriculture, environmental monitoring, specialized logistics, and infrastructure inspection, rather than prematurely expanding mass-passenger eVTOL models.

5.2. Designing a dedicated environmental framework for the low-altitude economy

Vietnam needs to promptly develop a dedicated environmental toolkit for this field on the basis of the 2020 Law on Environmental Protection. Such a toolkit should include life-cycle emission criteria for vehicles and batteries; noise standards or thresholds according to spatial context; guidance for environmental impact assessment for takeoff and landing sites, charging stations, and ecologically sensitive flight routes; regulations on the recovery and recycling of batteries and electronic equipment; and mechanisms for monitoring ecological impacts in forests, protected areas, water surfaces, and coastal zones. This is a condition for greening from the outset, rather than waiting until traffic volume increases before addressing externalities.

5.3. Developing data infrastructure and AI-based UTM

A green low-altitude economy cannot exist without smart data infrastructure. Vietnam should prioritize the development of UTM pilot platforms in selected localities, integrating 3D digital maps, meteorological data, vehicle identification, environmental data, and safety warnings. AI should be used not only for flight coordination, conflict detection, and route optimization, but also for environmental monitoring, detection of route violations, noise analysis, and energy-efficiency evaluation. This is fully consistent with the AI Strategy to 2030, Resolution No. 57-NQ/TW, and the logic of next-generation UTM recommended by ICAO.

5.4. Controlled pilot implementation by locality and by segment

The most appropriate policy for the 2026-2030 period is multi-tier piloting. The first tier is local pilots, prioritizing provinces with fragmented terrain, needs for public-interest logistics, ecotourism, forest management, or border management, such as Dien Bien, the Northwest, the Central Highlands, coastal areas, and islands. The second tier is pilots by segment, such as precision agriculture, search and rescue, environmental monitoring, and energy-infrastructure inspection. The third tier is institutional pilots, allowing the testing of digitized licensing procedures, data management, and inter-agency coordination. This model is far more appropriate than nationwide mass deployment when data systems and the environmental framework are still lacking.

5.5. Using green public procurement to create the initial market

In the initial stage, the State should play the role of an anchor customer for the green low-altitude economy. Instead of supporting enterprises only through general incentives, the State can commission services for forest monitoring, fire prevention, search and rescue, power-grid inspection, environmental observation, coastal monitoring, medical logistics, and disaster response. Green public procurement will help create initial demand, generate operational data, shape technical standards, and reduce early commercialization risks. This is a way to combine effectively environmental objectives, the modernization of public services, and the development of domestic enterprises.

5.6. Mobilizing special mechanisms for private enterprises and innovation

Resolution No. 198/2025/QH15, Decree No. 20/2026/ND-CP, the 2025 Law on Science, Technology and Innovation, and decrees guiding finance and investment for innovation create an important opportunity to design targeted support packages for enterprises in the low-altitude economy. Vietnam should prioritize enterprises developing core technologies, operating platforms, sensors, batteries, AI, and system integration, rather than spreading support thinly across simple assembly activities. In particular, it should consider controlled pilot mechanisms linked to the National Technology Innovation Fund, preferential credit for green applications, and investment incentives for projects generating measurable positive environmental impacts. This would both align with the strategy for private-sector development and help avoid a trajectory of imported technology and low value-added.

5.7. Developing human resources and standardizing sectoral statistics

Finally, Vietnam needs to prepare human resources and sectoral statistics early on. International lessons show that a sustainable low-altitude economy requires an interdisciplinary workforce including aeronautical engineers, software engineers, AI specialists, environmental experts, legal experts, logistics specialists, and risk-governance professionals. Alongside this, Vietnam needs to study and develop an experimental statistical indicator set for this field so as to avoid a situation in which policy moves ahead but the scale, efficiency, and environmental impacts cannot be measured. Statistical standardization is not a task to be left until later; rather, it is a condition for evidence-based policy built on practical data.

6. Conclusion

This article argues that green-oriented development of the low-altitude economy in Vietnam is a promising and substantive direction, but it cannot be approached as a simple technological movement. The essence of this field is a new economic ecosystem based on the exploitation of low-altitude airspace, data, operational infrastructure, and selective applications. Under Vietnam’s conditions, the green value of the low-altitude economy lies first and foremost in precision agriculture, environmental monitoring, public services, infrastructure inspection, and specialized logistics in hard-to-reach areas, rather than in the mass expansion of low-altitude passenger transport. The 2021-2025 period created important foundational conditions through green growth, environmental law, laws and decrees on UAVs, and breakthrough mechanisms in science and technology, innovation, and the private economy. However, the greatest bottleneck remains the absence of a dedicated national strategy and the lack of an integrated environmental-data-airspace framework for this field.

References

1. Al-Rubaye, S., Manjunath, A., & Sánchez-Cuevas, P. (2023). Advanced air mobility operation and infrastructure for future transportation. Drones, 7(5), 319. https://www.mdpi.com/2504-446X/7/5/319
2. Arza-García, M., et al. (2023). Drones in the sky: Towards a more sustainable agriculture. Agriculture, 13(1), 84. https://www.mdpi.com/2077-0472/13/1/84
3. Belton, B., et al. (2026). The rapid global rise of agricultural drones: Evidence, opportunities and tradeoffs. Global Food Security. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S2211912425000720
4. Bridgelall, R. (2024). Aircraft innovation trends enabling advanced air mobility. Aerospace, 9(4), 84. https://www.mdpi.com/2411-5134/9/4/84
5. Dulia, E. F., et al. (2021). Benefits of advanced air mobility for society and environment: A case study of Ohio. Applied Sciences, 12(1), 207. https://doi.org/10.3390/app12010207
6. Government. (2025a). Decree No. 198/2025/ND-CP dated 8 July 2025 detailing a number of articles of and measures for implementing the Law on People’s Air Defense. https://vanban.chinhphu.vn/?docid=214509&pageid=27160
7. Government. (2025b). Decree No. 288/2025/ND-CP dated 5 November 2025 on the management of unmanned aircraft and other flying vehicles. https://vanban.chinhphu.vn/?docid=215810&pageid=27160
8. Government. (2025c). Resolution No. 03/NQ-CP dated 9 January 2025 promulgating the Government’s Action Program for implementing Resolution No. 57-NQ/TW dated 22 December 2024 of the Politburo on breakthroughs in science and technology development, innovation, and national digital transformation. https://vanban.chinhphu.vn/?docid=212350&pageid=27160
9. Government. (2025d). Resolution No. 139/NQ-CP dated 17 May 2025 promulgating the Government’s Plan for implementing Resolution No. 198/2025/QH15 on a number of special mechanisms and policies for private-sector development. https://vanban.chinhphu.vn/?docid=213666&pageid=27160
10. Government. (2025e). Decree No. 119/2025/ND-CP dated 9 June 2025 amending and supplementing a number of articles of Decree No. 06/2022/ND-CP on greenhouse gas mitigation and ozone-layer protection. https://vanban.chinhphu.vn/?docid=213875&pageid=27160
11. Government. (2025f). Decree No. 265/2025/ND-CP dated 14 October 2025 detailing and guiding the implementation of a number of articles of the Law on Science, Technology and Innovation regarding finance and investment in science, technology and innovation. https://vanban.chinhphu.vn/?docid=215628&pageid=27160
12. Government. (2025g). Decree No. 267/2025/ND-CP dated 14 October 2025 detailing and guiding a number of articles of the Law on Science, Technology and Innovation regarding science, technology and innovation programs and tasks. https://vanban.chinhphu.vn/?docid=215664&pageid=27160
13. Government. (2025h). Decree No. 268/2025/ND-CP dated 14 October 2025 detailing and guiding a number of articles of the Law on Science, Technology and Innovation regarding innovation. https://vanban.chinhphu.vn/?docid=215663&pageid=27160
14. Government. (2026a). Decree No. 20/2026/ND-CP dated 15 January 2026 detailing and guiding the implementation of a number of articles of Resolution No. 198/2025/QH15 on a number of special mechanisms and policies for private-sector development. https://vanban.chinhphu.vn/?docid=216660&pageid=27160
15. Government. (2026b). Decree No. 48/2026/ND-CP dated 29 January 2026 amending and supplementing a number of articles of Decree No. 08/2022/ND-CP detailing a number of articles of the Law on Environmental Protection. https://vanban.chinhphu.vn/?docid=216867&pageid=27160
16. Government. (2026c). Decree No. 77/2026/ND-CP dated 17 March 2026 on the organization and operation of the National Technology Innovation Fund. https://vanban.chinhphu.vn/he-thong-van-ban?classid=1&mode=1&orggroupid=2
17. Guebsi, R., et al. (2024). Drones in precision agriculture: A comprehensive review. Drones, 8(11), 686. https://www.mdpi.com/2504-446X/8/11/686
18. ICAO. (2022). Assessment of noise from emerging technology aircraft. In ICAO Environmental Report 2022. https://www.icao.int/sites/default/files/environmental-protection/Documents/EnvironmentalReports/2022/ENVReport2022_Art13.pdf
19. ICAO. (2022). Unmanned aircraft systems traffic management (UTM) framework, Edition 4. International Civil Aviation Organization. https://www.icao.int/sites/default/files/left-menu-pdfs/UTM%20Framework%20Edition%204.pdf
20. Liu, M., et al. (2025). Adopting electric vertical takeoff and landing aircraft may not reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the near term. Cell Reports Sustainability. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2667325825001918
21. Nafar, N., et al. (2025). Smart drone in sustainable agriculture: Evaluating adoption and sustainability. Smart Agricultural Technology. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2772375525005945
22. National Assembly. (2020). Law No. 72/2020/QH14 dated 17 November 2020: Law on Environmental Protection. https://vanban.chinhphu.vn/?docid=202613&pageid=27160
23. National Assembly. (2025a). Resolution No. 193/2025/QH15 dated 19 February 2025 on piloting a number of special mechanisms and policies to create breakthroughs in science, technology, innovation, and national digital transformation. https://vanban.chinhphu.vn/?docid=212952&pageid=27160
24. National Assembly. (2025b). Resolution No. 198/2025/QH15 dated 17 May 2025 on a number of special mechanisms and policies for private-sector development. https://vanban.chinhphu.vn/?docid=213695&pageid=27160
25. National Assembly. (2025c). Law No. 93/2025/QH15 dated 27 June 2025: Law on Science, Technology and Innovation. https://vanban.chinhphu.vn/?docid=214603&pageid=27160
26. National Development and Reform Commission of China. (2025). Notice on promulgating the Statistical Classification of the Low-Altitude Economy and Core Industries of the Low-Altitude Economy (pilot). https://www.ndrc.gov.cn/xxgk/zcfb/tz/202512/t20251226_1402669.html
27. Park, J., Kim, S., & Suh, K. (2018). A comparative analysis of the environmental benefits of drone-based delivery services in urban and rural areas. Sustainability, 10(3), 888. https://doi.org/10.3390/su10030888
28. Prime Minister. (2021a). Decision No. 127/QD-TTg dated 26 January 2021 promulgating the National Strategy on Research, Development and Application of Artificial Intelligence through 2030. https://vanban.chinhphu.vn/default.aspx?docid=202565&pageid=27160
29. Prime Minister. (2021b). Decision No. 1658/QD-TTg dated 1 October 2021 approving the National Green Growth Strategy for 2021-2030, with a vision to 2050. https://vanban.chinhphu.vn/?docid=204226&pageid=27160
30. Prime Minister. (2025). Decision No. 2229/QD-TTg dated 9 October 2025 approving the Strategy for the Development of Vietnam’s Logistics Services for 2025-2035, with a vision to 2050. https://vanban.chinhphu.vn/?classid=0&docid=215568&pageid=27160
31. Ramteke, S. V., et al. (2025). Optimizing UAV spraying for sustainable agriculture. Sustainability, 17(13), 6211. https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/17/13/6211
32. Raza, W., et al. (2025). Noise prediction and mitigation for UAS and eVTOL aircraft. Drones, 9(8), 577. https://www.mdpi.com/2504-446X/9/8/577
33. Smith, A. (2024). Supporting inclusive debate on advanced air mobility. Transportation Research Part D: Transport and Environment. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1361920924004280
34. Wang, S. (2025). China’s low-altitude economy: Theoretical foundations, development logic and policy implications. China Economist. https://chinaeconomist.com/pdf/2025/2025-11/Wang%20Shusen.pdf
35. Westbrooke, V., et al. (2023). Drone use in on-farm environmental compliance. Sustainability, 15(3), 2153. https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/15/3/2153