Related content Resolution 98 still has a lot

Associate Professor – Dr. Tran Hoang Ngan, Deputy Secretary of the Ho Chi Minh City Party Committee, evaluates that after 6 months, the Advisory Council for the implementation of Resolution 98 has achieved a lot. Among them, it helped the People’s Committee submit 24 important resolutions to the City Council, specifically implementing 19/27 mechanisms and policies.

However, there are still many related contents to Resolution 98. Therefore, Mr. Tran Hoang Ngan expects the Council to continue to focus in 2024 to specifically implement the remaining specific mechanisms and policies.

“How can we soon realize the 44 mechanisms and policies of 7 fields that are not yet specified but are very necessary for the city. In addition, more importantly this year, we must focus on preparing documents for the City Party Congress. The institutionalization and specific implementation of Resolution 98 will help us have important content for the Congress documents,” said Mr. Tran Hoang Ngan.

Mission to build 200km of urban railway by 2035 is very difficult

Regarding the mission of building 200km of urban railway by 2035 according to Conclusion 49 of the Politburo, experts evaluate this as a very difficult task when looking back at Metro Line 1 (Ben Thanh – Suoi Tien), the first line took 20 years. Therefore, Associate Professor Ngo Viet Nam Son believes that to achieve the goal, we need to have different thinking and approach. Specifically, we need to approach multiple disciplines, not just be implemented by the City Railway Management Board.

Experts also believe that when implementing metro lines, attention should be paid to improving the quality of people’s lives and increasing local competitiveness. When implementing, it is necessary to clarify the issue that not every metro station develops TOD. In addition, it is necessary to do well the land clearance and compensation work before starting the project to ensure progress; focus on training human resources to be able to implement multiple metro lines. In addition, there must be a joint action alliance to build the metro system… Some opinions suggest that the city may consider adjusting the deployment time of more than 200km of metro to ensure feasibility.

Listening to opinions at the meeting, Chairman of the Ho Chi Minh City People’s Committee Phan Van Mai affirmed that not only urban railways but also other issues, the city directs multiple disciplines and a holistic approach towards sustainable development with people at the center. That is why Ho Chi Minh City established many steering committees and working groups, because one department cannot solve the problem. For example, from the work of compensating for resettlement projects of Ring Road 3, other projects in the city all affirmed that “stabilization conditions after the project must be equal to or better than and it is not just compensation”.

Regarding the implementation of the target of 200km of metro, Mr. Phan Van Mai said that the city approached interdisciplinary thinking from the beginning, in which the Urban Railway Management Board played a role. The relevant departments and agencies coordinate under the direction and management of the City People’s Committee. The city will also study the proposal to establish a metro and TOD group.

Chairman of the Ho Chi Minh City People’s Committee Phan Van Mai said that the city does not ask for the central budget but asks for financial mechanism to implement. The fact that the city spends a few billion USD per year for this key project is not too burdensome for the city’s budget. The issue is the financial plan, because the city needs 10 billion USD but not all at once, only 1- 2 billion USD per year, the city has a cash flow plan to solve the problem.

Chairman of the Ho Chi Minh City People’s Committee affirmed that the city will not change the goal of completing 200km of metro by 2035 according to Conclusion 49: “We still have to keep the deadline of 2035, can add 2- 3 more years but still this deadline; do not set the deadline as 2038 or 2040 anymore but still 2035 according to Conclusion 49. And we also propose to reduce the time, when we reduce 2- 3 years, perhaps no one will mind or evaluate or discipline. I think it’s an experiment, we affirm to each other like that”.