“Ho Chi Minh City’s Steady Growth: Unlocking Breakthrough Strategies”

At the virtual conference between the Government and localities held on the morning of July 6th, Chairman of the People’s Committee of Ho Chi Minh City Phan Van Mai agreed with the reports presented at the conference, especially the socio-economic results of the first six months. Ho Chi Minh City has also achieved fairly good results within this overall context.

Stable Economic Growth

In the first half of the year, some economic sectors in Ho Chi Minh City grew steadily and at a higher rate than the same period last year. Specifically, overall growth reached 6.46%, total retail sales of goods and services increased by 8.8%, exports rose by 13.1%, industrial production index went up by 5.5%, and budget revenue reached 55.7% (up 18% compared to the previous year).

Cultural, social, foreign affairs, national defense, and security activities in Ho Chi Minh City were also ensured. The city has implemented synchronous solutions to accelerate the progress of key projects and focus on resolving bottlenecks, which has yielded initial positive outcomes.

Consequently, the city has compiled a list of 50 key projects that are currently undergoing weekly and monthly progress reviews. The city has also finalized its urban planning dossier and submitted it to the Politburo and the Prime Minister for approval. Additionally, the contents of the policies under the National Assembly’s Resolution 98 are being implemented and have shown initial positive results.

However, according to Chairman Phan Van Mai, Ho Chi Minh City faced certain challenges in the first six months, including lower growth in the second quarter compared to the country’s average, a 19.5% decrease in FDI attraction, only 14.3% disbursement of public investment, and a 28.3% drop in total registered capital of enterprises (the number of registered enterprises increased, but the capital decreased).

Identifying Breakthrough Solutions

According to Mr. Phan Van Mai, Chairman of the Ho Chi Minh City People’s Committee, in the third quarter and the last six months of the year, the city will focus intensely on solutions to promote growth, especially by boosting investment and consumption.

Ho Chi Minh City is updating its growth scenario for the year and identifying breakthrough solutions to strive for a growth rate of 7-7.5%.

Simultaneously, the city will concentrate on breakthrough solutions closely linked to strong administrative procedure reforms and removing obstacles to increase capital absorption. The aim is to mobilize a total social capital of VND 394 trillion. In addition, the city will promote the digital economy, develop social housing, and focus on key projects of the nation and Ho Chi Minh City.

In the last six months of the year, Ho Chi Minh City will also urgently coordinate with ministries and sectors to complete dossiers for the Government to submit to the Politburo and the National Assembly resolutions on urban railways (along with Hanoi), the Ring Road 4 project, and the international financial center project by the end of the year.

At the conference, on behalf of the leadership of Ho Chi Minh City, Chairman of the People’s Committee Phan Van Mai proposed that the Government soon finalize and issue decrees and help localities address specific difficulties.

Ho Chi Minh City also expects the Prime Minister to soon approve the investment policy for the Ho Chi Minh City-Moc Bai Expressway project and the Can Gio International Transit Port project. The city also requested the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Justice to promptly provide opinions to complete the legal basis for the fourth loan package for the Metro Line 1 project.

Along with Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City proposed to the Government and the Prime Minister to soon direct the plan to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the liberation of the South and the unification of the country (April 30, 1975 – April 30, 2025).