Ho Chi Minh City is completing its green transportation infrastructure to connect with provinces and cities after the merger.
Developing a multi-centered megacity.
According to Dr. Truong Minh Huy Vu, Director of the Ho Chi Minh City Development Research Institute, the merger of Ho Chi Minh City with Binh Duong and Ba Ria - Vung Tau not only expands administrative boundaries but also creates the country's first multi-centered megacity model. With a population of over 14 million people and vast development space, the new Ho Chi Minh City possesses unique conditions to become a regional growth pole.
The highlight of this megacity is the synergistic effect between its various development spaces. While Ho Chi Minh City continues to play the role of a center for finance, commerce, high-quality services, innovation, and science and technology, Binh Duong leverages its strengths as a modern industrial center and smart manufacturing hub, with a system of large-scale industrial parks; and Ba Ria - Vung Tau offers advantages in maritime economy, deep-water ports, logistics, energy, and resort tourism. This combination creates a complete development structure encompassing industry, services, and maritime economy, opening up new growth opportunities for the entire Southeast region.
Sharing the same view, Dr. Tran Du Lich, a member of the National Financial and Monetary Policy Advisory Council, stated that after the merger, Ho Chi Minh City possesses unprecedented development potential. According to him, very few cities in the region simultaneously possess all the elements of an international seaport, financial center, high-tech industry, logistics, international airport, and maritime economy like Ho Chi Minh City currently does.
Ho Chi Minh City is stepping up the application of technology to facilitate administrative procedures for citizens and businesses.
According to Mr. Tran Du Lich, the biggest advantage of the new Ho Chi Minh City is its ability to develop according to a multi-polar, multi-center model, instead of concentrating all resources in the urban core. Accordingly, the existing central area will focus on developing international finance, trade, and high-end services; Binh Duong will become a high-tech industrial center, while Ba Ria - Vung Tau will play the role of a gateway for maritime economy, logistics, and international tourism.
"If the right mechanisms are in place and the advantages of regional linkages are well exploited, by 2035 Ho Chi Minh City's economic scale could reach approximately 300-310 billion USD, becoming one of the leading competitive megacities in Southeast Asia," affirmed Dr. Tran Du Lich.
According to experts, the biggest challenge today is building a governance model suitable for a multi-centered megacity. This requires a sufficiently strong and flexible institutional framework to meet the demands of new development.
Chairman of the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee, Nguyen Van Duoc, believes that the formation of a megacity is not only about expanding geographical space but also about restructuring the governance model towards modernization, decentralizing power more strongly to local governments, and improving the operational capacity of the administrative apparatus.
Accordingly, the city will focus on perfecting the inter-regional coordination mechanism, maximizing the advantages of each area to create synergy, thereby forming new growth drivers for the entire Southeast region and the whole country.
In the long term, Ho Chi Minh City needs to continue perfecting its special mechanisms and effectively mobilizing social resources for investment in strategic infrastructure, international financial centers, logistics, and innovation, creating a foundation for the megacity to develop rapidly and sustainably in the coming decades.
Maintaining security for the new phase of development.
Associate Professor, Colonel Nguyen Tran Hieu, Vice Rector of the People's Security University, noted that over the past 50 years, Ho Chi Minh City has consistently maintained political stability, ensured security and social order, thereby creating a favorable environment to attract investment, expand international cooperation, and maintain its role as the leading economic engine of the country.
According to Colonel Nguyen Tran Hieu, the Ho Chi Minh City Police force has excellently fulfilled its nhiệm vụ of protecting national security, combating all types of crime, and at the same time leading in administrative reform, building a population database, deploying online public services and promoting digital transformation in the field of state management of security and order.
However, entering a new phase of development, especially with Ho Chi Minh City becoming a multi-centered megacity after the merger, the requirement to ensure security and order also poses many new challenges. Hostile forces are increasing their subversive activities in cyberspace; high-tech crimes, transnational financial crimes, and online fraud are becoming increasingly sophisticated. In addition, drug-related crimes, loan sharking, and street crime still pose many potential risks affecting people's lives.
To maintain political security and social order in the coming period, Colonel Nguyen Tran Hieu stated that Ho Chi Minh City needs to continue building a strong people's security posture linked to a solid national defense posture; strengthen coordination among functional forces, proactively grasp the situation early and from afar, and avoid being passive or surprised by any situation.
In particular, the city needs to effectively achieve the goal of building a drug-free Ho Chi Minh City by 2030 by strengthening the fight against and dismantling drug trafficking and transportation networks, while closely combining prevention, rehabilitation, and support for reintegration into the community.
Ho Chi Minh City is developing commercial services to boost its economy.
From an economic development perspective, Associate Professor Dr. Nguyen Huu Huan, Vice Chairman of the Vietnam International Finance Center's Executive Office in Ho Chi Minh City, believes that the formation of a megacity will open up a sufficiently large market for Ho Chi Minh City to develop into an international financial center.
According to Mr. Huan, international financial centers not only attract investment capital but also act as a "transit port" for global capital flows, creating a ripple effect that promotes the development of many other economic sectors.
"To realize this goal, Ho Chi Minh City needs to continue improving the investment and business environment, developing high-quality human resources, perfecting digital infrastructure, and building a synchronized financial ecosystem according to international standards," Mr. Huan proposed.
Ho Chi Minh City is building social housing areas to stabilize the lives of low-income workers.
From an administrative perspective, Chairman of the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee Nguyen Van Duoc stated that, in the new context, the task of ensuring social security and safety must always go hand in hand with the goal of improving the quality of life for the people. According to him, the city will use digital transformation as a key driving force to build a more service-oriented, transparent, and efficient administration; promote the development of digital government, digital economy, and digital society; expand full-process online public services; and effectively utilize big data to serve urban management.
"A modern city is not only measured by its economic growth rate but also by ensuring a safe, civilized, and compassionate living environment so that all citizens can enjoy the fruits of development. Furthermore, the aspiration to make Ho Chi Minh City a global megacity can only become a reality when the city simultaneously creates new growth drivers, maintains political stability, ensures social security and order, and continuously improves the quality of life for its people," said the Chairman of the People's Committee of Ho Chi Minh City.
Final article: Positioning itself as a new super logistics hub.
Hoang Tuyet (News and Ethnic Groups Newspaper)
Source: https://baocantho.com.vn/bai-2-khat-vong-xay-dung-sieu-do-thi-a208621.html
