Quality of life: a measure of development

Ho Chi Minh City is finalizing the process of gathering public opinion to select 10 out of 13 outstanding achievements for 2025. This approach serves to summarize a year of significant progress and, importantly, sends a message that the city's achievements are not self-assessed but also reflect the perceptions and evaluations of its people.

Looking at the list of nominated achievements, many events share a striking commonality: they are directly linked to people's lives, social welfare, education and healthcare, and the quality of the living environment. This clearly reflects the people-centered development goals that the city has pursued throughout its history and is even more evident in the new context.

Among the achievements highlighted in the voting, the city's efforts in promoting national unity and caring for social welfare continued to leave a strong impression. Hundreds of thousands of citizens, workers, laborers, and vulnerable groups received care during holidays and festivals. Mutual support movements spread widely; the role of the Vietnam Fatherland Front and other socio- political organizations continued to be promoted. These are very practical support activities, affirming the identity of a "City of Compassion" with a spirit of solidarity and mutual support within the community.

Simultaneously, the digital transformation in education and healthcare —with models like digital schools and digital hospitals—demonstrates a clear approach to modernization aimed at better serving the people. The implementation of electronic medical records, electronic health books, interconnected healthcare data, and the promotion of online public services have contributed to reducing time and costs, and creating tangible convenience for people in accessing essential services.

The digital transformation efforts undertaken by the city are gradually shaping an honest and innovative government; a happy education system; and a compassionate healthcare system where citizens are at the "center of service".

This viewpoint was further affirmed in the remarks of Comrade Vo Van Minh, Deputy Secretary of the City Party Committee and Chairman of the Ho Chi Minh City People's Council, at a meeting with retired senior military officers in the city on December 21st. He emphasized that the city is steadfast in its goal of comprehensive human development, linking economic growth with social progress and equity; focusing on building a civilized, modern, and compassionate culture and human values ​​for Ho Chi Minh City; and using the quality of life and happiness of the people as a measure of development.

Previously, at the 2nd Conference of the Ho Chi Minh City Party Committee for the 2025-2030 term, Ho Chi Minh City Party Secretary Tran Luu Quang also affirmed that all the city's actions have only one goal: to improve the quality of life for its people and create a favorable environment for businesses to develop.

The consistent goal of improving the quality of life for citizens has been and continues to be concretized through specific policies and actions. At the 6th session of the Ho Chi Minh City People's Council, 10th term, 2021-2026 (the year-end session), a series of new policies on health, education, social security, administrative reform, social housing development, and improving the quality of the urban environment were approved.

In particular, programs addressing traffic congestion, flooding, environmental pollution, and building a safe and civilized living environment have been established with high political determination. This further affirms that growth is inseparable from social life but is closely linked to the quality of life and happiness of the people.

The city is preparing to enter 2026 – the first year of implementing the Resolution of the First Congress of the Ho Chi Minh City Party Committee. With the additional special mechanisms and policies recently approved by the National Assembly, the requirement is not only to achieve double-digit growth or to play the role of the leading economic engine, but more importantly, to transform the goals of improving the quality of life into concrete changes that people can clearly feel in their daily lives.

In this context, the city's initiative to solicit public opinion on the most outstanding achievements of the year, if done well, will be of significant importance in summarizing the year's progress.

The achievements also serve as a benchmark for the city to continue acting more substantively, effectively, and consistently with the goal of using the quality of life and happiness of its people as a measure of development. This is a crucial foundation for the city to firmly become a civilized, modern, compassionate, and livable metropolis.

KIEU PHONG

Source: https://www.sggp.org.vn/chat-luong-song-thuoc-do-phat-trien-post830106.html