For the service industry to break through, Ho Chi Minh City needs to learn from Singapore and Shanghai.

According to experts, despite its advantages in terms of potential and geographical location, Ho Chi Minh City still lags far behind major service centers in the region. Therefore, the city needs to learn more from other countries and boldly propose special mechanisms.

Mr. Nguyen Van Dung, Vice Chairman of Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee, spoke at the seminar - Photo: HL

On September 12, in Vung Tau ward, the Department of Industry and Trade of Ho Chi Minh City organized a seminar with the theme: "Ho Chi Minh City - A large service center of the country and the region with high-class, modern, high-value-added service industries: Orientation and breakthrough solutions".

The seminar was attended by many experts, scientists and businesses at home and abroad.

High-end services have not developed commensurately.

Mr. Nguyen Van Dung - Vice Chairman of the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee - said that after the merger of 3 localities, the service sector contributed about 51% of the city's GRDP. However, the structure of the service sector still tends towards traditional sectors; high-end, modern and high-value-added service sectors have not developed commensurate with their potential and advantages.

This limits regional competitiveness, especially in the context of ASEAN cities accelerating the shift to the digital economy , international financial services, global logistics and innovation.

"Ho Chi Minh City aims to become a developed city on par with major cities in the world ; playing a leading role in the digital economy and knowledge economy, in line with the context of deep international integration and the process of transforming the growth model," the Vice Chairman of the City People's Committee emphasized.

To realize this goal, the city has been focusing on directing many key tasks such as: Building and implementing the project "Building the city into a major service center of the country and the region with high-class, modern, high-value-added service industries", developing the city into an international financial center, gradually integrating capital markets, insurance markets...

Orientation to develop logistics services into a spearhead economic sector, associated with planning of Cai Mep - Thi Vai seaport, international transit port in Can Gio, completing infrastructure of transport - seaport - warehouse - express delivery.

Promote international education, high-end medical services, not only serving domestic people but also targeting international customers…

City leaders affirmed that developing high-quality services is not only an economic goal but also a strategy for sustainable, modern urban development with its own identity, contributing to improving international competitiveness and people's quality of life.

We need to boldly propose special mechanisms and learn from other countries.

Sharing at the seminar, Mr. Vu Doan Thai Long - Senior Project Manager of Roland Berger Vietnam Company - said that services are increasingly asserting their pivotal role when the proportion in GRDP of Ho Chi Minh City has increased from 40% in 2010 to 51% in 2024, officially surpassing industry.

However, compared to major service centers in the region, Ho Chi Minh City is still quite far behind. For example, Bangkok has reached 88%, Singapore 71%, Kuala Lumpur 70%.

However, Ho Chi Minh City's growth rate in the 2020-2024 period reached 7.8%/year, higher than Singapore and Seoul, showing great potential for a breakthrough.

The seminar received contributions and advice from many experts - Photo: HL

Mr. Long said that the challenges include limited infrastructure, traditional business models, small and medium enterprises accounting for the majority, and low competitiveness. The solution is to divide the functions: Ho Chi Minh City focuses on financial services, Binh Duong develops high technology and transportation, and Ba Ria - Vung Tau exploits tourism and seaports.

Meanwhile, regarding service development, Mr. Luong Quang Thi (HCMC Logistics Association) said that the city currently has 30,000 enterprises but only 30% of them provide logistics services, which is too modest compared to its potential and advantages. Therefore, the city needs large-scale enterprises to lead the market.

"Singapore is a smart logistics center, where they integrate and operate the entire automatic system, and pharmaceutical and food containers will be given priority for customs clearance. Or Shanghai is also a model that we should learn from, they built a free trade zone as a laboratory, where policies will be piloted, allowing them to overcome the state's restrictive regulations," Mr. Thi assessed.

At the workshop, experts also emphasized that adding two groups of digital economic service industries and training in addition to the nine key service industries is the right move. In addition, the city needs to boldly propose specific mechanisms, establish a specialized council, and at the same time develop high-end service brands associated with national identity. It is necessary to soon form a mechanism to nurture leading brands, capable of creating a high-end service ecosystem.

According to Mr. Bui Ta Hoang Vu - Director of the Department of Industry and Trade of Ho Chi Minh City, for Ho Chi Minh City to truly become a large service center with regional and global competitiveness, it cannot rely solely on the efforts of the government but requires the cooperation of businesses, scientists, organizations and the social community. The Department will fully synthesize comments from experts, international organizations, and state management agencies to complete the project and report to the City People's Committee.

"The Department of Industry and Trade pledges to continue to promote its role as a bridge, consultant, coordinator, and create the most favorable environment for service industries to develop strongly and sustainably and bring high added value to the city," the department's leaders pledged.

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Source: https://tuoitre.vn/de-nganh-dich-vu-buc-pha-tp-hcm-can-hoc-hoi-singapore-thuong-hai-20250912215910332.htm