What advantages will Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City gain if they become special urban areas?

Ho Chi Minh City from above - Photo: VAN TRUNG

Tuoi Tre asked some experts and National Assembly delegates for their opinions on the advantages of Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City being proposed as special urban areas.

Delegate Tran Anh Tuan (HCMC):

A law specifically for special urban areas

The proposal to designate Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City as two special urban areas is a timely move. The longer it takes, the more cramped the "institutional cover" for all localities will become, limiting the development potential of the two largest economic and cultural centers of the country.

Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City have long gone beyond the framework of a normal first-class urban area. With their population size, economy, and role as international trade hubs, both cities have characteristics that no other locality has.

However, when Ho Chi Minh City wants to proactively mobilize capital for infrastructure, it still has to wait for the request-grant mechanism.

When Hanoi needs to both preserve its historical and cultural space and develop modernly, it lacks a legal framework flexible enough to handle the situation harmoniously.

If there is a law specifically for special urban areas, the two cities will have a legal corridor to be proactive in resources and creative in governance. This will not only remove long-standing constraints but also strengthen investor confidence, opening up opportunities to mobilize large capital for infrastructure development.

On the other hand, urban authorities in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City will have the opportunity to test the lean model, apply digital technology in management, build smart government, and recruit and use human resources according to new standards.

A separate law would also help to define more clearly the strategic role of Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City in national development. The two cities are not only "large localities" but must also be seen as key growth poles, leading, connecting and spreading locomotives.

The policy therefore does not simply create favorable conditions for special urban areas, but first of all, imposes more responsibilities: responsibility for leading reforms, responsibility for sharing resources, responsibility for solving complex problems of a megacity such as immigration, environment, transportation, and social security.

Architect Ngo Anh Vu (Director of Ho Chi Minh City Institute of Construction Planning):

Special mechanisms are needed for special urban areas.

For many years, Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi have been identified as two special urban areas of the country. Now, after the reorganization, Ho Chi Minh City has expanded in scale. The complex nature of management of special urban areas requires urban space planning.

Along with that, the system of urban norms, standards, and indicators in all aspects (healthcare, education, environment, utilities, service level for people...) also requires higher and synchronous requirements when investing in urban construction and development.

Compared with other urban areas, special urban areas require a very large amount of work to do and the responsibility of the state management apparatus is also greater.

The most important thing for development requirements is that the mechanism and policies must be suitable for special urban areas. For Hanoi, in recent years, there has been a Capital Law. As for Ho Chi Minh City, through different stages, the Central Government has created favorable conditions for special policies for development through resolutions 54 and 98, and is currently proposing to amend and supplement resolution 98.

The Government has paid great attention to decentralization and delegation of more authority to create conditions for Ho Chi Minh City to have more tools and proactive space for development.

In the long term, it is also necessary to build a special Urban Law to create a clear legal framework, so that localities can be more proactive in implementing policies for urban development. This policy has also been taken into account by the Government.

Lawyer Bui Quoc Tuan (Ho Chi Minh City Bar Association):

Elevate special policies to become special Urban Law

What are the advantages of special urban areas? - Photo 4.

Since Ho Chi Minh City issued a special resolution (Resolution 98), many legal documents have been issued for Ho Chi Minh City to apply. Typical examples include Decree 07/2024 (detailing the election, recruitment, use, and management of cadres and civil servants working at the commune and town levels and ward cadres of Ho Chi Minh City); Decree 11/2024 (regulating loan interest, reasonable profits, payment methods, and settlement of investment projects under BT contracts; exemption from corporate income tax and personal income tax in Ho Chi Minh City); Decree 84/2024 (piloting decentralization of state management in some areas to the Ho Chi Minh City government); Decision 20/2023 of the Prime Minister on piloting decentralization of planning adjustments for Ho Chi Minh City...

At the same time, the Ho Chi Minh City People's Council also based on Resolution 98 to issue many specific resolutions for the city government to operate.

It can be seen from Resolution 98 that the relevant decrees have been issued quite quickly by the Ministries, the Government in coordination with Ho Chi Minh City, creating favorable conditions for Ho Chi Minh City to resolve requirements on state management and investment and development.

It is easy to see from the above regulations that Ho Chi Minh City has added personnel to the commune and ward apparatus; decentralized and authorized the work of compensation, site clearance, resettlement, planning adjustment; decentralized and authorized the work of investment, finance, budget, transportation, health care, education...

However, the specific policies for Ho Chi Minh City are still only piloted. At the same time, the specific outstanding policies are still limited and have bottlenecks because they still have to be built and implemented according to current procedures.

If there is a Law on Special Urban Areas, Ho Chi Minh City, Hanoi or any other province (upgraded to special urban areas) can base on it to apply and utilize it directly, quickly and more proactively.

Therefore, in the coming time, from the implementation of Resolution 98 in Ho Chi Minh City, we hope that the authorities will summarize and consider upgrading it to a Special Urban Law to suit the new development requirements.

Identifying Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City as special urban areas and moving towards building separate laws is not to grant privileges but to remove constraints, promote the leading role, and turn advantages into development driving forces for the whole country.

When laws are built scientifically, transparently and associated with responsibility, special urban areas will not only be a title but will truly become a national advantage.

National Assembly Delegate Tran Anh Tuan

Tuoitre.vn

Source: https://tuoitre.vn/ha-noi-tp-hcm-loi-the-gi-neu-thanh-do-thi-dac-biet-20250921090437913.htm