Perfecting institutions, paving the way for Ho Chi Minh City to make a breakthrough

Previously, from July 1, Ho Chi Minh City became a megacity of the whole country, posing an urgent need for a suitable institution for the city to "liberate" all its potential, thereby fulfilling its mission to the country. Ho Chi Minh City was also oriented by the Politburo to develop as a growth pole of the Southeast region. Resolution 31-NQ/TW of the Politburo requires the city to develop into a modern service-industrial city, a locomotive of digital economy, digital society, an economic, financial, commercial center, free trade zone, culture, education, science and technology of the whole country, deeply integrated internationally, with a prominent position in Southeast Asia and Asia, and global competitiveness.

do-thi-tphcm-sggp-2_ghhp_kibr_HHQA — Ho Chi Minh City

Speaking at the 1st Congress of the Ho Chi Minh City Party Committee for the 2025-2030 term, General Secretary To Lam reaffirmed this strategy and emphasized the top requirement of completing the planning, re-architecting the development space according to the multipolar - integrated - connected thinking, operating according to the multi-center governance model. The General Secretary especially noted that this is a new issue of decisive significance, the more delayed the city is, the more it loses the opportunity to develop.

To realize those strategic goals, Ho Chi Minh City has identified specific targets for the next 5 years, with great pressure. In the period of 2026-2030 alone, it is expected that the city will need to mobilize an additional 8-12 billion USD each year to achieve GRDP growth of 10-11%/year and by 2030, GRDP per capita will reach 14,000-15,000 USD.

In fact, Ho Chi Minh City does not lack financial potential. The city's consolidated GRDP is estimated at VND3,030 trillion, accounting for 23.5% of the country's GDP. The budget revenue in the first 10 months of 2025 alone is about VND652,500 billion and is expected to reach VND737,000 billion for the whole year, accounting for 36.7% of the total national budget revenue. However, the gap between potential and development motivation still exists. The core issue is to have a mechanism to transform potential into development motivation.

Currently, Ho Chi Minh City is a national megacity but is still "wearing the coat of provincial-level institutions", which is no longer compatible with its new stature. The urgent task is to supplement and "upgrade" Resolution 98 in the direction of expanding autonomy and self-responsibility so that the city has a superior legal framework to carry out "restructuring the development space" in the spirit of General Secretary To Lam's direction.

In the proposal on amending and supplementing Resolution 98 (submitted by the Ministry of Finance to the Government last weekend), there are a number of strategic breakthrough mechanisms proposed, creating a foundation for the city to enter a new growth phase. These are about the Ho Chi Minh City Free Trade Zone (FTZ) and "upgrading" the urban development mechanism according to the orientation of public transport development (TOD)...

In particular, the addition of FTZ is with policy groups integrating many outstanding specific mechanisms to attract strategic investors, mobilize domestic and foreign resources for development investment in Ho Chi Minh City, creating the foundation for a new development model.

The TOD mechanism is a proposal to expand the scope of application from transport infrastructure development to comprehensive urban development, in line with the trend of megacities in the world. This mechanism helps the city to be more flexible in land use, especially exploiting land funds from TOD to create counterpart capital for public investment, applied to railway projects in the form of build - transfer... Thus, the city will have a more effective and convenient capital mobilization tool in integrated planning, combining transport development with the development of living space, jobs, services - reducing population pressure.

In the submission to the Government, the Ministry of Finance affirmed that there is sufficient political, legal and practical basis to submit to the National Assembly for consideration to amend and supplement Resolution 98 according to the shortened procedures. The early "upgrade" of Resolution 98 is not only an urgent requirement of Ho Chi Minh City, but also a strategic decision of the whole country, aiming to create a strong enough institutional launch pad for the leading megacity. With autonomy and a corresponding breakthrough mechanism, Ho Chi Minh City can transform its enormous potential into a driving force for growth. From there, the city can best promote its role as a locomotive for development, deeply integrate into the international community, and make worthy contributions to the cause of building and protecting a rich, civilized and happy Fatherland.

KIEU PHONG

Source: https://www.sggp.org.vn/hoan-thien-the-che-mo-duong-cho-tphcm-dot-pha-post821392.html