Expectations for the Law on Special Urban Areas

Many generations of central and Ho Chi Minh City leaders have made dedicated contributions to the drafting of the Law on Special Urban Areas.

On the afternoon of May 28th, the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee organized a workshop to gather feedback from former central and city leaders on the draft Law on Special Urban Areas.

A significant milestone

The workshop was co-chaired by Nguyen Van Duoc, Member of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Vietnam, Deputy Secretary of the City Party Committee, and Chairman of the People's Committee of Ho Chi Minh City, and Nguyen Manh Cuong, Alternate Member of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Vietnam, Member of the Standing Committee of the City Party Committee, and Vice Chairman of the People's Committee of Ho Chi Minh City.

At the seminar, Vice Chairman of the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee Nguyen Manh Cuong emphasized that Ho Chi Minh City is a special urban area, the largest economic , cultural, and science and technology center in the country. However, in recent years, Ho Chi Minh City has faced many bottlenecks in the process of implementing its economic development tasks.

This includes the fact that institutions, legal systems, and legal frameworks have not met the requirements and are not suitable for the unique status of a large city. This has created, is creating, and will continue to create limitations and constraints in the process of maximizing the potential, strengths, and internal resources for the city's development.

Recently, the Politburo issued Resolution 09/2026 on building and developing Ho Chi Minh City in the new era. Resolution 09 is an important milestone, creating confidence and expectations among the people, the business community, and the entire society regarding the city's development.

Based on the Central Committee's directives, the conclusions of General Secretary and President To Lam at the working session with Ho Chi Minh City, and Resolution 09, the Central Committee has agreed to allow the city to proactively coordinate with the Ministry of Justice to develop the Law on Special Urban Areas. The Law on Special Urban Areas is a key strategic task of historical significance, enabling Ho Chi Minh City to have a superior institutional framework to promote development.

The draft Law on Special Urban Areas currently has 9 chapters and 45 articles covering many groups of issues. "Ho Chi Minh City's perspective when developing the Law on Special Urban Areas is not just to remove obstacles or request additional mechanisms, but to create a synchronized and unified institutional framework with truly unique and superior policies that will create a strong breakthrough in the city's development in the coming period," Mr. Nguyen Manh Cuong emphasized.

Chairman of the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee Nguyen Van Duoc speaks at the workshop. Photo: THIEN AN

Decentralization and delegation of power should be sufficiently strong.

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Speaking at the workshop, former Deputy Secretary of the City Party Committee and former Chairwoman of the Ho Chi Minh City People's Council, Nguyen Thi Quyet Tam, suggested that Ho Chi Minh City needs to be granted stronger powers than the current legal framework. The city must demonstrate that it possesses advantages that cannot be unlocked without sufficient authority.

"The Law on Special Urban Areas not only thoroughly decentralizes and delegates power but is also strong enough based on the city's capabilities, potential, and competitive advantages," Ms. Nguyen Thi Quyet Tam observed.

Commenting on the Urban Law, particularly regarding the areas of government organization, civil service regulations, and the issuance of legal documents, Ms. Pham Phuong Thao - former Deputy Secretary of the City Party Committee and former Chairwoman of the Ho Chi Minh City People's Council - suggested that city departments and agencies should not only have advisory functions but should also effectively manage their respective sectors and fields.

Regarding the development of science and technology and innovation, according to Ms. Pham Phuong Thao, the most important factor in attracting experts is the working environment. Therefore, the Law on Special Urban Development needs to empower experts, such as the right to implement ideas and capabilities; the right to mobilize experts, students, laboratories, etc.

"Over the past 10 years, Ho Chi Minh City has only attracted about 10 experts, even though the city pays them hundreds of millions of dong in salaries," Ms. Pham Phuong Thao cited as an example of the bottleneck.

Mr. Nguyen Ngoc Tran, former Chairman of the National Assembly's Foreign Affairs Committee, pointed out the conditions for the Special Urban Area Law to be feasible. Accordingly, first and foremost, it is necessary to clarify the boundaries between the Special Urban Area Law and related laws. He emphasized the need for a "stop-off" clause, affirming that whenever there is a difference between the Special Urban Area Law and other laws on the same issue, the provisions of the Special Urban Area Law shall apply.

Furthermore, the former Chairman of the National Assembly's Foreign Affairs Committee argued that the Law on Special Urban Areas needs a mechanism for exemption from liability. The application of sandbox mechanisms and new PPP models will carry a certain level of risk. Therefore, the law needs to clearly define mechanisms to protect officials who dare to think and act, and to clearly define the boundary between calculated risks in governance and profiteering.

Ho Chi Minh City needs a synchronized and unified institutional framework to create the potential for strong breakthroughs in development. Photo: HOANG TRIEU

70% legacy, 30% new proposals

Speaking at the workshop, Chairman of the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee Nguyen Van Duoc said that the Central Government, especially the General Secretary and the President, are very interested in, have high expectations of, and trust in Ho Chi Minh City.

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Speaking on behalf of the Ho Chi Minh City leadership, Mr. Nguyen Van Duoc stated that the city would fully consider the issues and suggestions raised by the delegates at the workshop.

The issuance of Resolution 09 by the Politburo creates favorable conditions for Ho Chi Minh City to develop more strongly in the coming period, especially in helping the city to build a Law on Special Urban Areas.

According to Mr. Nguyen Van Duoc, Resolution 09 is an honor, a source of pride, an opportunity, but also a great pressure for the political system of Ho Chi Minh City. "Enacting the Law on Special Urban Areas is difficult, but implementing it effectively in practice is even more challenging," he emphasized.

The Chairman of the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee stated that the approach to building the Law on Special Urban Areas is based on inheriting the provisions of the Law on the Capital City and developing new points and strengths. Specifically, 70% of the content is inherited, while 30% is new proposals from Ho Chi Minh City. With this Law on Special Urban Areas, Ho Chi Minh City strives to become a megacity, addressing the four shortcomings and limitations pointed out by the General Secretary and the President.

Source: https://nld.com.vn/ky-vong-vao-luat-do-thi-dac-biet-196260528215103181.htm