New wave of investment coming to Ho Chi Minh City

Untangling a series of projects

On the morning of August 9, at the regular meeting on the socio-economic situation in July; key tasks and solutions in August, Chairman of the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee Nguyen Van Duoc and leaders of departments and branches listened to the report on the results after more than a month of Ho Chi Minh City merging its boundaries with Binh Duong and Ba Ria - Vung Tau.

Director of the Department of Finance Nguyen Cong Vinh informed that in July, the Special Task Force of Ho Chi Minh City reviewed, processed and concluded many large projects.

In addition, the working group also focused on solving major problems related to public assets, unused or ineffectively used headquarters, and stuck projects of state-owned enterprises.

During the same period, Ho Chi Minh City's total budget revenue reached more than VND472,588 billion, equivalent to 70.4% of the central government's estimate and up 14.6% over the same period last year. Although budget revenue increased, the progress of public investment disbursement was still slow, reaching only more than VND47,577 billion by the end of July, equal to 40% of the plan assigned by the Prime Minister (VND118,948 billion) and 31.4% of the city's plan.

The challenge of "capital absorption"

Speaking at the meeting, Dr. Truong Minh Huy Vu, Director of the Ho Chi Minh City Institute for Development Studies, assessed that the city's economy is still showing signs of recovery, but the ability to "absorb capital" is a key challenge after the merger with Binh Duong and Ba Ria - Vung Tau .

He stressed that the problem is not a lack of capital but whether these resources are brought to the right place at the right time to create efficiency.

"The problem is not whether there is money or not, but where the money goes and whether it goes into effective projects or not? If the money flows into the market without good control, the inflation index and consumer price index will increase," said Dr. Truong Minh Huy Vu.

Dr. Truong Minh Huy Vu, Director of Ho Chi Minh City Institute for Development Studies, spoke at the meeting.

Recently, the Ho Chi Minh City Institute for Development Studies has coordinated with relevant agencies to review and identify 7 laws that have been adjusted, directly affecting the implementation of specific mechanisms and policies of Ho Chi Minh City. The next issue is the ability to "permeate" the policies of the new Ho Chi Minh City after the merger.

The Director of the Ho Chi Minh City Institute for Development Studies said that it is important that these policies be communicated and effectively applied to all 168 wards and communes. Close monitoring is needed to determine whether the current policies are sufficient, have reached the right target and have been effective.

In the context of many investors coming to Ho Chi Minh City to survey and propose projects, capital will certainly flow in, but will not stay long if the city does not promptly meet the requirements and effectively absorb these policies and resources.

Based on that reality, the Ho Chi Minh City Institute for Development Studies proposed implementing the model of “one center - three regions - one special zone”. In which, the central region plays the role of the policy brain, the two regions, the old Binh Duong and the old Ba Ria - Vung Tau, need to be developed synchronously, smoothly continuing the projects and works before the merger.

A “growth directive” needs to be issued soon.

Dr. Vu warned that any disruption could lead to disruptions in capital flows, projects, and preparation work. Therefore, he recommended that the city soon issue a “growth directive” assigning specific tasks to each industry and unit, including both state-owned and private enterprises.

At the same time, it is necessary to focus on social security policies from now until the end of the year to reduce the impact of inflation, control the consumer price index, and at the same time develop a long-term plan for social housing development.