Amendments and additions to Resolution 98/2023/QH15: Accelerating action and creating breakthroughs for Ho Chi Minh City.

Today, December 11th, the National Assembly voted to approve the draft Resolution amending and supplementing several articles of Resolution 98/2023/QH15 on piloting some specific mechanisms and policies for the development of Ho Chi Minh City (Resolution 98). In discussions with reporters from the Saigon Giai Phong newspaper, National Assembly deputies, experts, and investors agreed on providing a more flexible institutional framework to enable Ho Chi Minh City to proactively invest, plan, and develop new models.

Comrade NGUYEN VAN DUOC - Chairman of the People's Committee of Ho Chi Minh City:

Ready to act as a "laboratory" for new policies.

Having completed more than half of the implementation of Resolution 98, Ho Chi Minh City has achieved certain results. However, in the new development context, some mechanisms and policies are no longer suitable and need to be expanded to create better incentives for the city's investment environment, better serving the city's development.

Therefore, Ho Chi Minh City has diligently researched and proposed to the Central Government amendments and additions to mechanisms and policies that are groundbreaking and outstanding. The city only requested mechanisms, not money, and is ready to be a pilot site for policies, a "laboratory" for new policies, especially economic development policies and models. The draft resolution submitted to the National Assembly is the result of the decisive leadership of the Central Party Committee, the National Assembly, the Government, and the focus of Ho Chi Minh City on this important task. Ho Chi Minh City thanks the Central Party Committee, the National Assembly, the Government, and the National Assembly delegates for their support and agreement with the city.

Today, the National Assembly will vote on the draft Resolution amending and supplementing several articles of Resolution 98. If approved, the amended and supplemented Resolution 98 will be a powerful tool for the city's remarkable development in the coming period.

Thu Thiem riverside park connects urban spaces according to Resolution 98, overlooking the center of Ho Chi Minh City. Photo: HOANG HUNG

In the coming period, the city will restructure its development space towards a multi-polar, integrated, and connected direction. This involves completing the task of formulating and adjusting the city's master plan in 2026, closely adhering to the orientation of forming "3 regions - 1 special zone - 3 corridors - 5 driving forces" while leveraging the strengths of each region. Regarding this task, the amended Resolution 98 contains a very important provision: decentralizing authority to the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee in formulating and adjusting the city's master plan.

Based on this mechanism, the city is determined to complete the master plan by 2026 to attract investment, contributing to the city's expected growth. Ho Chi Minh City leaders also committed that immediately after the National Assembly approves the plan, the city will implement it to create a breakthrough in the city's development in the coming period.

Representative NGUYEN HAI DUNG - Deputy Head of the Ninh Binh Provincial Delegation of the National Assembly:

I agree with the proposed amendments and additions.

I agree with the amendments and additions to the articles in Resolution 98, which aim to remove obstacles and difficulties, accelerate the pace of investment and capital utilization in Ho Chi Minh City, and grant more authority to the city.

In particular, establishing a robust legal framework for the Ho Chi Minh City Free Trade Zone (FTZ) will help operate and bring the free trade zone into effective operation, creating new impetus for the city's development. Therefore, it is necessary to empower the city in carrying out procedures for establishing, expanding, and adjusting the boundaries of the FTZ, or allowing land allocation and leasing without auction or bidding for investment projects within the zone, except for commercial projects, in order to accelerate investment attraction and infrastructure development.

Representative HA SY DONG - Delegation of National Assembly Deputies from Quang Tri Province:

The amendments and additions should be focused and targeted.

I agree with the need to amend and supplement Resolution 98, but the amendments need to be focused and concentrate on mechanisms that truly create momentum for development. Among these, the Transport-Oriented Development (TOD) policy is a very important breakthrough. Allowing the city to decide on the investment and construction of combined housing, commercial services, and public facilities on land designated for transportation and train stations is an open policy that can effectively utilize the value of the land.

However, the amendments and additions must ensure they are focused, consistent, substantive, and free from policy risks, loopholes for corruption, or vested interests. Therefore, I propose that the Government carefully assess and differentiate land types, develop a separate set of technical standards for the TOD model, and absolutely not allow the TOD mechanism to become a shield for easy conversion of public land to residential land.

Mr. JOHNATHAN HANH NGUYEN - Chairman of Inter Pacific Group (IPPG):

Building the "seeds" of a green FTZ model.

Ho Chi Minh City's plan to establish four Free Trade Zones (FTZs) in Can Gio, An Binh, Bau Bang, and Cai Mep Ha demonstrates a vision aimed at creating a green logistics corridor for the city, in line with global economic trends. I expect that the new Resolution 98 will provide a sufficiently strong legal framework to operate FTZs according to international standards.
The key conditions are allowing the city to apply extra-high-level mechanisms regarding taxes, customs, investment, and land; exempting goods within the Free Trade Zone from taxes; and building a unified electronic service portal. Granting these advanced mechanisms to enable Ho Chi Minh City to effectively implement this breakthrough model will also significantly contribute to integrating Vietnam into the global value chain.

However, in practice, deploying all four FTZs simultaneously would easily disperse resources. Therefore, the city should consider piloting the deployment of 1-2 strategic FTZs, prioritizing Can Gio and Cai Mep Ha to create "seeds" of green, digital, and integrated FTZs before expanding after 2030, when the railway and Long Thanh International Airport are fully developed.

Source: https://ttbc-hcm.gov.vn/sua-doi-bo-sung-mot-so-dieu-nghi-quyet-98-2023-qh15-tang-toc-hanh-dong-tao-dot-pha-cho-tphcm-1020181.html