Ho Chi Minh City: Great aspirations and historic opportunities

A corner of Ho Chi Minh City. (Photo by THE ANH)

Ho Chi Minh City has become an administrative- economic entity with a new position on the map of major cities in the region and the world, carrying great aspirations and historic opportunities. To realize the expectation of being in the Top 100 livable cities in the world by 2030 and vision to 2045, besides advantages, the city must also overcome many challenges...

Large stature

Ho Chi Minh City has been playing the role of the country's economic locomotive with its strength in finance and services, a place with a startup ecosystem, innovation, and a prominent position in the region as well as in the world. Binh Duong , a place with the most developed industrial infrastructure in Southeast Asia, has abundant FDI capital with an urbanization process that is considered equivalent to that of developed countries.

Ba Ria-Vung Tau, an international maritime gateway, is striving to become a national maritime economic center with the Cai Mep-Thi Vai port cluster - one of the world's top 21 deep-water ports, with regional and global competitiveness. Deeply connecting the three localities will create an economic triangle that converges all the elements of financial services, high-tech industrial production, logistics and seaports.

All three localities are converging the country’s leading institutional and digital governance foundations. These foundations create a pioneering urban area, leading not only by growth rate, but also by governance quality. These are also localities with strengths in high-quality human resources, smart and modern urban development, and strengths in the fields of healthcare, education and training, and social security policies.

After merging with Binh Duong and Ba Ria-Vung Tau, Ho Chi Minh City (new) has a large scale and potential with a total natural area of 6,772.59 km2 and a population of more than 14 million people. The city's contribution to the gross domestic product (GDP) is about 24% and contributes nearly 40% to the national budget.

The new Ho Chi Minh City is not simply a calculation of geographic space, but a combination of forces that creates new momentum and new space for development at a higher level and class.

“Where the three most dynamic economic poles of the country converge into a financial-high-tech industrial-marine economic megacity with the highest development density in Southeast Asia, with a vision of striving to be in the Top 100 livable cities in the world by 2030 and a vision to 2045,” comrade Nguyen Van Duoc shared.

Comrade Nguyen Van Duoc, Chairman of the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee, said that this is a strategic decision of our Party and State, marking a new chapter in the revolutionary process of restructuring the apparatus to be "lean-lean-strong-efficient-effective-effective". The new Ho Chi Minh City is not simply a calculation of adding geographical space, but a combination of forces to create new momentum and new space for development at a higher level and class.

According to Associate Professor, Dr. Tran Hoang Ngan, National Assembly Delegate, Assistant Secretary of the Ho Chi Minh City Party Committee, there is no place that has as strong a growth momentum as Ho Chi Minh City today. With this development, in the coming time, there will be new potential dynamic quadrangles, specifically the Thi Vai-Cai Mep international transit port combined with the Can Gio international transit port. From there, a free trade zone will be formed combined with the Ho Chi Minh City International Financial Center and Dong Nai's Long Thanh International Airport, creating a new driving force for the development of the Southeast region.

Ho Chi Minh City will not be limited to the boundaries of the three merged localities but will also expand to neighboring provinces in the future to implement the regional development strategy. The city is not only the nucleus and driving force with a leading role but also creates close links in inter-regional development.

Speaking at a recent working session with the Standing Committee of the Ho Chi Minh City Party Committee and the Provincial Party Committees of Binh Duong and Ba Ria-Vung Tau (formerly), General Secretary To Lam emphasized: The new vision for Ho Chi Minh City is to become an international megacity of Southeast Asia - a smart, green, creative city, typical not only of economic strength but also of richness in culture, art, sports, entertainment and modern, dynamic lifestyle. And Ho Chi Minh City must not only be the national economic locomotive but also a modern city with influence in the network of global cities.

Perfecting the new governance model to be able to operate

With its large size, large area, and large population, Ho Chi Minh City, in addition to its strong potential, is also facing many major challenges in urban governance. The new governance model under the direction of General Secretary To Lam must be stronger than the provincial level, more flexible than the regional level, and capable of operating a three-polar megacity in the era of global integration and competition. It is necessary to establish a smart, modern, and comprehensively synchronized governance system. The merger of the three localities aims to optimize not only tangible resources but more importantly, institutions, mechanisms, policies, and the building of a creative, transparent, and effective digital government.

According to Associate Professor, Dr. Tran Hoang Ngan, this is a revolution in organization, thinking, action and creating new opportunities in the new development stage. A sufficiently broad and flexible institution, suitable for the population size, economy, security and defense characteristics of each locality is an inevitable requirement. At the same time, it is necessary to promote decentralization and delegation of power to localities, following the motto "locality decides, locality acts, locality is responsible".

Sharing the same thought, Dr. Le Ba Chi Nhan, an economic expert, said: Although each locality has its own outstanding strengths, when merging, there will inevitably be challenges in restructuring the administrative and operational apparatus. Without a specific and clear plan on decentralization, delegation of authority and allocation of resources, it is easy to lead to overlapping functions, conflicts of interest and problems in effective governance.

COMRADE NGUYEN VAN NEN, MEMBER OF THE POLITBURO, SECRETARY OF THE HO CHI MINH CITY PARTY COMMITTEE, INFORMED:
From July 1, all levels and sectors must focus on operating the apparatus according to the new model with the highest determination and responsibility, ensuring smoothness and continuity. Assigned organizations and individuals must regularly review all tasks and tasks, strengthen inspection, supervision, support, share difficulties, and promptly propose solutions to arising situations. Cadres are the key to the key, deciding all successes and failures, therefore, each cadre needs to do well the assigned work, considering it a responsibility but also an honor to contribute to operating a streamlined, strong, efficient, effective and efficient apparatus. Reality requires each cadre and civil servant to prepare themselves in terms of mindset, thinking, vision, capacity, methods and constantly study and practice political mettle and moral qualities to be worthy of being a cadre of a large city - a megacity of global stature.

According to Dr. Le Ba Chi Nhan, we need to promote the construction of smart cities, build a comprehensive e-government model (digital government). At the same time, allocating resources and ensuring sustainable development are also issues that need to be calculated while the budget is limited. For Ho Chi Minh City to truly be a launching pad for Vietnam's economy, we need to correctly recognize the current situation, point out the difficulties, and proactively resolve them with practical, scientific solutions that are suitable to practical conditions.

Dr. Le Ba Chi Nhan gave a specific example: Currently, the traffic routes connecting the centers of Ho Chi Minh City are often overloaded, causing prolonged congestion, increasing logistics costs and negatively affecting regional competitiveness. Some key projects such as: Ring Road 3, Ring Road 4, Bien Hoa - Vung Tau Expressway, Interprovincial Urban Railway... are still in the investment preparation process or are being implemented slowly, not meeting the requirements for rapid and sustainable development of the southern key economic region.

In order to manage and promote the development of a megacity of Ho Chi Minh City, in addition to institutions, human resources are considered an important factor. Reality requires qualified human resources, capable of shouldering new responsibilities, ensuring the apparatus operates evenly, smoothly, smoothly and transparently. To retain and promote talented, dedicated and capable people, there must be appropriate remuneration policies. In the current period, that is, resolving policies for each group of cadres, civil servants, and public employees, each specific case so that those who continue to move forward can confidently contribute, and those who do not continue also receive due attention.

Realizing the vision and expected goals for Ho Chi Minh City is not easy. During a recent working session in Ho Chi Minh City, General Secretary To Lam emphasized the need for “a big enough aspiration, a strong enough will and a high enough political determination from the entire political system”.

Vuong Le - Nhandan.vn

Source: https://nhandan.vn/thanh-pho-ho-chi-minh-khat-vong-lon-cung-co-hoi-lich-su-post891095.html