May and decisive action

Tourism became a standout highlight in Ho Chi Minh City's economic picture in April, serving nearly 2.7 million visitors in just 15 days (from April 2nd to May 4th), generating estimated revenue of 15,700 billion VND, double the revenue of the Lunar New Year holiday. During the peak 5-day holiday period, the city served approximately 1.95 million visitors, a 101% increase compared to the same period last year, with total revenue estimated at over 7,100 billion VND.

This contributed to a 20% increase in total retail sales of goods and services for the month, alongside a 9.1% increase in total value of goods exports and a 7.9% increase in industrial production (IIP) compared to the same period last year. The average consumer price index (CPI) was controlled at 4.21%.

However, conversely, the index for the electricity generation and distribution industry declined sharply; the inventory index increased. It should be noted that the labor index decreased, with both job creation and job placement rates lower, while unemployment benefits increased. The number of newly established businesses and registered capital both decreased (from 35% to over 50%) compared to the same period.

On average, for every 10 businesses entering the market, 12 withdraw. This negatively impacts the city's investment and social environment and requires prompt remedial measures. Furthermore, a persistent and unresolved issue is the very low disbursement rate of public investment capital (as of April 29th, only 6,067 billion VND had been disbursed, reaching 7.2%). This reflects that despite improvements, the public administration remains passive, with a tendency to shirk responsibility and avoid advising on and proposing solutions to difficulties in its areas of responsibility.

Following the successful parade and march commemorating the 50th anniversary of the Liberation of Southern Vietnam and the reunification of the country, the city now needs to quickly and decisively implement solutions to "race against time" for the six-month preparation plan.

Given the significant declines mentioned above, it is essential to immediately create a "boost" in attracting and licensing domestic and foreign investment to regain the confidence of businesses and investors. Regarding the disbursement of public investment capital, it is necessary to identify sectors with large public investment allocations and projects with significant public investment capital, such as Metro Line 2 and the An Phu interchange, in order to hold meetings to address difficulties, with a focus on land clearance and reallocating capital immediately for projects that are unlikely to meet deadlines.

Within Ho Chi Minh City's jurisdiction, on the one hand, it is necessary to review, reorganize, and improve the efficiency of managing and exploiting public land funds in the city; enhance the effectiveness of the Land Valuation Council and the approval of specific land prices; and link this with the restructuring of state-owned enterprises. On the other hand, it is necessary to focus on resolving issues related to large-scale, feasible private investment projects to bring them into operation, avoiding waste of social resources. Specifically, it is necessary to definitively resolve the outstanding public investment projects among the 571 projects still facing obstacles related to land compensation and clearance, planning, and land procedures.

While monitoring and urging the progress of implementing the conclusions and directives of the Chairman of the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee, the city government continued to organize working groups led by the city's top leader to work with departments, agencies, and localities to directly resolve difficulties and obstacles. This included strengthening (unannounced) inspections of administrative procedures at departments, agencies, industrial park management boards, export processing zones, high-tech zones, and localities.

Regarding the medium-term orientation in the context of Ho Chi Minh City's expansion, proactive research into development space is a key focus. In the short term, it is necessary to review and plan investments in transportation routes connecting with Binh Duong and Ba Ria - Vung Tau provinces to create a synchronized and seamless system when the new city is formed in September. Transportation not only plays a vital role in opening up new routes but also acts as a driving force for socio -economic development, especially as high growth targets are a priority for Ho Chi Minh City's leadership.

All of this creates a "boost" for May, proactively removing obstacles and accelerating projects; taking decisive and thorough action to create products that serve society and the people.

NGUYEN QUAN CAT

Source: https://www.sggp.org.vn/thang-5-va-hanh-dong-quyet-liet-post794211.html