Ho Chi Minh City positions itself as a driving force for breakthrough growth.

With outstanding socio -economic achievements in 2024, it can be affirmed that Ho Chi Minh City has firmly overcome difficulties, creating an important foundation for stronger development in the future. Mr. Phan Van Mai, Chairman of the People's Committee of Ho Chi Minh City, shared his views on the opportunity for Ho Chi Minh City, along with the rest of the country, to enter a new era - an era of national progress.

With outstanding socio-economic achievements in 2024, it can be affirmed that Ho Chi Minh City has firmly overcome difficulties, creating an important foundation for stronger development in the future. Mr. Phan Van Mai, Chairman of the People's Committee of Ho Chi Minh City, shared his views on the opportunity for Ho Chi Minh City, along with the rest of the country, to enter a new era - an era of national progress.

From 2025 onwards, Ho Chi Minh City's economic space will continuously expand, connecting with the rest of the country and internationally based on exploiting its potential and advantages.

Transformation

In 2024, Ho Chi Minh City is estimated to achieve a GRDP growth rate of 7.17%, further affirming its position as the leading economic engine of the country. This is the foundation for the city to strive for double-digit growth in 2025 – the year Ho Chi Minh City celebrates the 50th anniversary of the Liberation of the South and the reunification of the country. Sir, what are the most significant socio-economic achievements of the city over the past half-century?

Over the past 50 years, Ho Chi Minh City has consistently affirmed its role as the leading socio-economic engine of the country. It is home to many key industries, modern services, and strongly attracts domestic and foreign investment.

The city's economic development has a ripple effect on other localities in the Southeast region and the entire country. With its large economic scale and positive shift in economic structure, the city is increasingly developing the service sector and leading in attracting foreign investment.

In the field of innovation, the city focuses on building a startup ecosystem, attracting talent and technology investment, contributing to increased labor productivity and competitiveness.

Socially, Ho Chi Minh City attracts people from all over the country to live, work, and study, creating cultural diversity and a rich variety of customs and traditions. This has been the foundation for the city's gradual development into a national center of culture, education , science, and technology over the past 50 years.

The city is undergoing a powerful transformation every day, striving to become a smart, modern, green, clean, and beautiful metropolis.

After one year of implementing Resolution No. 98/2023/QH15 on piloting some specific mechanisms and policies, Ho Chi Minh City has initially achieved positive results, creating a solid foundation and important impetus for rapid, strong, and sustainable development. However, some mechanisms and policies have yet to be implemented, affecting the resolution of the city's bottlenecks…

Resolution No. 98/2023/QH15 stipulates 44 specific mechanisms, of which 33 have been implemented, including 24 that have initially achieved results, and 9 that are in the process of preparing procedures and subsequent steps for implementation in accordance with regulations. In addition, there are 11 mechanisms that have not yet been implemented, including 1 mechanism awaiting supplementary regulations from ministries and agencies; 2 mechanisms that have ceased implementation due to new regulations replacing them; 3 mechanisms that have not yet been proposed for implementation; and 5 mechanisms for which the City is finalizing guiding documents.

Among the 11 mechanisms yet to be implemented, there are policies on mobilizing and utilizing resources to help the city maximize its potential and strengths, and develop rapidly and strongly. These include policies prioritizing the attraction of strategic investors (investment in the construction of innovation centers, research and development centers; chip, semiconductor, new material, and clean energy production; and attracting strategic investors to invest in the Can Gio International Transshipment Port project).

Furthermore, the plan to implement the regulation that "Ho Chi Minh City is allowed to increase its total outstanding loan balance by no more than 120% of the city's allocated budget revenue" has not yet been issued, leading to the city's bottlenecks not being addressed as effectively as expected.

Mr. Phan Van Mai, Chairman of the People's Committee of Ho Chi Minh City

Positioning the burst impulse

General Secretary To Lam emphasized: "Vietnam will enter a new era, an era of national resurgence." How will Ho Chi Minh City position itself within the socio-economic and cultural space towards this new era of development, sir?

From 2025 onwards, Ho Chi Minh City will continue to affirm its position as the leading economic engine, cultural center, and smart city of the country, making a key contribution to national development. The city will focus on the following development directions:

Firstly, regarding economic space, the Ho Chi Minh City Master Plan for the period 2021-2030, with a vision to 2050, has been approved. The city is currently adjusting its Master Plan to 2040, with a vision to 2060. The goal by 2030 is for Ho Chi Minh City to be a global, civilized, modern, compassionate, dynamic, and creative city; a city with high-quality human resources, modern services and industries, a leading engine for the green and digital economy, a digital society, a national center for economy, finance, trade and services, culture, education, science and technology, deeply integrated internationally, with a prominent position in Southeast Asia, with economic growth and per capita GRDP among the highest in the country and exceeding the high-income threshold; a city with a high quality of life, rich identity, a sustainable environment, and adaptability to climate change.

Thus, from 2025 onwards, Ho Chi Minh City's economic space will continuously expand, connecting with the region, the country, and the international community based on exploiting the city's potential and advantages. The economic scale will increasingly grow in both quantity and quality with new economic models, along with the increasingly efficient exploitation of resources.

Secondly, the city focuses on improving the quality of life and building a civilized, modern, and compassionate society. The city is concentrating on developing high-quality human resources to meet the needs of the labor market and achieve international standards, and is building appropriate connection programs for high-tech industries…

Thirdly, the city will rise to become a cultural, tourism, and science and technology center for the whole country and the region. The city will build a leading science and technology and innovation startup ecosystem in Vietnam, identifying research and application of science and technology and innovation as the driving force for socio-economic development…

Fourth, the city is resilient in overcoming challenges and seizing opportunities for sustainable development.

In summary, the city needs to focus on transforming its economic model, developing the digital economy, green economy, and circular economy; improving the quality of human resources; building a civilized, modern, and compassionate society, while overcoming challenges and maximizing opportunities.

Implementing these guidelines will undoubtedly face numerous challenges. How has Ho Chi Minh City identified and planned to address them?

The biggest challenge lies in the institutional and institutional framework; some policies are not truly groundbreaking, not strong enough to create momentum for development, or still have obstacles and inadequacies. These obstacles not only slow down the progress of key projects and programs of the City, but also hinder the exploitation of potential and the attraction of social investment resources. In addition to Resolution No. 98/2023/QH15, in the future, a Law on Special Urban Areas is needed to enable Ho Chi Minh City to be more proactive in piloting specific mechanisms and policies that are appropriate to its role and position.

Furthermore, the city has identified a plan to focus investment on developing public transportation infrastructure, urban rail, and modern, high-tech wastewater and waste treatment systems. Given that the supply of high-quality human resources, especially in the technology sector, still falls short of demand, the city is determined to continue promoting training and attracting talent, experts, and scientists from both within and outside the country.

The quality of life and happiness of its citizens are also important indicators for the city in the next phase. Therefore, the city will focus on improving the social security system, enhancing the quality of public services, and promoting activities to build a cultural and spiritual life for its people.

Ready to establish a financial center.

Resolution No. 31-NQ/TW of the Politburo has set the direction for Ho Chi Minh City to become a city with a modern, developed industrial base on par with major cities in the region and reaching continental prominence by 2045. What specific solutions has the city implemented to realize this goal?

The city prioritizes the development of high-tech industries, increasing the proportion of industry and construction to 27-30% and strongly restructuring the sector. Key industries are developed in a way that completes the ecosystem, focusing on high-tech segments with high growth potential.

The city will have policies to support interest rates and offer preferential land lease rates for key projects, investing in potential industries such as electronics - semiconductors, artificial intelligence, biotechnology, and new materials….

The city is also promoting public-private partnerships to mobilize social capital and develop industrial and service infrastructure. At the same time, it is improving mechanisms for compensation, land clearance, and land acquisition, and perfecting the legal framework to ensure effective management.

Furthermore, the city focuses on attracting strategic, high-tech investors and developing connections between domestic and international markets to enhance competitiveness. It aims to maximize and effectively utilize private sector resources to compensate for the shortfall in state budget investment in infrastructure and public services.

The city will focus on improving the effectiveness of attracting foreign investment. This includes prioritizing the attraction of leading global corporations, repositioning foreign investment flows to minimize risks, and prioritizing green and high-tech projects. Through collaborative development, the city will connect domestic production with the production chains of multinational corporations, increasing the localization rate and added value.

The Politburo has agreed to establish a comprehensive international financial center in Ho Chi Minh City. According to experts, the early development of an international financial center will create opportunities for the city to connect with the global financial market, attract foreign financial institutions, boost resources, and create breakthroughs for development. What roadmap has the city developed to best take advantage of this opportunity?

The city has established a City Steering Committee on the International Financial Center, chaired by the City Party Secretary, to coordinate with central agencies in implementing assigned tasks.

The city will coordinate with the Ministry of Planning and Investment and other relevant ministries and agencies to review and assess the impact of each policy, propose relevant content, and submit it to the Ministry of Planning and Investment for compilation into a National Assembly Resolution on the financial center. Simultaneously, it will coordinate in developing regulations and guidelines for the implementation of the Resolution within its authority.

The city will develop a plan to mobilize resources, including resources from the state budget and private resources, to develop infrastructure serving the financial center; develop and implement an investment plan for human resource development for the financial center; prepare the site for the development of the financial center; and promote and attract investment into the financial center in Ho Chi Minh City.

Source: https://baodautu.vn/tphcm-dinh-vi-xung-luc-but-pha-d243703.html