Ho Chi Minh City - A symphony of many winds

(PLVN) - Over the past 50 years since the country's reunification, from a city with many post-war wounds, Ho Chi Minh City has grown strongly to become the leading dynamic economic center of the country, a modern city with the intersection of many cultural regions and above all, a spirit of convergence and unanimity of people from all over the country.

New history and great strides

In 1975, Saigon was liberated, a new page of history opened for this land. The war was far away, but to rebuild a city that had been devastated, to rebuild each brick to build the future, the city had to face many challenges: rebuilding infrastructure, solving the economic crisis, and stabilizing people's lives. However, right from the hardship, Ho Chi Minh City soon demonstrated its pioneering, dynamic and creative spirit - which are typical qualities of the Southern land.

In the first years after liberation, the city was the first place to apply innovative models in management and production mechanisms. Enterprises and cooperatives were autonomous in production; traditional markets reopened; and the trade network gradually revived. And when the whole country entered the Doi Moi period in 1986, Ho Chi Minh City once again became the "leading wind" of economic reform.

From a city poor in natural resources but rich in “human resources”, the city has rapidly transformed itself. The open market mechanism attracts investment, forming export processing zones, industrial parks, commercial centers and later new-style urban areas. The city gradually emerges as a center of finance, science - technology,education - training and innovation of the whole country.

There cannot be a fast-growing urban area like Ho Chi Minh City without the right policies, daring to think and act, both encouraging creativity and maintaining social order and security, ensuring social security. Models such as urban government, digital economy, smart command centers, modern public transportation like today... are clear evidence of pioneering management thinking.

At the National Scientific Conference with the theme: "The Great Victory of Spring 1975 with the New Era of Development of the Vietnamese Nation" organized by the Ministry of National Defense in coordination with the Central Propaganda and Education Commission, the Ministry of Public Security, the Ho Chi Minh National Academy of Politics and the Ho Chi Minh City Party Committee recently, Comrade Nguyen Thanh Nghi, Member of the Party Central Committee, Standing Deputy Secretary of the Ho Chi Minh City Party Committee, shared about the city's outstanding marks over the past 50 years. One of the profound marks is that the city quickly stabilized the socio-political situation, maintaining the revolutionary government in the first years after liberation, despite facing numerous difficulties and challenges.

Outstanding in that process is the spirit of boldly "breaking the fence", removing "bottlenecks" to restore and develop the economy, stabilize people's lives. With flexibility, dynamism and creativity, Ho Chi Minh City has mastered the policies of the Party and State, closely followed reality, and effectively applied lessons learned from the resistance period. In particular, with the spirit of daring to think, daring to do, daring to take responsibility, the Party Committee and the city government have persistently sought to overcome the obstacles of the old mechanism, gradually opening up suitable directions, creating conditions for production development, gradually removing the bureaucratic and subsidized mechanism, while taking care of jobs and people's lives.

It was this bold “fence-breaking” process that gradually clarified a new path of development with new thinking and ways of doing things, making an important contribution to the formation of the Party’s innovation policy. The vivid practical results of Ho Chi Minh City during that period became an important basis for the Party leadership to make key decisions, especially in planning the economic innovation model at the 6th Congress in December 1986.

These stepping stones have created the premise for the City's economy to develop strongly since 1991. Statistics show that the City's economy has grown at a high rate for many consecutive years, with GRDP per capita continuously increasing rapidly. The period of 1995 - 1996 was 712 USD; the period of 1996 - 2000 was 1,004 USD; the period of 2001 - 2005 was 1,656 USD; the period of 2006 - 2010 was 3,199 USD; the period of 2011 - 2013 was 4,517 USD/person and in 2024 it was 7,600 USD/person.

Foundation from people's strength

Besides the right decisions from the open and creative thinking of the leaders, the foundation of all success is still the strength of the people. Ho Chi Minh City is not only home to Saigonese, but is also a place where residents from all over the country converge. They are the children of the North who left their hometowns to go to the South to make a living; they are the people of the Central region who crossed the mountains and seas to find opportunities; they are the people of the West who came to the city to make a living; they are also generations of workers, intellectuals, businessmen, engineers, students... from Lang Son to Ca Mau who all contribute to the "common home" of Saigon.

It can be said that the identity of Ho Chi Minh City is the identity of harmony. A Northerner can still easily find a Hanoi pho restaurant with the strong taste of his hometown in the heart of the city. A family from Hue still maintains a slow, quiet pace of life in peaceful alleys. Westerners bring with them their generosity, openness and the spirit of "living today, worrying about today" that has "breathed" into the city a joyful, liberal pace of life. The city does not erase the differences, but kneads them into a multi-colored harmony.

With a developed economy and an open lifestyle, Ho Chi Minh City has become a "promised land" for millions of workers, students, and young entrepreneurs. (Photo: ST)

If the ancient capital Hanoi is a place where traditions are often strictly preserved, or Da Nang is a blend of modern life and indigenous culture, then Ho Chi Minh City stands out for its "openness". Open in thinking, open in lifestyle, open in the way people treat each other. Newcomers do not feel lost. Old people are willing to give way and show the way. "Tolerant Saigon", "Kind Saigon" are the words that people often use when referring to the heart of the city in the South.

The economy is developing rapidly with many industries and professions, creating business conditions for all individuals, a generous lifestyle, tolerating differences... That is the reason why Ho Chi Minh City has become the "promised land" of millions of workers, students, and young entrepreneurs. It is a place where a lottery ticket seller can open a sugarcane juice cart tomorrow, and gradually have a small house. It is a place where a young engineer can come from Can Tho, study and work at the same time, and then become a manager in a technology corporation. It is a place where a poor boy from the West can both work as a waiter and study to become a doctor, treating many people, a retailer of the food products he creates can become a "king" in the industry, favored by domestic and foreign markets. Anyone can find a place for themselves in this vast city. On the other hand, the people from all over the world who come to "take refuge" in the city with their constant efforts to improve themselves are the positive factors, strongly contributing to the city's remarkable development through each period, so that we have a brilliant Ho Chi Minh City today.

Therefore, when mentioning Ho Chi Minh City, we do not only talk about economic growth, high-rise buildings or fast pace of life. We talk about a place where North - Central - South blend together, past - present intertwine, tradition - modernity go hand in hand. A magical symphony that constantly resonates among the southern winds.

Today, the City is facing many new challenges: urbanization, traffic pressure, climate change, rich-poor polarization... But it is in these challenges that we continue to need the "open" spirit and solidarity of a city with many windy regions.

The city has been making efforts to transform itself into a smart urban model: applying technology to traffic management, environment, education; developing green energy, clean public transport; renovating canals, urban embellishment; expanding green space for people... All are aimed at one goal: building a city that is not only worth living in, but also proud of. As comrade Nguyen Thanh Nghi recently stated, that in response to the requirements and tasks in the new situation, the City strives for a double-digit growth target, taking people as the subject, the center, the driving force to implement all goals and tasks, unleashing all resources to develop infrastructure, digital transformation, green transformation on the basis of taking science and technology as the foundation, contributing to promoting faster and more sustainable development of socio-economic activities. Ho Chi Minh City strives to become a modern industrial and service city, a leading digital economic and digital social center with a preeminent position in Southeast Asia by 2030. By 2045, Ho Chi Minh City will develop on par with major cities in the world, becoming an economic, financial and service center of Asia, an attractive global destination, with distinctive economic and cultural development, and people with a high quality of life.

Ngoc Mai

Source: https://baophapluat.vn/tp-ho-chi-minh-ban-hoa-tau-cua-nhieu-mien-gio-post546655.html