Building Ho Chi Minh City after the merger into a modern megacity

The central urban area of Ho Chi Minh City lies peacefully on the Saigon River. (Photo: Hong Dat/VNA)

Binh Duong, Ba Ria-Vung Tau provinces and Ho Chi Minh City are urgently implementing the contents of the Project on arrangement and merger to form a new Ho Chi Minh City, thereby promoting the advantages of the three localities with adjacent geographical locations, natural conditions, traffic infrastructure, allocation and organization of economic spaces, appropriate scale and level of economic development.

It can be said that this is a synchronous connection of transport infrastructure, including roads, railways, aviation, waterways and sea, linking seaports, opening up new development space for Ho Chi Minh City and the whole country to enter a new era.

Concluding at the first meeting of the Steering Committee on the implementation of the Project on the arrangement and merger of three localities recently, Mr. Nguyen Van Nen, Politburo member, Secretary of the Ho Chi Minh City Party Committee emphasized that the merger of Binh Duong province and Ba Ria-Vung Tau province into Ho Chi Minh City according to the policy of the Central Committee, Politburo, and Secretariat is not only a change in boundaries but also a revolution in organization, thinking, vision and aspiration to create new opportunities for sustainable development in the future, building Ho Chi Minh City into a modern megacity with strong influence, leading the economic development of Vietnam and enhancing its position in the international arena.

The implementation of the Party and State's policies and guidelines to merge Ba Ria-Vung Tau province and Binh Duong province into Ho Chi Minh City aims to optimize resources; strengthen regional connectivity, create supply chains; affirm the position, build Ho Chi Minh City into an international financial center, science and technology, innovation, logistics, cooperation, and competition with Asian megacities; the connection of cultural identities, traditions, and histories of the three localities will blend, creating a more diverse, richer, more profound, more humane solidarity and unity, and the Ho Chi Minh Cultural Space will spread more widely.

Tan Thuan Export Processing Zone connects with Tan Thuan Port to form a production-export ecosystem of Ho Chi Minh City. (Photo: Trung Tuyen/VNA)

Talking about the potential of the new Ho Chi Minh City after the merger, Dr. Tran Du Lich, Chairman of the Advisory Council of Resolution 98 of Ho Chi Minh City, said that if the new Ho Chi Minh City can exploit its potential, it will become a megacity that no other city in Southeast Asia can compare to. The new Ho Chi Minh City will have a maritime, industrial center, financial and commercial center, and a very large sea and island tourism center. The advantages of the individual cities will be converged into the new Ho Chi Minh City.

According to Dr. Tran Du Lich, the merger of three localities must be viewed as "not a plus sign but a multiplication sign," as the resonance of favorable factors to develop into a megacity. Therefore, it is necessary to recalculate the planning in the direction that the new Ho Chi Minh City is not a provincial-level administrative unit but an economic sub-region, from which to review economic structure indicators, area allocation, and land use.

From an economic perspective, Mr. Thomas Rooney, Deputy Director of Savills Hanoi Industrial Consulting (Savills Vietnam), commented that localities that are already bright spots in attracting investment, when merged and coordinated more closely in planning, will complement each other in terms of infrastructure, labor and development orientation. Large scale helps localities achieve higher standards in infrastructure and management, thereby enhancing their position in the global value chain.

In a more specific analysis, Mr. Thomas Rooney said that if the provincial merger is properly implemented, it will pave the way for the formation of integrated urban-industrial ecosystems, which are more attractive to foreign investment flows that are increasingly selective in their destinations.

Expanding administrative boundaries allows provinces to plan more new industrial parks with larger areas, providing more options for businesses. By increasing land funds, domestic and foreign businesses will easily find suitable locations to open factories, avoiding the shortage of industrial land in localities with high demand.

Central area of Ho Chi Minh City. (Photo: Hong Dat/VNA)

Speaking at an event in late April 2025 in Ho Chi Minh City, General Secretary To Lam affirmed that the new Ho Chi Minh City will become a locomotive and a driving force for strong development in the entire Southeast, Southwest, Central Highlands and South Central regions.

At the same time, the participation, cooperation, and additional resources from the southern provinces and cities - with strengths in land, labor, industry, agriculture, logistics, tourism, and culture - will also be essential resources, strengthening the resilience and stature of the expanded Ho Chi Minh City.

“This is a process of "co-development" and "co-elevation" with a mutually supportive and complementary relationship, aiming towards the common goal of forming a new growth pole with global competitiveness, friendliness, sustainability and rich identity,” General Secretary To Lam emphasized.

To gradually concretize and best implement the arrangement and consolidation project, Ho Chi Minh City, Binh Duong province, and Ba Ria-Vung Tau province continue to seriously, urgently, and drastically implement Resolution No. 57-NQ/TW of the Politburo on breakthroughs in science and technology development, innovation, and national digital transformation; promote the application of information technology to serve the leadership, direction, operation, and management of the entire political system to ensure smoothness, timeliness, and efficiency; carry out digital transformation, editing, and digitizing documents and online working models after the merger and arrangement; complete and connect infrastructure and data at administrative units after the merger, ensuring smooth, tight, and effective operations of the units to serve the people and businesses well.

According to economic experts, the merger of Ho Chi Minh City, Binh Duong and Ba Ria-Vung Tau will form a great model for the new development orientation that the whole country is aiming for, which is the development of digital economy, green economy, circular economy; at the same time, it is an important step to create momentum to enter the new era./.

(Vietnam News Agency/Vietnam+)

Source: https://www.vietnamplus.vn/xay-dung-thanh-pho-ho-chi-minh-sau-hop-nhat-tro-thanh-mot-sieu-do-thi-hien-dai-post1041575.vnp