PM urges Ho Chi Minh City to create favourable start-up environment

Prime Minister, Nguyen Xuan Phuc, has asked the largest southern economic hub of Ho Chi Minh City to create a favourable start-up environment for those with great willpower.

Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc speaks at a working session with Ho Chi Minh City’s key leaders on June 23 (Photo: VNA)

At a working session with Ho Chi Minh City’s key leaders, on June 23, PM Phuc said it is a must for the city to build an innovative economy and build momentum for sustainable development in order to drive the country’s intensive international integration.

He emphasised the core values which the southern hub should look towards, including smart urban infrastructure, smart management, technocracy, inclusive growth and equal development opportunities for all people.

“Ho Chi Minh City’s key objective is to generate jobs with an increase of income, to create sustainable collection sources for State budget and to leave no one behind in development,” the Government leader stressed.

PM Phuc voiced his hope that Ho Chi Minh City will put forth long-term planning schemes, targeting sustainable development, and urged the locality to review its land use plan and report the results of the review to the PM in August.

The PM requested that Ho Chi Minh City take the lead in terms of administrative reform, whilst striving to enter the list of the five localities with the best provincial competitiveness indexes and creating new breakthroughs in private investment.

To that end, Ho Chi Minh City, together with the capital city of Hanoi, should be the pioneers in start-up and innovation and become an international centre of education and health care, he said.

The government leader asked the municipal Party Organisation and administration to focus their efforts on removing bottlenecks hindering the city’s socio-economic development, especially in terms of transport infrastructure, and to review and renew their thoughts. “The Government will accompany the city’s innovations,” he affirmed.

At the meeting, PM Phuc also praised the city’s contributions to the country’s GDP and state budget collection.

In the first half of this year, Ho Chi Minh City’s economy grew 7.76%, compared with a growth rate of 7.47% over the same period last year, with the best performers being the service, industry, construction and agriculture sectors. It is a huge task for the city to reach the economic growth rate of 8.5%, set for the last six months and the comingyears, the leader said.

PM Phuc also pointed out a range of limitations, such as a decreased competitiveness index and a below-average reading of unofficial spending, equal competitiveness, legal institutions and systematic dynamism. At the same time, the city has to face such problems as flooding, traffic jams and pollution, he said.

Regarding the expansion of Tan Son Nhat International Airport, PM Phuc urged the relevant agencies and units to promptly seek out experts and organisations to make scientific assessments, to ensure the promptimplementation of the project, explaining that the Long Thanh international airport project, which aims to reduce the overload of Tan Son Nhat airport, is scheduled to be completed in 2025-2027.

Representatives from a number of ministries and agencies held that Ho Chi Minh City has become an attractive destination for investors and stressed the need for the locality to select suitable projects, and prioritise urgent programmes, in order to create the desire for growth.

They also suggested that Ho Chi Minh City intensify the decentralisation of management at different levels and finalise a legal framework, which would provide benefitsfor the locality.

Speaking at the working session, Secretary of the municipal Party Committee, Nguyen Thien Nhan, said that Ho Chi Minh City is committed to exert all efforts in order to complete socio-economic targets and fulfill the target of State budget collection.

Ho Chi Minh City will continue with administrative reform and strive to launch the granting of investment licences, under the one-stop model in September, in tandem with settling pressing issues like waste and traffic jams.

(Source: NDO)