Information about hcm city

HCM City’s industrial production grew by 3.8 per cent year-on-year in the first three months of the year, and retail sales went up by 12 per cent. It suggests the COVID-19 pandemic has been well controlled and enterprises feel secure about doing business again, according to the city Department of Industry and Trade.

Its director, Bui Ta Hoang Vu, speaks to Viet Nam News about the manufacturing situation in the first quarter and measures needed in the second to sustain it.

How was the retail sector’s performance in the first quarter of the year and what will the department do to stimulate consumption and boost the sector’s growth during the rest of the year?

Total retail sales and services in HCM City in the first quarter of the year were estimated at VND279.04 trillion (US$12.1 billion), an increase of 6.2 per cent over the same period last year. Of this, retail sales were worth VND156.5 trillion ($6.79 billion), a year-on-year increase of 12 per cent.

We enjoyed some growth in Q1. To maintain the momentum we have to do a lot of work to promote trade and production activities. To be specific, we continue to deepen our linkages with provinces and cities in the supply chains for goods and services through agreements we have signed. We will continue to join hands with localities to organise programmes that enable enterprises from other cities and provinces to meet directly with enterprises and traders at wholesale markets in the city so that they can together make market forecasts and prepare goods for the former to meet the city’s demand and vice versa.

In addition, we facilitate businesses’ promotional activities by solving administrative procedures related to promotion activities quickly and conveniently.

Every year the department receives 500,000 applications to carry out promotion programmes from businesses. This year, with an increase in IT use, the number is expected to rise by 10-15 per cent.

We have got the green light from the city People’s Committee to organise consumer promotion fairs and a concentrated promotion programme along with the tourism sector, airlines, transport companies, accommodation establishments, and shopping centres to offer big sales promotions for local and foreign tourists as well as city residents.

We will start organising the concentrated promotion programme this year. Other cities in the region such as Singapore and Bangkok have impressive sales seasons and HCM City will gradually learn from them to become a shopping hub of the country and region.

We will also take steps to stimulate investment, expand land availability for production establishments and improve the quality of human resources for the industrial, trading and import-export sectors.

We are still both fighting the COVID-19 pandemic and intensifying economic activities. Therefore, the first priority is to continue to ensure epidemic prevention at all production and trading facilities.

What do you think about the retail industry’s prospects this year?

With a network of nearly 240 supermarkets and shopping malls, 237 traditional markets and three large wholesale markets, and an increase in digital application in commercial activities, we expect the city’s retail industry to achieve double-digit growth this year.

In this, e-commerce will continue to be the bright spot and could reach a growth rate of 20 per cent.

Many consumers still complain about sales of fake goods on e-commerce platforms. How will your department deal with this issue to make shoppers feel secure when shopping online?

There are certain people who always operate in contravention of the provisions of the law. They sell knock-offs of famous brands or sell products with unclear origins. We have an agency associated with the Ministry of Industry and Trade’s Market Surveillance Agency to strengthen inspection and strictly deal with violations like selling of counterfeit goods and products with unclear origins.

The department’s inspectorate has collaborated with the city Department of Information and Communications’ Inspectorate to gather information about online frauds. We work actively and have prevented a number of cases involving companies taking advantage of the online environment to sell illegal goods.

As for industrial production, what will the department do to sustain growth this year?

The city’s industrial production sector has recovered quarter after quarter, with the index of industrial production in the first quarter of 2021 going up by 3.8 per cent over the same period last year (it was down by 0.99 per cent in Q1 2020), with the four key sectors (electronics, mechanical engineering, food processing, and pharmaceutical chemicals-rubber-plastic) growing by 7.5 per cent.

This was thanks to enterprises being proactive in production and trading amid the COVID-19 pandemic and the assistance from the municipal government in addressing administrative issues rapidly and creating favourable conditions for businesses.

We have adopted many comprehensive solutions for improving the investment environment and making it easy for businesses to get land and capital and enhance the use of IT.

In the near future the city will announce policies to help firms operating in the industrial sector operate in a methodical way. We will continue to carry out the investment stimulation programme to enable more firms to get free loans to invest in new technologies and equipment and improve their competitiveness. — VNS

HCM City authorities will continue to resolve flooding and traffic congestion, build major transport works, and streamline administrative procedures to reach “smart city” status by 2030, a city official has said.

Speaking at a recent city People’s Council meeting, Nguyen Thanh Phong, chairman of the city People’s Committee, said that two transport projects worth more than VND12 trillion (US$521.8 million) have been approved.

These include An Phu Intersection in Thu Duc new city and the renovation of Tham Luong, Ben Cat and Nuoc Len canals, to be implemented from now to 2025, according to Phong.

It will cost VND3.926 trillion to build An Phu intersection, including VND1.8 trillion from the central State budget and VND2.126 trillion from the city budget.

The three-level intersection will have overpasses and a tunnel. It will start from the approach road to the HCM City-Long Thanh-Dau Giay expressway and end at the Luong Dinh Cua Street, which often sees serious congestion.

In addition, the upgrade of the Tham Luong, Ben Cat and Nuoc Len canals will need VND8.2 trillion, including VND4 trillion from the State budget and VND4.2 trillion from the city budget.

The 32km-long project goes through District 12, Binh Tan, Tan Phu, Tan Binh, Go Vap, Binh Thanh and Binh Chanh districts.

It is expected to help reduce flooding in the central business district and the northwestern part of the city. It will also improve waterway connections between the city and southern provinces.

‘Smart city’ status by 2025

Phong said the city would focus on “research and development of AI applications in HCMC” in order to become a smart city by 2025.

Under the programme to become a smart city by 2025, a database of all sectors, ranging from housing, transport and environment to healthcare, will share data with all of the city’s administrative departments.

This will help social organisations, businesses and residents have better access to public information and services online through mobile devices and other means, according to Phong.

The city will also focus on developing AI technologies and improving human resources by using AI in education and training, and enhancing academic communications with foreign AI professionals.

In addition, an innovative urban area in the eastern part of the city will continue to be built. The city has already approved the establishment of Thu Duc new city by merging the three eastern districts of 2, 9, and Thu Duc.

The new city will cover more than 211sq.km and be home to more than 1.1 million people. It is expected to promote economic growth in the city and the southern region.

It will serve as a center for three main functions: scientific and technological research and application; education and training of high-quality human resources; and production and trade of hi-tech products and services.

It is expected to contribute a third of the city’s GDP, accounting for 7 percent of national GDP.

The city has been working on the eastern innovative urban area project, including the Thu Thiem New Urban Area in District 2, the Northwest urban area, and the Can Gio sea tourist urban area, according to Phong.

Phong pointed out that the city needs more capital for public investment in infrastructure.

He said, for example, from 2016-2021, the city needed VND302.8 trillion to implement nearly 1,950 public transport projects, but the city only managed to allocate about half of that amount.

The city has asked the central government for permission to raise the budget-revenue retention ratio to 24 percent in the 2021-2025 period, and 33 percent in the 2026-2030 period. The latter ratio was granted to the city back in 2003. The ratio refers to revenue that the city gives to the central government.

“The new ratio will ensure that the city will achieve sustainable development,” according to Phong.

With a population of 13 million, HCMC, as the nation’s economic locomotive, contributes 24 percent of the country’s GDP and 27 percent of the national budget.

During a seminar on May 5 to discuss the city’s development orientations during 2021-2030 and vision to 2045, Chairman of the municipal People’s Committee Nguyen Thanh Phong said that despite COVID-19 last year the city’s economy still grew 1.39 percent with local budget revenue standing at more than 371 trillion VND (16.1 billion USD), contributing more than 25 percent of the State budget.

By 2025, HCM City is set to become a smart urban area and a modern industrial and service city that acts as a driving force for the southern key economic region. Average annual gross regional domestic product (GRDP) per capita is estimated at 8,500 USD.

By 2030, it will have become a cultural city, a locomotive of digital socio-economic development, and a financial, economic, trade, scientific-technology, and cultural centre of Southeast Asia.

By 2045, it is expected to have become an economic and financial hub in Asia with average annual GRDP per capita of around 37,000 USD and an attractive destination for global investors.

Sharing similar views, economist Dr Tran Du Lich said that over the course of the next decade it is necessary to develop the city’s economy based on digital technology, with strengths in nine service sectors and four industrial sectors and key products.

He proposed issuing breakthrough policies and measures relating to transportation infrastructure for regional connectivity.

According to Associate Professor Nguyen Van Luan from the University of Economics and Law under the Vietnam National University – HCM City, the city needs to shift to a new economic growth model and maintain an annual growth rate of 8 percent during the 2021-2030 period, focusing on financial and banking services, tourism, trade, and logistics.

He suggested improving the quality of human resources, strongly developing the private sector, and effectively tapping natural resources.

To turn HCM City into a smart city, Associate Professor Tran Mai Uoc from the Banking University of HCM City called for priority to be given to partnerships between the State, businesses, and scientists as well as upholding the role of the people.

Dr Vu Thanh Tu An from Fulbright University Vietnam said that infrastructure during 2030-2045 is not only about electricity and roads but also databases, information systems, data sharing, and privacy.

The city must carry out strong reform in terms of institutions and the business environment to attract more foreign investors, he added.

Source: VNA

The city sets target to become a hub of finance and trade in the Southeast Asia by 2030, marking its leading role in Vietnam’s digital economy and society with GRDP of $13,000 per head on average.

Forty-six years – a long time for a human life but just a blink in an eye for Nhan Huynh, a Vietnamese-American, as he has witnessed an impressive change in Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC) since Vietnam liberated the South and reunited the nation, putting an end to the 30-year war, in 1975.

A corner of Ho Chi Minh City. Photo: kinhtedothi

Huynh, a businessperson usually travelling between the US and Vietnam, told Hanoitimes that HCMC, formerly known as Saigon, is his birthplace so wherever he goes, his heart still looks towards this city.

“I still remember… when the South was liberated for national reunification on April 30, 1975, local economy started to decline… many families had to eat cooked rice mixed with potatoes and cassava,” Huynh said.

Just a wink, after 46 years, the city has rapidly and strongly developed…everything has changed… people enjoy a full life with delicious foods, beautiful clothes and many other conveniences … not only me but also many Viet kieu [overseas Vietnamese people] across the world having aspired to invest in the city,” he said.

Tam Nguyen, a Vietnamese-Japanese who has been for many years doing business in HCMC, has expressed his absolute trust in the city’s development and wished to promote long-run projects in the city.

“I was not often here, I was always surprised whenever I came back HCMC, where has been developing fast and more beautiful day by day,” Tam said.

He said: “I am grateful for the city’s flexible policies in business registration, creating favorable conditions for young people to start a business, and for expatriates who wish to head to their homeland like me.”

After 46 years of the day of southern liberation for national reunification, HCMC today has risen to a modern city with many high-rise buildings and wide open roads, along with rich culture and progresses in economic growth, making a great pride for Vietnamese people, business community and Viet kieu as well.

Smart city

Dr. Su Ngoc Khuong, a senior executive at Savills Vietnam, told Hanoitimes that on a 46-year journey between 1975 and 2021, HCMC has always maintained its role as a leader in promoting key economic development in the South and the whole country.

He said the city every year is in the list of localities with top GDP contribution and also the destination for billion-dollar investors and giant enterprises.

“In the period 2020-21, when the Covid-19 pandemic holds back the world’s economic growth, HCMC is still a solid fulcrum for the country’s development. And in the future, with the goal of building a knowledge-based economy with constant reform and innovation, the city is forecasted to reach further,” said Khuong.

Building a smart city is seen as a great progress of the HCMC after 46 years of liberation. After half a century of war and poverty, the southern city is urgently moving forward with huge plans of expansion and urban development, marking its determination to be one of the top cities in the world.

The smart city will make a change in the living of local residents, helping them get access to modern services of health, food safety, environment, flood control, human resources, security, e-government and urbanism. Photo: doimoisangtao.vn

The smart city project has been carried out in HCMC since 2018 and will be realized by 2025. It will ensure the city’s economic growth moving towards knowledge-based economy and digital economy, and effective urban governance to improve the quality of living and working environment and enhance people’s participation in management.

As planned, the smart city will benefit local residents in the fields of health, food safety, environment, flood control, human resources, security, e-government and urbanism.

Nguyen Nam Hien, Deputy General of Hung Thinh Corp, said over the past years, the management and development of the smart city project have seen many positive changes. Urban space has been expanded along with increasing number of population. “People enjoy more conveniences of a modern city.”

Hien said after more than two years of implementing the smart city project, the HCMC has remarkably changed with many advanced technologies, which brought about positive results.

“The goal of turning HCMC to be a place with modern and civilized life has gradually come true,” Hien said.

Having benefited from the smart city project, Nguyen Thi Thao, a resident in the city’s District 8, told Hanoitimes that her living standard has been significantly improved as she is part of the Fourth Industrial resolution.

“With a smartphone connected to the Internet, I can pay electricity and water bills, get information about traffic jams and floods in the city. It helps me save a lot of time,” Thao said.

People can perform administrative procedures easily in the online form. It is really convenient, fast and modern … the city people’s life has never been better than today,” she said.

Knowledge-based economy

The city’s economic growth basing on high-tech and services has been rapidly developed in the city for years, especially after the HCMC Economic Forum 2018 (HEF 2018) themed “Fostering Interactive and Innovative Districts: The Prominent Role of Businesses”, which introduces the construction plan of the city’s Eastern part toward a creative urban model.

With support from leading experts in the world and Vietnam as well, the city has realized its sustainable goals, creating breakthrough reforms in economic development. Of the plan, Thu Duc is seen as the cradle of the digital transformation in the city.

On December 31, 2020, Thu Duc, a creative urban area in the Eastern part of HCMC officially became a city according to a decision issued by the National Assembly Standing Committee.

Thu Duc city, under the management of HCMC, is a development model dependent on the knowledge-based economy, in which it creates a driving force for the development of economy, education and health.

There is still a very far way for Thu Duc city to realize its goals comprehensively but it has appeared some prominent areas that can be seen as images of the HCMC’s economic development in the future. One of them is Saigon Hi-Tech Park, which is expected to be a powerful tractor for high-tech industries under the knowledge-based economy. By the end of last year, about 160 project had been granted investment registration certificates in the park.

A worker at work in Saigon High-Tech Park in HCM City. Photo: kinhtedothi

According to Nguyen Anh Thi, Head of the Saigon High-Tech Park’s Management Board, the board has set plan to reach nearly US$11 billion of investment capital by 2025, with an export value of about $30 billion per year, marking an annual increase of 10% on average. Meanwhile, the domestic value added in gross export is expected to gain 35%.

“We expect the domestic enterprises’ production value of high-tech products in the 2020-25 period will increase by at least two times compared with previous five years,” Thi said.

The Saigon Hi-Tech Park is also the first place of Vietnam to begin researching and producing Covid-19 vaccines. The vaccine has gone through several stages of testing and got close to being used publicly. “Its pioneering in the production of vaccine has helped Vietnam to be named in the group of countries that can be self-reliant in vaccines, ensuring health security for the nation in the future,” Thi said.

The 2020-25 period is a gear-up step for the city’s development. After the successful innovation of Thu Duc city, the municipal authorities are making best efforts to support business community with many open policies to develop key and competitive products as well as creating condition for local businesses to participate in the global supply chain.

The city will apply high-tech and innovation in production, focusing on investment in finance-banking service, tourism, trade, logistics and infrastructure planning as well as encouraging the production and export of high-tech products, software and digital products.

In this period, the city aims to maintain its key role in the economy in the South and the whole country, taking the lead in innovation and building a high-quality living for local people with a gross regional domestic product (GRDP) of US$8,500 per head on average by 2025.

It is expected to become a center of economy, finance, trade, science and technology and culture in the Southeast Asia by 2030, being a leader in digital economy and society with GRDP of $13,000 per head on average.

By 2045, the city will become an attractive destination in the world and an economic and financial hub of Asia. Local people will have a high quality living standard with GRDP of $37,700 per head on average.