A socio-economic development master plan to 2020 with a vision to 2025 recently approved by the Prime Minister requires Ho Chi Minh City to take the lead in national industrialisation and modernisation, gradually becoming an economic, financial and scientific and technological hub of the country and the region as a whole.

To fulfil the goal, the city is asked to take concrete steps to produce an average economic growth rate of 10-10.5 percent per year during the 2011-15 period, and 9.5-10 percent in the five following years, with GDP per capita reaching 4,970 USD by 2015 and 8,820 USD by 2020.

Its economic structure will also be shifted, with priority going to the services sector which will account for about 60 percent, followed by industry, making up approximately 40 percent, and agriculture with less than one percent.

In regard to social development, the city with a population of 8.2 million in 2015 is requested to cut down the number of poor households according to its new criteria to 7-8 percent overall.

The plan includes a target to basically address submergence by rainwater and risin g tides in the city’s central area within the 2011-15 period, and completely deal with the problem by 2020.

Under the plan, the city will focus on improving the quality of services including finance-credit-banking-insurance, trade, transportation, information technology, telecommunications and property.

The development of the modern infrastructure system in support for the aforesaid services such as supermarkets, plazas, office buildings, hotels, hi-tech health centres and universities that meet international standards is also part of the plan.

Furthermore, urban development is not encouraged at conservation parks such as the Can Gio biosphere reserve and protected forests in the suburban districts of Binh Chanh and Cu Chi.

To realise the master plan, the Government recommends the city mobilises capital from both domestic and foreign enterprises while taking proactive measures to balance its annual budget for key projects.-VNA