After three years of expansion, Hanoi capital city has overcome many difficulties and challenges, and obtained major achievements in many fields.

In implementing Resolution 15/2008/NQ-QH12 of the 12 th National Assembly, the administrative boundary area of Hanoi capital city was officially enlarged on August 1, 2008 to a total area of more than 3,300sq.km. The milestone created a premise for the capital city to strengthen its position in the region and the world.

Over the past three years, Hanoi has made every effort to develop the city in the direction of civilisation and modernisation on the basis of creating breakthroughs in socio-technological infrastructure construction.

Based on the socio-economic master plan and the Prime Minister’s recently approved master plan project, the city will step-by-step carry out tasks and achieve targets set in the municipal Party committee’s Resolution 15.

On economics, the city continued to move restructuring in the direction of service-industry-agriculture, targeting to become the country’s financial-banking hub and leading retail and wholesale and import-export location, while setting the trend in industrialising and modernising agriculture.

Additionally, the city constantly improved the people’s material and spiritual lives with a focus on improving the quality of education and health services, and developed the knowledge-based economy with a view to becoming a high-quality human resources training centre.

The city registered a per capita GDP of 1,964 USD in 2010 and a rise of 10.4 percent in the gross domestic product for 2006-2010, 1.5 times higher the country’s average level, providing evidence that the city was moving in the right direction for its development.

Mover than 100,000 businesses registered their activities and production, contributing to 89 percent of the city’s GDP, attesting Hanoi’s method in development of production force with attention paid to all economic sectors.

Becoming a civilised and modern capital city in the future requires construction of urban infrastructure in a careful, planned manner. Projects to build new urban areas should be combined with the construction of social infrastructure, contributing to both raising the per capita urban housing area and improving the people’s living conditions.

Besides, the urban city has been beautified with the construction and upgrade of parks, gardens and public entertainment sites, becoming a special feature receiving the people’s support.

Culture is always considered a top priority, especially preserving and honouring traditional cultural values.

The path ahead will face many difficulties and challenges. Hanoi will have more resources to boost its self confidence and firmly step on a new road – building a capital city for peace, a rich cultural city and a strong economic, modernised and civilised city, thanks to due attention and close instructions of the Party Central Committee, the National Assembly and the Government, with support of ministries, central agencies and organisations, along with the contributions of 6.5 million Hanoians, as well as millions of compatriots nationwide and many foreign friends./.