Vice Secretary of the municipal Party Committee and Chairwoman of the People’s Council Nguyen Thi Le speaks at the opening session. (Photo: VNA) HCM City (VNA) - The 9th-tenure People’s Council of HCM City commenced its 20th session on July 9, during which key tasks and solutions for the remaining months will be planned to achieve this year’s targets.
Vice Secretary of the municipal Party Committee and Chairwoman of the People’s Council Nguyen Thi Le said the session takes place after HCM City and the country as a whole successfully contained COVID-19.
To perform the dual tasks of fighting the coronavirus and recovering socio-economic activities, the city has introduced mechanisms and policies to support businesses and individuals to overcome pandemic-induced hardships and resume socio-economic development activities.
However, she acknowledged, COVID-19 has had a substantial impact on sectors such as tourism, industry, services, and exports, while transport infrastructure development and State budget collection and spending have encountered difficulties.
The council will look into local socio-economic development in the first half of 2020 during the meeting and identify major tasks and solutions for the remaining months, so as to fulfil targets for this year and the 2016-2020 period, in addition to several other issues, Le noted.
Vice Chairman of the municipal People’s Committee Le Thanh Liem reported that it collected over 163.2 trillion VND (7 billion USD) for the State budget in the first half of this year, or 40.21 percent of the yearly target. Its regional gross domestic product rose some 2 percent year-on-year, compared to 7.86 percent in the same period last year.
Meanwhile, more than 17.96 trillion VND in public investment capital was disbursed, equivalent to 43.08 percent of the annual plan. Export revenue was estimated at 20.7 billion USD, up 5.8 percent year-on-year but lower than the 9.2 percent increase posted in the first half of 2019, he added.
Ho Chi Minh City is the largest city in Vietnam and the economic hub of the southern region. Accounting for 0.6 percent of Vietnam’s total land area and about 9 percent of the country’s population, it is part of the southern key economic zone, which also comprises Dong Nai, Ba Ria - Vung Tau, Binh Duong, Long An, Tay Ninh and Binh Phuoc provinces. In the southern economic hub, over 3,000 projects across all sectors are supported by foreign capital, while the number of registered enterprises has exceeded 100,000.
In 2019, the city attracted 8.3 billion USD worth of foreign investment, with its labour productivity being nearly three times that of the whole country (299.8 million VND per person, an increase of 6.8 percent over 2018).
Meanwhile, the total number of international visitors to the city reached 8.5 million, a year-on-year increase of 14 percent with revenues up by 14.5 percent over 2018
The local gross regional domestic product (GRDP) reached more than 1.34 quadrillion VND, an 8.32 percent increase year-on-year.
Before the outbreak of COVID-19, the city set a target of achieving a growth rate of 8.5 percent for GRDP in 2020, with total private investment accounting for 35 percent of GRDP.
This year, HCM City also aims to have 44,000 new businesses, creating 135,000 new jobs./.
