HCM City People’s Council meets

The 16th session of the eight People’s Council of Ho Chi Minh City convened on December 9 with an agenda full of outstanding socio-economic matters besides a vote of confidence for officials holding 18 positions elected by the council.
The 16th session of the eight People’s Council of Ho Chi Minh Cityconvened on December 9 with an agenda full of outstanding socio-economicmatters besides a vote of confidence for officials holding 18 positionselected by the council.

In 2014, HCM City’s gross domesticproduct (GDP) is estimated at over 878.9 trillion VND (41.8 billion USD)while GDP per capita stood at 5,131 USD, Vice Chairman of the municipalPeople’s Committee Hua Ngoc Thuan reported, adding that the citycreated jobs for 284,000 people and reduced the household poverty rateunder the city’s own criteria to 1.35 percent.

The southerneconomic hub posted 32 billion USD in export earnings and 25.9 billionUSD in imports value during the year. Up to 69.4 percent of its exportswere technological, processed and manufactured products, which wasraised in line with the policy of export re-structuring, he added.

However,the official also admitted that HCM City failed to achieve seven out of28 targets set by the People’s Council, including the growth of exportturnover, the number of users of public transport, the rate of urbanhouseholds accessing clean water supply, the rate of rural householdsusing safe water, the rate of treated medical wastewater, the dealingwith severely polluting production facilities, and the reduction ofrain-caused inundated sites.

Chairwoman of the People’s CouncilNguyen Thi Quyet Tam said the city encountered an array ofsocio-economic difficulties this year, such as the poor performance ofsmall- and medium-sized enterprises, the shortage of running water, andthe complicated drug and prostitution situation.

She asked thecouncil’s members to carefully examine the causes behind the failure toachieve set targets and work out implementation measures to improveperformance in these aspects in 2015.

During four days ofworking, the council will also elect additional positions for agenciesunder the council, and carry out question-and-answer sessions.

Itwill also contemplate ten proposals submitted by the People’s Committeerelating to transport fees, the change of land use purposes, andconstruction investment using the city’s budget next year, amongothers.-VNA

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