“Proposal for developing industry and trade in Ho Chi Minh City”: balancing long-term initiatives and practical solutions

After 2 months of launching, the forum "Contributing ideas for the development of industry and trade in Ho Chi Minh City" has attracted more than 100 articles with diverse perspectives in many fields. These articles come from many experts, scientists, and business leaders at home and abroad.

The organizing committee and members of the evaluation board reviewed and evaluated each article participating in the forum in detail - Photo: QUANG DINH

At the recent meeting of the council to vote on ideas for the Ho Chi Minh City Industry and Trade Development Forum, organized by Tuoi Tre newspaper in collaboration with the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Industry and Trade and the UEH.ISB Talent School, the judges unanimously agreed to highlight ideas that are both long-term strategic and capable of practical implementation.

Dr. Tran Du Lich (Board of Members) said that initiatives need to be placed within the overall development orientation of Ho Chi Minh City, not just stopping at breakthrough ideas but must be specific, feasible solutions for implementation.

100 articles are full of passion and love for Ho Chi Minh City

Journalist Tran Xuan Toan - Deputy Editor-in-Chief of Tuoi Tre Newspaper, informed that after two months of implementation, the forum has attracted more than 100 articles from managers, experts, scientists , and businesses at home and abroad.

From more than 100 published articles, the organizers also recorded many comments and opinions from readers and citizens... These are also considered valuable suggestions.

The content of the articles is quite diverse, not only focusing on the key fields of industry and trade, but also providing perspectives, advice, and raising issues for many other industries such as tourism, healthcare , services, etc.

The highlight of the forum is that there are very elaborate ideas and articles with a capacity of up to 3,000-5,000 words. The content of the articles is very diverse with the desire to contribute to Ho Chi Minh City good ideas, close to reality to help promote strengths, remove bottlenecks of Ho Chi Minh City after the merger.

Journalist Tran Xuan Toan, deputy editor-in-chief of Tuoi Tre newspaper, informs about articles participating in the forum - Photo: QUANG DINH

"From more than 100 articles, the organizing committee selected 25 articles and after a period of discussion, review and evaluation by the appraisal council based on the criteria, 10 most typical articles will be selected," Mr. Toan informed.

Selected articles must meet 5 criteria including: Consistent with the strategic orientation of economic and social development of Ho Chi Minh City after the merger; Breakthrough, innovation, creativity associated with digital transformation; forecasting of economic - social - environmental efficiency; Spreading impact and reference to urban areas in the region and internationally; and feasibility and ability to implement in practice.

Mr. Bui Ta Hoang Vu, Director of the Department of Industry and Trade of Ho Chi Minh City - Photo: QUANG DINH

On behalf of the organizing committee, Mr. Bui Ta Hoang Vu - Director of the Department of Industry and Trade of Ho Chi Minh City, said that the forum was initiated in July 2025, and so far has achieved results beyond expectations, in line with the goal of seeking and receiving suggestions and ideas for the development of Ho Chi Minh City after the merger.

"The articles in the forum will be compiled and sent to leaders of Ho Chi Minh City. These are also valuable contents and materials for the city to collect and supplement to complete documents in the upcoming congress," Mr. Vu affirmed.

Emphasize feasibility, creativity and strategic vision

As a member of the appraisal council, Dr. Tran Du Lich, chairman of the Advisory Council for the implementation of Resolution 98, said that he found many articles had their own perspectives, were realistic, and were also feasible, and were linked to the development strategy of Ho Chi Minh City, so it was not easy to "choose who to leave out" when narrowing down to 10 representative works.

Dr. Tran Du Lich, Chairman of the Advisory Council for the implementation of Resolution 98 - Photo: QUANG DINH

Commenting on the diversity of participants' perspectives, Mr. Lich assessed that the people of Ho Chi Minh City are very interested and concerned about the innovation and development of the megacity in the new space, which is a very encouraging thing.

As one of the judges, Mr. Pham Phu Ngoc Trai - Chairman of GIBC Global Business and Consulting Company - said that with over 14 million people, Ho Chi Minh City after the merger has a different position, plays a very important role but accordingly there are many issues to be solved.

In such a context, the industry and trade sector with Tuoi Tre newspaper have an initiative to invite relevant parties, researchers, and people to contribute ideas and contribute to the development strategy of the megacity of Ho Chi Minh City, which is very good.

Mr. Pham Phu Ngoc Trai emphasized that the outstanding criteria of each proposal must be associated with the city's characteristics and the orientation of the three pillars of trade - services - industry, thereby suggesting a development vision. He noted two factors that need to be considered in parallel: feasibility and breakthrough.

Mr. Pham Phu Ngoc Trai, Chairman of Global Business and Consulting Company GIBC - Photo: QUANG DINH

"The selection criteria and realistic perspectives from more than 100 articles will contribute to suggesting specific orientations, visions, and solutions for Ho Chi Minh City after the merger. These practical and highly feasible ideas will contribute significantly to the city's development orientation and impact on the people," Mr. Trai assessed.

From a scientist's perspective, Prof. Dr. Mai Thanh Phong - Principal of the University of Technology, Ho Chi Minh City National University, said that the authors are very familiar with Ho Chi Minh City, so they proposed ideas and solutions spanning many fields from industry, trade, services... In particular, the article related to the issue of innovation, solutions to promote Ho Chi Minh City to become a regional innovation center of quite good quality.

Prof. Dr. Mai Thanh Phong, principal of the University of Technology, Ho Chi Minh City National University, assessed that the articles participating in the forum were diverse with many perspectives and fields - Photo: QUANG DINH

"Through the article, the author analyzes carefully, thereby highlighting the feasibility and necessity for Ho Chi Minh City to develop innovation. The idea is completely feasible, if we do it well, it will become a lever to positively impact many other fields.

Many initiatives are long-term solutions. He believes that limiting criteria too specifically can limit creativity. For example, one article he highly appreciated for its strategic and impressive quality.

From the perspective of an expert in the field of logistics, Ms. Vo Thi Phuong Lan, General Director of My A Transport and Logistics Joint Stock Company (ASL), Head of the Transport and Logistics Department of VLA Association, counted that out of 25 selected articles, there were 13 articles related to logistics and transport infrastructure, including articles with key information about logistics, which were groundbreaking.

She emphasized two necessary criteria for selection: practical implementation ability and spillover impact and integration.

Ms. Vo Thi Phuong Lan, General Director of My A Transport and Logistics Joint Stock Company (ASL) - Photo: QUANG DINH

Associate Professor, Dr. Vo Thi Ngoc Thuy believes that the 25 outstanding initiatives can be divided into two groups: strategic orientation group and specific solution group.

According to her, the consultation forum needs to balance both to fully reflect the perspectives, while prioritizing the 3-5 most feasible ideas. She cited the Project "Building the City to become a major service center of the country and the region with high-end, modern, high-value-added service industries" which has proposed 11 key industry groups that Ho Chi Minh City has identified to focus on and many consultation ideas have also "touched" on.

Associate Professor, Dr. Vo Thi Ngoc Thuy, professional director, UEH.ISB Talent School - Photo: QUANG DINH

"Tourism is one of the 11 groups with great potential because of its outstanding contributions. The problem is how we connect to solve some bottlenecks that have been struggling for many years, such as the story of the night-time economy," Ms. Thuy commented.

Closing workshop of Ho Chi Minh City Industry and Trade Development Forum

It is expected that on September 23, at Rex Hotel (HCMC), the Conference to summarize the Ho Chi Minh City Industry and Trade Development Forum will take place.

The program has the participation and speeches of leaders of Ho Chi Minh City, and many experts, leaders of large domestic and foreign enterprises. Here, typical articles in the forum will be honored, as well as collected to hand to the leaders of Ho Chi Minh City.

Readers can register to participate by scanning the QR code at:

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Source: https://tuoitre.vn/hien-ke-phat-trien-cong-thuong-tp-hcm-can-bang-sang-kien-dai-han-va-giai-phap-thuc-tien-20250916190201496.htm