There will be a new wave of investment in Ho Chi Minh City

Removing obstacles for a series of projects

On the morning of August 9, at the regular meeting on the socio-economic situation in July; key tasks and solutions for August, Chairman of the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee Nguyen Van Duoc and leaders of departments and branches listened to the report on the results after more than a month of Ho Chi Minh City merging its boundaries with Binh Duong and Ba Ria - Vung Tau.

Director of the Department of Finance Nguyen Cong Vinh informed that in July, the Special Task Force of Ho Chi Minh City reviewed, processed and concluded many large projects.

In addition, the working group also focused on solving major problems related to public assets, unused or ineffectively used headquarters, and stuck projects and works of state-owned enterprises.

During the same period, the total budget revenue of Ho Chi Minh City reached more than VND472,588 billion, equivalent to 70.4% of the Central Government's estimate and increased by 14.6% over the same period last year. Although the budget revenue increased, the progress of disbursement of public investment capital was still slow, reaching only more than VND47,577 billion by the end of July, equal to 40% of the Prime Minister's plan (VND118,948 billion) and 31.4% of the city's plan.

The challenge of "capital absorption"

Speaking at the meeting, Dr. Truong Minh Huy Vu, Director of the Ho Chi Minh City Institute for Development Studies, assessed that the city's economy still shows signs of recovery, but the ability to "absorb capital" is a key challenge after the merger with Binh Duong and Ba Ria - Vung Tau .

He stressed that the problem is not a lack of capital but whether these resources are put to the right place at the right time to create efficiency.

"The problem is not whether there is money or not, but where the money goes and whether it goes into effective projects or not? If the money flow into the market is not well controlled, the inflation index and consumer price index will increase," said Dr. Truong Minh Huy Vu.

Dr. Truong Minh Huy Vu, Director of the Ho Chi Minh City Institute for Development Studies, spoke at the meeting.

Recently, the Ho Chi Minh City Institute for Development Studies has coordinated with relevant agencies to review and identify 7 laws that have been adjusted, directly impacting the implementation of specific mechanisms and policies of Ho Chi Minh City. The next issue is the ability to "permeate" the policies of the new Ho Chi Minh City after the merger.

The Director of the Ho Chi Minh City Institute for Development Studies said that it is important that these policies be communicated and applied effectively to all 168 wards and communes. Close monitoring is needed to determine whether the current policies are sufficient, have reached the right target and have been effective.

In the context of many investors coming to Ho Chi Minh City to survey and propose projects, capital will certainly flow in, but will not stay long if the city does not promptly respond to requests and effectively absorb these policies and resources.

Based on that reality, the Ho Chi Minh City Institute for Development Studies proposed to implement the model of “one center - three regions - one special zone”. In which, the central region plays the role of policy brain, the two regions, the old Binh Duong and the old Ba Ria - Vung Tau, need to be developed synchronously, smoothly continuing the projects and works before the merger.

A “growth directive” needs to be issued soon.

Dr. Vu warned that any disruption could lead to disruptions in capital flows, projects, and preparation work. From there, he recommended that the city soon issue a “growth directive” assigning specific tasks to each industry and unit, including both state-owned and private enterprises.

At the same time, it is necessary to focus on social security policies from now until the end of the year to reduce the impact of inflation, control the consumer price index, and at the same time build a long-term plan for social housing development.