Looking forward to the acceleration of economic locomotives

Ho Chi Minh City focuses on promoting public investment disbursement to boost growth. In photo: Key project to expand Ho Chi Minh City - Long Thanh Expressway. Photo: Le Toan

Accelerate from local

The economic picture for the first eight months of 2025, whether viewed from the overall economy or from a local perspective, is very positive. “Major economic centers all recorded positive results in the first eight months of the year,” the Ministry of Finance said in a recent report on the socio-economic situation sent to the Government.

Notably, all 34/34 localities had an 8-month Industrial Production Index (IIP) increase compared to the same period last year. Of which, Phu Tho had the strongest increase, up to 26.22%; followed by Ninh Binh (22.8%), Hue (18.7%), Nghe An (16.4%), Quang Ninh (15.6%)...

Not only production, each locality has made its own mark in socio -economic development in August and the first 8 months of 2025. For example, Hanoi has a strong recovery in the tourism industry, with 3.18 million tourists in August alone, an increase of 27.5%; Hai Phong stands out with budget revenue in 8 months reaching more than 131,647 billion VND, an increase of nearly 30% over the same period last year, while IIP increased by 14.51%, affirming the role of the growth pole of the Red River Delta region.

Meanwhile, Bac Ninh surpassed Ho Chi Minh City to become the leading locality in the country in terms of exports in August, with nearly 8.7 billion USD, up more than 33% over the same period. This figure was achieved thanks to large foreign enterprises such as Samsung, Canon, Foxconn... accelerating production and exports in recent times.

Other localities, according to the Ministry of Finance, also recorded positive results. Dong Nai attracted more than 2 billion USD in foreign investment capital and had 4,971 newly established enterprises. Phu Tho not only had a high IIP Index, but also attracted large foreign investment, with 39 new projects.

Meanwhile, Da Nang continues to be a prominent tourist destination, with 12.8 million tourists in 8 months. Ninh Binh develops high-tech and green economic projects. An Giang has an increase in industrial production value of 13.93% and tourism by 76%. Lam Dong maintains stable growth with exports increasing by 64.7%...

The same is true for the economic locomotive of Ho Chi Minh City. A few days ago, when discussing the socio-economic situation, Chairman of the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee Nguyen Van Duoc said that the City has performed well its dual task of stabilizing the organization and smoothly operating the 2-level local government model, while focusing on recovering and developing the socio-economy, continuing to play the role of a growth pole of the whole country.

In 8 months, Ho Chi Minh City's IIP increased by nearly 6% compared to the same period last year; total retail sales of goods and consumer service revenue increased by 15.6%; export turnover reached 61.21 billion USD, ranking first in the country, up 6.35% compared to the same period...

In particular, the Ministry of Finance said that localities have actively adjusted growth scenarios according to Resolution 226/NQ-CP. Many localities even set ambitious targets higher than the level assigned by the Government. For example, Quang Ninh is determined to achieve GRDP growth of 14%, while the assigned level is 12.5%; Hai Phong is aiming for 12.35%, higher than the "contracted" level of 12.2%.

Similarly, Phu Tho strives for a growth rate of 10.3% (assigned 10%); Dong Nai and Da Nang are both determined to grow at 10%, while the levels assigned by the Government are only 8.7% and 9% respectively. “This demonstrates the determination and strong development potential of localities in contributing to the common goal of the whole country,” the Ministry of Finance commented.

Looking forward to the acceleration of economic locomotives

The general socio-economic situation is positive, but reporting to the Government, Minister of Finance Nguyen Van Thang frankly admitted: "The growth task in 2025 still has many challenges". According to forecasts, GDP growth this year will reach at least 8%, but great efforts will be required to reach the target of 8.3-8.5%.

Many solutions to promote growth have been and are being vigorously implemented, in which the efforts of localities are one of the key points, especially in economic locomotives and key localities.

Many solutions to promote growth have been and are being vigorously implemented, in which the efforts of localities are one of the key points, especially in economic locomotives and key localities.

To promote growth and complete the assigned task of achieving GRDP growth of 8.5% for the whole year of 2025, Ho Chi Minh City has built a scenario with a growth rate of 10.22-10.38% in the third quarter and 10.4% in the fourth quarter. The country's economic locomotive also focuses on promoting disbursement of public investment capital, when after 8 months it only reached 43.3%, lower than the national average.

According to Chairman of the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee Nguyen Van Duoc, the City's public investment disbursement is not sustainable and this will affect the City's growth rate. It is easy to understand why the Ho Chi Minh City leaders mentioned the "unsustainable" factor in the City's public investment disbursement. That is because, after 6 months, the City's disbursement rate reached 43%, but after 2 months, that is, by the end of August 2025, the rate increased to 43.3%.

Not only the disbursement of public investment capital, many factors affect the GRDP growth of Ho Chi Minh City. And currently, this economic locomotive still contributes greatly to growth. However, what worries Mr. Nguyen Dinh Cung, an economic expert, is that although Ho Chi Minh City (merged) has superior economic strength compared to all other localities and is still the most important part of the national economy, the GRDP growth of the City in recent years has always been lower than the national average and is on a downward trend.

Similarly, according to Mr. Nguyen Dinh Cung, except for 2024, Hanoi's GRDP growth has always been higher than the national average, but the gap is not large. "Although Hanoi is still the locomotive, the engine of the train is no longer large, strong and modern enough to run on the highway," Mr. Nguyen Dinh Cung said.

In the first 6 months of 2025, Hanoi ranked 41st out of 63 localities; 20th out of 34 provinces and cities in terms of GRDP growth. There are many issues affecting the GRDP growth rate of the two localities, including, according to Mr. Cung, issues related to capital mobilization and allocation for economic sectors, investment efficiency, etc.

From this perspective, it can be seen that both economic locomotives Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City need to make more efforts to contribute more to the growth of the whole country. Along with that, we can also place expectations on other growth-driving localities, such as Phu Tho, Bac Ninh, Quang Ninh, etc.

“Phu Tho aims to grow 10.3% this year and an average growth of 11-12% in the 2026-2030 period,” said Mr. Tran Duy Dong, Chairman of the People’s Committee of Phu Tho province. He said that Phu Tho will focus on pillars such as attracting investment in high-tech projects, processing, manufacturing, accelerating key infrastructure projects, developing green and sustainable agriculture, applying high technology, etc. to promote GRDP growth, thereby contributing to the overall economic growth rate of the whole country.

Source: https://baodautu.vn/trong-doi-su-but-toc-cua-cac-dau-tau-kinh-te-d384512.html