Ho Chi Minh City named on top 20 ‘dynamic' list

Ho Chi Minh City has been ranked among the 20 most dynamic cities globally by US-based financial and professional services firm Jones Lang LaSalle (JLL).

Ho Chi Minh City named on top 20 ‘dynamic' list

The firm published the list in its City Momentum Index (CMI) paper in late January.

This is JLL's second annual CMI, which captures the dynamics of a city's real-estate market - its rates of construction and absorption, price movement and the attraction of a city's built environment for cross-border capital.

The CMI selected Ho Chi Minh City as one among six new cities, including Sydney and Melbourne, in the top 20. The city's construction levels are high, although growth rates are exaggerated by the small size of the existing commercial real-estate market.

Meanwhile, London has topped the CMI list due to its robust economic fundamentals, further enhanced by large volumes of cross-border real-estate investment and a positive outlook for commercial property prices. San Jose or Silicon Valley, which is the global hub of the high-tech venture capital industry, is ranked second and is followed by Beijing.

Despite an economic slowdown, China is still home to seven of the world's 20 most dynamic cities, including Shanghai and Wuhan in the fifth and eighth positions, respectively.

The CMI also pointed out that the technology sector continues to be a major driver of city momentum across the globe as technology giants and start-ups invest in new technologies and infrastructure, which generates jobs. Several of the world's technology-rich cities appear in the Top 20, including Boston, San Francisco and Bangalore.

The index also assessed 120 cities with a weighted overall score, based on 37 variables, including short-term socio-economic momentum variables, short-term commercial real-estate momentum variables and longer term variables.

More than 412,000 foreigners visited Ho Chi Minh City in January, a year-on-year increase of 8%, according to figures released by the municipal People's Committee.

Last year, the city received a total of 4.4 million foreign visitors, accounting for 53% of international visitors to Vietnam.

Total revenue of the city's tourism sector, including revenue of travel agencies and the hospitality industry, was estimated at VND86 trillion (US$4.04 billion), representing 34% of Vietnam's tourism sector last year.

To further the sustainable development of the tourism industry, Ho Chi Minh City has signed regional alliances with neighbouring provinces and countries and diversified tourist services.

In addition, it has launched the programme “The city's tourism sector has responsibility for the environment”.

The city has also planned more cultural and entertainment activities to enhance its regional reputation as a major tourism destination.

City authorities will also launch tourism promotions and work with localities in Vietnam and countries in the region to enhance tourism co-operation.

The promotions include improvements of periodic cultural and tourist events, such as the International Tourism Expo of 2015, annual tourist festivals, and the launch of inland waterway tours and art shows for tourists.

The city targets 4.7 million foreign visitors and 19.3 million local tourists this year, which would bring an estimated total revenue of VND98.26 trillion (US$4.61 billion).