Coming to Ho Chi Minh City during these days, visitors will be overwhelmed by images of high-rise buildings, sparkling and shimmering lights at night and streetside peddlers blended with luxury shops. The close connection with domestic and international cities has been an endless source of vitality for Ho Chi Minh City. It is the foundation for the city to come to crucial decisions on its development path.
A fast pace of life can be felt every corner in Ho Chi Minh City as local residents are busy doing their business and planning their future. It is a sign that this dynamic land still sustains its youth and creativeness while it has become more experienced, taking advantages and maximising its strengths to maintain growth.
As the country’s biggest economic hub, the economy of Ho Chi Minh City is largely underpinned by two sectors: construction-industry and service-trade. The service-trade sector has been identified as the greatest strength with the growth target set higher than the average growth rate of other sectors. Counting on its strengths, Ho Chi Minh City has undergone fundamental changes in the quality of growth, laying a foundation for sustainable growth in its new phase of development.
Ho Chi Minh City has recently been ranked among the 20 most dynamic cities globally by US-based financial and professional services firm Jones Lang LaSalle (JLL). 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.
The city has recorded consistently high economic growth over the past years, with its GDP accounting for 21% of the country’s total and 30% of the state budget. The city’s average GDP per capital has reached over US$5,000 with the number of poor households falling by 1.35%, and the proportion of near-poor households at just 2.78%. The city has always maintained political stability in every situation, manifested in ensured social security and order and strengthened national defence, while paying attention to launching patriotic emulation movements, developing human resources and promoting social progress and equality.
Despite the inevitable difficulties in implementing the Party’s renovation guideline, Ho Chi Minh City has made unceasing efforts and obtained outstanding and comprehensive achievements, creating radical changes in social life and contributing significantly to the country’s common achievements. These accomplishments have affirmed the Party’s renovation and marked the maturity in the city’s leadership and management capacity, thus enhancing the power of the national unity bloc and creating a premise for further development in the next periods.
The city’s position and role in the region and throughout the country have been increasingly affirmed, contributing actively to improving the country’s socialist-oriented market economy institutions and international economic integration. The municipal authorities and local citizen are making great efforts to construct, defend and develop a civilised and modern city with a pioneering role in the national industrialisation and modernisation cause, and increasing contributions to the region and the country, contributing actively to making Vietnam a modern industrialised country.
With a stable political base, deep patriotism, unity and creativity, the municipal authorities and people have made breakthroughs, removed obstacles and gradually overcome challenges, as well as continue to uphold the revolutionary tradition of resilience, solidarity and creativity for a city deserving the name of the beloved President Ho Chi Minh.
