The new district-level city, formed by merging District 2, District 9 and Thu Duc District, will come into existence on February 7 next year.
Ho Chi Minh City Chairman Nguyen Thanh Phong said Thu Duc City is the first under a centrally-governed city in Vietnam, contributing 30% of HCMC’s economy and 7% of national GDP.
He added that it will act as a new driver of rapid and sustainable growth for Ho Chi Minh City and the southern key economic region as a whole.
Chairman Phong stated that the first task will be stabilising the Thu Duc government apparatus so that the re-organisation of administrative units will not affect the lives of civil servants, people and businesses.
Speaking at the ceremony, Politburo member Nguyen Thien Nhan noted that there was a need to merge District 2, District 9 and Thu Duc District into a single administrative unit so that a unified government can be established and more coherent policy devised in order to become a driver of growth for Ho Chi Minh City.
Thu Duc City will comprise an area of 211.56 square kilometres and a population of over 1 million.
