LookAtVietnam – HCM City aims to achieve a Gross Domestic Product growth rate of at least 10 per cent next year.

HCM City is still the country’s biggest economic and service hub. The city aims to achieve a Gross Domestic Product growth rate of at least 10 per cent next year.

The target is one of the 22 points of an ambitious socio-economic development blueprint for 2010 announced by the city People’s Committee yesterday, December 28. The points include six for economic development, eight for social affairs and eight for environment-related issues.

Other important economic goals are export value growth of 12.7 per cent and a total of VND172 trillion (US$9.3 billion) in social development investment capital, accounting for 41.8 per cent of the GDP.

The city aims to keep the consumer price index (CPI) under 7 per cent while reducing its unemployment rate to less than 5.1 per cent and poverty rate to 7.2 per cent.

About 96 per cent of the city’s urban population will get access to clean water while this rate would be 85 per cent in rural areas, according to the plan, and all major acts of environmental pollution will be strictly penalised.

The points also include standard wastewater treatment systems for all city industrial parks and export processing zones.

According to Mayor Le Hoang Quan, to achieve the goals set, the city will focus its economy on services, industry and agriculture.

For the service sector, the most competitive and highest value added services will be given priority, while various economic sectors will be encouraged to invest in services to make them more efficient.

Diversifying domestic tourism products and creating new tourist destinations are still on the agenda to help reach the target of 3.5 million foreign tourists to the city (up 11 per cent), and 6 million domestic tourists (up 13 per cent) in 2010.

Increasing trade promotion at overseas markets, which have larger purchasing powers, and improving competitiveness will aid local enterprises to find larger market shares at home and abroad.

The blueprint signals more attention to develop the construction industry and the building material production industries, as they have potential to boost the city’s industrial production value.

Intensive investments into top value-adding high-tech industries and farming technology are also on the list.

The city would continue its investment in a high-tech agriculture park and research into developing it into a large-scale seedlings development centre to supply the whole region, Quan said.

Creating a transparent, open and fair business environment remains to be a target in the next year with more simplified administrative procedures to boost trade and combat corruption.

The city would also place controls on prices and activities of finance, monetary, real estate, securities and gold markets, he said.

The role of state management in environmental affairs will be strengthened to minimise damages caused by global climate change, according to the plan. The city will also increase investment to realise more social security policies and poverty reduction programmes.

In 2010, the city hopes to attain total budget revenues of VND144.3 trillion (US$7.80 billion), up by 17.88 per cent from 2009 with VND14 trillion (nearly $760 million) being planned for investment development activities.

Continuous growth

This year, despite the impact of the global economic recession, HCM City has managed to fulfil 18 out of its 20 set goals for social economic development.

With the whole year economic growth rate of 8 per cent, high capital mobilisation and more investors, HCM City ranks 13th out 63 provinces and cities nationwide in terms of competitiveness.

VietNamNet/Viet Nam News