Prime Minister Phạm Minh Chính speaks at a meeting with HCM City top ranking officials on Wednesday. — VNA/VNS Photo

HCM CITY — Prime Minister Phạm Minh Chính has warned HCM City of the multiple challenges it faces ahead, urging the city officials to seek drastic measures to address them to ensure a growth rate of 6-6.5 per cent this year.

Speaking at a meeting with the city's top ranking officials on Wednesday, PM Chính said: “The city must focus on stabilising the macro-economy, controlling inflation, and ensuring socio-economic recovery and development.”

“Given the current elevated global uncertainty, there could be both opportunities and challenges lying ahead for the city but there could be more challenges.”

The multiple obstacles affecting the city’s economic recovery include complicated administrative procedures, low disbursement of public investment and high inflation, among others.

The PM has warned that the city’s public investment disbursement remains too slow, causing major public projects to be delayed for so many years.

“Complicated administrative procedures remain the biggest issues to capital disbursement, hindering capital flows into production and trade activities,” according to Chính.

The PM called on the city authorities to focus on smoothing administrative procedures and the business climate to accelerate public spending.

He has ordered the city to continue to support firms while ensuring safety, cutting production costs, renovating technology, and reviving business post-pandemic.

It will need to mobilise private investment to improve its traffic infrastructure, including speeding up the progress of metro routes and investing more in roads connecting ports and the airport.

The PM has asked the city to continue to fight against the pandemic and other diseases such as dengue fever; hand, foot and mouth disease; and monkeypox.

It will also need to develop a high-quality human resource, promote digital transformation to build digital government, digital economy, and smart city.

In addition, Chính has asked the city to address medical problems related to the shortage of medicines and equipment, and shortage of public medical staff.

Prime Minister Phạm Minh Chính checked the progress of the Bến Thành-Suối Tiên metro project in HCM City on Wednesday. — VNA/VNS Photo Dương Giang

Socio-economic recovery

Speaking at the meeting, Phan Văn Mãi, chairman of the municipal People’s Committee, said the city has continued to achieve significant results in socio-economic recovery and is on course to return to pre-COVID levels.

The city’s growth rate of GRDP is estimated to increase by 3.82 per cent in the first half of the year with the growth rate of the second quarter being three times higher than that of the first quarter, he said.

Exports were estimated at US$24.9 billion in the first half, up 13.8 per cent year-on-year.

The city attracted $2.18 billion worth of foreign investment in the first half, up 60.07 per cent year-on-year.

Total State budget revenue reached VNĐ282 trillion in the first seven months, or 73.2 per cent of the year’s target and up 20 per cent year-on-year.

Its Index of Industrial Production rose by 7.7 per cent year-on-year in the first seven months.

Mãi has proposed the Government remove obstacles related to mechanisms and policies to ensure allocation of investment capital for implementation of major projects such as the Ring Roads No. 3 and No. 4.

The city also proposed the PM address problems related to the selection of investors using public land via bidding according to regulations.

It also seeks the Government’s allocation of investment capital for implementation of three gateway hospital projects and urban railway lines in the city.

Prior to the meeting on the same day, during an inspection of HCM City’s first metro line (Bến Thành – Suối Tiên) on the morning, the PM asked HCM City officials to work with Bình Dương authorities on a plan to extend the first metro line.

PM Chính has asked the Japan International Cooperation Agency to continue to fund other city metro lines based on its experience in implementation of the first metro line.

The 20km long first metro line with a total investment of more than VNĐ43.7 trillion, connecting Bến Thành Market in District 1 and Suối Tiên Theme Park in Thủ Đức City, has three underground stations and 11 elevated stations.

Started in 2012, the line has completed 91 per cent of the total work volume and is expected to run commercially by the end of 2023.

In addition, Chính has requested the city to accelerate its 20km metro route 3A between Bến Thành Market in District 1 and Tân Kiên Depot in Bình Chánh suburban district.

The metro route will be built in two phases, in 2025-31 and 2028-34, and be funded by official development assistance loans from Japan. When completed, it will be linked with metro line 1.

PM Chính has also asked HCM City to study a project to extend the metro line 3A from Bình Chánh District to Cần Thơ City in the Cửu Long (Mekong) Delta. — VNS

HCM City proposes PM to expand HCM City-Trung Lương expresswayPhan Văn Mãi, chairman of HCM City People’s Committee, has sought approval from the Prime Minister to expand the HCM City – Trung Lương Expressway, which has suffered from worsening congestion.Mãi has proposed the PM chair a meeting with relevant ministries and localities (including HCM City, Long An and Tiền Giang provinces) to invest in widening the expressway to eight lanes under the public-private partnership (PPP) model, and assign a locality where the expressway passes through to carry out the work.Opened to traffic in 2010, the expressway has a total length of nearly 62km, with four lanes and a speed of 120km per hour.Passing through HCM City and the three provinces, it has become overloaded, especially on weekends and public holidays.The expansion is expected to meet travel demand, promote socio-economic development and ensure transport connectivity between HCM City and neighbouring provinces in the region.Under an approved planning for HCM City by 2030, the city area will have five expressways with a total length of about 276.9km and two ring roads with a total length of about 287km.As of now, only two expressways, namely HCM City-Trung Lương and HCM City-Long Thành-Dầu Giây, and part of the Ring Road No. 3 were open to traffic.