Prime Minister Nguyễn Xuân Phúc speaks at a working session with the Standing Committee of HCM City Party Committee on Sunday. VNA/VNS Thống Nhất

HCM CITY  — HCM City should strive to soon become a smart and modern industrial city, said Prime Minister Nguyễn Xuân Phúc.

He made the statement at a working session with the Standing Committee of the municipal Party Committee on Sunday.

The PM asked the city authority to analyse more clearly internal and external factors that affect the development of the city to have solutions, especially those relating to science and technology, innovation, human resources, infrastructure and climate change challenges.

While agreeing with the content of the draft political report of the 11th term HCM City Party Congress for the term of 2020-2025, PM Phúc said more should be done to obtain higher goals.

He cited the fact that the city’s gross regional domestic product (GRDP) had met its potential. There was still a big gap between local residents in terms of living standards.

“If the city keeps following the old model, it will be difficult to develop. If no renovation is adopted and without an increase in labour productivity, the GRDP of other localities namely Bắc Ninh, Quảng Ninh and Hà Nội can catch up and even surpass it,” Phúc said.

With its role as the major centre and locomotive of the Vietnamese economy, the city should have a more transparent and attractive investment environment.

In the next 15 years, HCM city would face an ageing population and gender imbalance, thus the contingent of cadres capable of administering a city of 15 million was the key point for the city to be successful, he said.

It was necessary to choose cadres who are both talented and have good virtues to take responsibilities.

To achieve the goals set in the draft, he said, HMC City needed to remove obstacles for enterprises.

According to the PM, it was a must to calculate a more rational GRDP per capital as the criteria set forth by the city authority was not in parallel with its status and orientation.

An economic hub of the nation, HCM City should focus on innovation and the Fourth Industrial Revolution by applying criteria of the United Nations (UN) Sustainable Development Goals.

Phúc also emphasised the need to have a relevant mechanism to mobilise, distribute and use resources effectively.

HCM City should enhance linkage with the Mekong River Delta and Southeast region to ensure sustainable development and in harmony with the country’s key economic zones.

The PM said the city should take the lead in innovation, research and development activities.

It was essential to raise the proportion of its budget for research and development to between 5 and 7 per cent of its total budget expenditure or 2 per cent of its GRDP in the next 5 years.  — VNS