A view of Thủ Thiêm new urban area in the new Thủ Đức City. HCM City authorities are continuing to streamline administrative procedures to improve the business climate. VNA/VNS Photo

HCM CITY — HCM City will continue to streamline administrative procedures in an aim to improve the business climate and ensure people’s rights and obligations as part of its ongoing urban administration pilot project. 

The urban administration model, which started earlier this year, is expected to help solve major problems faced by the city and promote its role in the southern region and the country’s development.  

The city’s huge population and economic scale requires that administrative decisions be carried out by grassroots-level authorities, residents and enterprises in a timely, precise and organised manner, as required by the model.

The urban administration model will help shorten the time to develop plans for socio-economic development.

It includes Thủ Đức City, which was created by merging Districts 2, 9, and Thủ Đức. The “city within a city” has a People’s Council and People’s Committee.

Hoàng Tùng, chairman of Thủ Đức city People’s Committee, said as the city’s eastern gateway, the new Thủ Đức City covering 21,156ha will be developed into a centre of innovation to assist the growth of HCM City and seven key economic hubs in the South.

The new city is expected to contribute nearly 30 per cent of the city’s gross regional domestic product and 7 per cent of the country’s gross domestic product.

Thủ Đức has launched the IOC Smart Operation Centre to build a unified data system linked with various industries, which will enhance interaction between the government and people and businesses, as well as prepare data for forecasting business trends.

It has set a goal by the end of the year to have 50 per cent of public administrative procedures online.

Under the urban government model, District 7 is focusing on e-government, smart cities, a digital economy and society, and digital transformation in various fields. It provides a range of online public services in various sectors.

It recently launched the Centre for Operations of COVID-19 pandemic prevention and control as part of the effort to reopen the economy.

To ensure transparency of people’s committees in wards and districts, HCM City authorities have abolished the people’s councils of districts and wards. All of these employees have new positions.

In a rapidly developing area like HCM City, people’s councils in districts and wards are an intermediate level that slows down the working process. The authority assigned to councils is already limited, so abolishing the people’s councils helps to streamline administrative procedures.

Nguyễn Thị Lệ, chairwoman of the HCM City People’s Council, said the city has developed a project to improve the quality of supervision activities of the municipal People’s Council for the 2021-26 term. 

“HCM City will ensure its residents’ interests are a top priority under the project.”

It will organise regular meetings and dialogues between city leaders and agencies and businesses in order to remove their challenges to reopen production. Online and offline investment promotion events will be held more frequently to attract foreign investment.

The city will also organise the second HCM City Innovation Award Ceremony 2021 in December. — VNS