Phan Văn Mãi (4th left), chairman of the HCM City People’s Committee, presents the ‘traditional flag’ to the city Committee for Overseas Vietnamese Affairs. VNA/VNS Photo

HCM CITY — The HCM City economy will recover this year and return to pre-pandemic levels, its People’s Committee chairman has said.

Speaking at a meeting on Tuesday with overseas Vietnamese ahead of the upcoming Tết (Lunar New Year) festival, Chairman Phan Văn Mãi said despite the huge challenges posed by the pandemic last year, the city had many bright spots.

Its revenues exceeded the target marginally to reach VNĐ381.53 trillion (US$16.81 billion), and accounted for 25-27 per cent of the country’s total amount, he said.

It received remittances of $6.6 billion (a rise of 9 per cent), or nearly equal to the FDI it got, he said.

“Remittances are a huge resource for the city’s socio-economic development.”

It attracted more than $7.38 billion worth of FDI, a 38.48 per cent increase, he said.

The city wants to receive feedback from overseas Vietnamese about pandemic prevention, how to improve urban administration, promote production and business, and attract more investment, according to the chairman.

The city has set an economic growth target for this year of 6-6.5 per cent, and the current excellent COVID-19 prevention results are key to achieving it.

The city will continue to speed up digital transformation and adoption of information technology at all levels of government, support businesses and improve the investment climate, and sustain COVID safety measures as part of its economic recovery plan.

Vietnamese-German Philipp Rösler, former vice-chancellor of Germany and Vietnamese-Australian Nguyễn Ngọc Luận, general director of the Global Trading Company Limited, said they were impressed with the city’s socio-economic development and fight against the pandemic, and expressed a desire to contribute to its development and that of the country.

Gifts from President Nguyễn Xuân Phúc were given to five outstanding overseas Vietnamese, while 15 collectives and 29 individuals received the city’s certificate of merit for their contributions to overseas Vietnamese affairs and the city’s development.

The meeting was attended by more than 300 overseas Vietnamese. — VNS