Nguyễn Thiện Nhân, secretary of the HCM City Party Committee, meets with delegates at the HCM City Party Committee conference yesterday. — VNA/VNS Photo Thanh Vũ

HCM CITY — HCM City authorities yesterday pledged to speed up major projects such as Metro lines 1 and 2, flood-control and climate-change adaptation projects, and settlement of complaints related to the Thủ Thiêm new urban area.

Trần Vĩnh Tuyến, vice chairman of the city People’s Committee, said the city would ensure benefits for affected residents in the Thủ Thiêm new urban area dispute in HCM City’s District 2 who have lodged complaints about land usage and household resettlement issues.

Tuyến spoke at the HCM City Party Committee conference yesterday to review the city’s socio-economic development in the first nine months.

City officials this year have regularly met with businesses and investors to resolve their problems and create a favourable investment environment, he said.

The city also organised dozens of international conferences in various fields such as artificial intelligence (AI), greenery planning, public lighting, highly skilled human-resource training, and smart tourism, among others. 

In the first nine months, the city achieved Gross Regional Domestic Product (GRDP) of US$44.5 billion, up 7.81 per cent over the same period last year, according to Tuyến.

The city collected VNĐ287.173 trillion worth of revenues in the period, accounting for 71.9 per cent of the year’s target, up 7.23 per cent over the same period. 

Total retail sales of goods and services rose by 11.9 per cent over the same period last year. Total export turnover is estimated to be more than $31 billion, up 10.5 per cent against the same period last year.

The number of international visitors to the city reached over 6.2 million in the period, up 14.3 per cent against last year’s nine-month period.

The city attracted foreign direct investment (FDI) worth $5.43 billion, up 3.48 per cent over the same period in 2018, according to Tuyến. 

Nguyễn Thiện Nhân, secretary of the HCM City Party Committee, said the city would identify key tasks and targets for the remaining three months.

The US-China trade war and other factors have affected the socio-economic situation in Việt Nam, especially HCM City, but the city has made great efforts to achieve positive results, according to Nhân. 

HCM City is focusing on implementing Resolution 54 of the National Assembly that calls for a smart HCM City with a long-term vision.

A one-year report on keeping the city clean and reducing flooding was also presented at the conference, as well as reports on state management in construction activities. 

The conference discussed the results of seven breakthrough programmes and Resolution 54 on piloting special mechanisms for HCM City. — VNS