This afternoon (August 27), the Steering Committee for the implementation of Resolution 98 of the National Assembly on implementing special mechanisms and policies for the development of Ho Chi Minh City held a one-year review meeting.

At the meeting, Chairman of Ho Chi Minh City Phan Van Mai said that Resolution 98 gives the city the opportunity to open up mechanisms to mobilize resources, remove difficulties, and decentralize and delegate power to be more proactive in policy decisions.

However, according to Ho Chi Minh City leaders, despite a year of implementation, the results are still not as expected.

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Chairman of Ho Chi Minh City Phan Van Mai at the meeting. Photo: Contributor

Mr. Mai gave an example: Ho Chi Minh City has requested a mechanism to implement projects under the PPP (public-private partnership) model for the fields of education, culture and sports. The city can call for about 1 billion USD if it implements all projects according to the approved list.

However, up to this point, the city has only begun to implement a number of projects and none have been completed. The reason is that departments and localities are still slow.

Another problem that HCMC is still facing is attracting strategic investors, listing preferential sectors and accompanying mechanisms and policies. According to Mr. Mai, the Ministry of Planning and Investment initially did not agree with the city on the list of priority sectors. But after the city persistently explained, the Ministry agreed.

"We still need to agree with the ministries, so the progress is slow. The city is determined to remove this bottleneck in the third quarter of this year. If we can remove it, we can discuss attracting investors for the Can Gio international transit port and high-tech park," Mr. Mai affirmed.

At the same time, the head of the Ho Chi Minh City government informed that there are signs that Intel and Samsung corporations will return to the city, with investment packages of 2-3 billion USD.

"Previously, Intel left the city with an investment package of more than 4.3 billion USD to go to Poland, and now they want to return. However, to attract these two strategic investors, the city must make good use of the policies and mechanisms from Resolution 98," Mr. Mai expressed.

Select 7 locations as TOD

Mr. Mai also said that the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee has approved 7 locations to implement TOD (urban development model oriented towards high-speed and high-volume public transport development...) along metro lines 1, 2 and Ring Road 3. If implemented well, land alone will bring in several hundred thousand billion VND.

Therefore, Mr. Mai requested that relevant agencies and localities need to conduct basic research and quickly plan these TOD locations. After that, they will plan the land, compensate for site clearance, and then bid to recover the value of the land.

In the immediate future, Thu Duc City will be selected to pilot the implementation of 2 TOD locations first and then expand to the remaining locations.

Results after 1 year of implementing Resolution 98:

In the field of investment management, 4 mechanisms are being implemented, including: allocating public investment capital of 3,794 billion VND to support poverty reduction and job creation; approving a list of 7 TOD development locations along Metro lines; issuing a list of 41 investment projects in the fields of health, education, and culture under the public-private partnership model; approving 5 BOT projects to upgrade, expand, and modernize existing roads.

The group of financial and state budget mechanisms has 12 mechanisms, 5/12 of which have been implemented, including: arranging public investment capital of 1,500 billion VND to support interest rates for investment projects lent by HFIC in priority areas of socio-economic development; including the city budget salary reform source to spend on increased income of 11,287 billion VND; supporting Dien Bien province with 75 billion VND to implement a number of projects; supporting Cuba with 10 sets of computers, 500 bicycles and 500 tons of rice.

The group of mechanisms on urban, natural resources and environmental management has 13 mechanisms, 7/13 of which have been and are being implemented, including: changing the purpose of using rice-growing land for a project with an area of ​​0.04ha; approving the investment policy for a project providing the market with about 2,000 social housing apartments; 5 units registered to implement the conversion of waste-to-energy incineration technology for 5 factories; 2 projects were added with the goal of waste-to-energy incineration.

Regarding priority sectors and occupations to attract strategic investors, there is one mechanism. The city has developed a form for disclosing information on projects to attract strategic investors and is consulting with relevant ministries and agencies and updating the form according to the new regulations of the 2023 Bidding Law.

The group of mechanisms for science, technology and innovation management has two mechanisms, both of which are being implemented. For support of innovation and start-up activities in priority areas, 48 ​​valid applications have been received. The Advisory Council has selected 21/48 applications and initially supported 15/21 applications.

The group of mechanisms on the organization of the city's government apparatus has 10 mechanisms, 9/10 of which are being implemented. The city has basically completed the establishment of additional specialized agencies and the arrangement of public units with the establishment of the Department of Food Safety and the Digital Transformation Center; adding 1 Vice Chairman of the People's Council, 1 Vice Chairman of the People's Committee for Thu Duc City, 1 Vice Chairman of the People's Committee for 2 districts (Can Gio, Hoc Mon), 51/52 Vice Chairmen of the People's Committee for 51/52 wards, communes and towns with a population of 50,000 people or more.

The group of mechanisms on the organization of the administrative apparatus of Thu Duc City has 2 groups of mechanisms on decentralization, authorization and on the organization of the apparatus. Thu Duc has basically completed these groups of mechanisms.

Chairman of Ho Chi Minh City: With Resolution 98, working in 1 year is more effective than in a whole term . Chairman of Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee Phan Van Mai affirmed that after nearly 1 year of implementing Resolution 98 of the National Assembly, the results achieved are more than in a whole term (5 years) compared to the previous special Resolution 54.
Prime Minister: Remove legal obstacles, do not rush when implementing Resolution 98 Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh requested that when implementing Resolution 98, Ho Chi Minh City must work and learn from experience, not rush but stay calm and persistent to achieve high efficiency.