HCMC has experienced the toughest challenges during the fourth Covid-19 outbreak. Never before has it witnessed such grave losses, neither has it had a negative growth rate of 6.78 percent since the Renovation Period.
However, thanks to the unite mind of the municipal authorities and the whole community, along with the support of other provinces and overseas Vietnamese people, HCMC has stood firmed and been able to control the outbreak to a large extent. It is now entering the ‘new normal status’ phase for socio-economic recovery and safeguarding against new Covid-19 variants like Omicron.
Highly appreciated are the efforts of the business sector as the city’s export turnover (excluding crude oil) is stable and even increases by 2.8 percent, while the total state budget contribution is likely to reach 100 percent of the set target.
Many enterprises in the city has successfully implemented digital technologies to develop their own e-commerce, and city dwellers are used to new useful habits of applying advanced technologies for their daily activities. This is a good foundation for the city to carry out its digital transformation process quickly.
The fact that HCMC does not adjust its formerly set socio-economic targets during the 11th Congress of HCMC Party Committee shows a strong determination of all classes to resume normal activities and boost the city growth, the residents’ living standards, particularly in the program ‘Socio-economic Recovery in HCMC in the Period from 2022-2025’.
Firstly, the city will focus on restarting manufacturing and commercial activities to offer a stable life for city dwellers. Then comes the time to address any problems arising during the 4th Covid-19 outbreak for a comprehensive socio-economic renovation.
At the same time, HCMC is going to pay more attention to upgrade the capacity of the healthcare human resources and facilities, mostly smart healthcare services, to cope with any potential outbreak in the future.
With the 2022 theme ‘Safely, flexibly adapting – effectively controlling Covid-19 pandemic – increasing quality of urban government establishment – improving investment environment for businesses’, the city concentrates on filling in the gaps in the existing supply chains; delivering proper support to large and household businesses, cooperatives via suitable policies to increase export turnovers, attract more investment, and encourage shopping activities of consumers; carrying out administrative reform and investment environment improvement; creating more favorable conditions for innovative enterprises and individuals to bloom.
In 2022, HCMC enjoys a budget regulation increase from 18 percent to 21 percent, which is valuable for public investment into key projects and in turn promotes more social resources mobilization.
Regarding social security, the city plans to reinforce the current system for a smoother operation. It pays particular attention to the vulnerable, families under preferential treatment policy, lonely old people, and orphans due to Covid-19. It will carry out urban renovation, including old residential blocks; rearrange accommodation for poor people now living along canals; build more reasonable apartments for low-income dwellers and laborers.
In addition, HCMC is going to boost the operation of vocation centers, employment agencies to link the unemployed to suitable jobs so that people have a stable income, and thus guarantee their own social security status and living standards.
As a state unit to represent the community’s wish, HCMC People’s Council is going to renovate its operation and improve its tasks of monitoring state officials’ work.
Since 2021 when HCMC applied the urban government model, there is no more People’s Council in each district or ward; therefore, the monitoring task needs adjustment to better suit the reality. That is the reason for the birth of the project ‘Improving Quality and Efficiency of Supervision Activities of HCMC People’s Council When Applying Urban Government Model in the Term of 2021-2026’.
This project aims at upgrading the effectiveness of meetings of the People’s Council; increasing the representative role of members of this organization in important decisions of the city to better satisfy the wish of city dwellers.
To fulfill the second goal, HCMC People’s Council is going to upgrade the role of the delegate team, to build a monitoring mechanism, and to organize direct meeting between these delegates and citizens once or twice a month, along with collecting ideas of the community via the hotline 1022 and updating document processing progress. More importantly, since January 2022, the People’s Council will host the program “Question – Answer between City Dwellers and Authorities” to properly respond to the public’s inquiries.
We sympathize with the grave loss and pain of the city residents, and we thank this outbreak, for it has shown us our weaknesses in all aspects so that we have the opportunity to correct ourselves and develop fully. It is the loss that scares us, but it is also the loss that makes us stronger. With double the usual determination, we will certainly bloom more beautifully.
