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Chairman of the HCMC People's Committee Phan Van Mai speaks at the meeting (Photo: SGGP) |
Mr. Alain Cany, President of the European Business Association, assessed that the association's previous recommendations on the inadequacy of customs procedures have been actively removed by the city. Customs clearance of goods is much more convenient.
However, he suggested that the city currently needs to continue to review and synchronously adjust a number of issues such as increasing the visa extension time to 30 days to promote tourism; renovating infrastructure and services at Tan Son Nhat international airport; thoroughly applying digital management, allowing enterprises to declare and license through the online system, and digital signature application.
Representatives of associations also petitioned that there should be more appropriate regulations to facilitate foreign enterprises to participate in investment through the form of share purchase or direct investment capital contribution.
In addition, the city needs to take specific actions in investing in transport infrastructure taking into account regional connectivity while promulgating policies to encourage businesses and people to carry out green transformation. Last but not least, the city should strengthen the construction of waste, wastewater and garbage treatment plants and control of air pollution and noise.
Many foreign business associations suggested that the city should synchronously apply educational reform solutions to improve the quality of human resources, have essential solutions to meet energy security and switch to clean energy, encourage investment in high technology and improve research and development capacity.
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Participants at the meeting |
Listening to foreign enterprises’ opinions, Mr. Phan Van Mai suggested relevant departments and agencies to answer each specific issue.
He emphasized that the city drastically improves the investment environment with a focus on the responsibilities of departments and civil servants in 2023. furthermore, the city will issue regulations on the authority, and responsibilities of administrative agencies, and time for receiving and returning documents. In the near future, the city will announce the above information to enterprises for supervision and feedback.
The Chairman further informed that in the period of 2020 - 2030, the city will focus on completing the construction of national highways and connecting roads within the region and inter-region according to the planning. For instance, the urban railway line No. 1 will be put into operation by 2024 and the Ring Road 3 will be complete by 2026; the Ring Road 4 section from the bridge over the Saigon River - Thay Cai Canal by 2030, the Ho Chi Minh City - Moc Bai Expressway, and the Ho Chi Minh City - Chon Thanh Expressway will be done by 2030.
As for investment in environmental quality, the city leader affirmed that the city does not license waste landfill projects, but only allows investment in projects using modern technology of burning waste to generate electricity. Regarding wastewater treatment, the city has invested and is preparing to put into operation the Tham Luong - Ben Cat canal water treatment project, followed by the Xuyen Tam canal with a total investment of VND15,000 billion. These two projects are expected to be completed in 2027.
In respect of the health sector, as medical examination and treatment needs have been increasing with an estimated 50 million patients per year, in addition to upgrading and building new hospitals such as Children's Hospital, and Oncology, the city plans to invest in a medical screening and treatment center. Regarding public services, the city is focusing on infrastructure investment, building a shared database, and reformatting the city's digital public services.
