Chairman of the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee, Nguyen Van Duoc, said at the "Business Cafe" program titled “Ho Chi Minh City business with the goal of double-digit economic growth, which was held by the HCMC Union of Business Association (HUBA) on March 8.
At the program, he shared the city's growth strategy and called on the business community to contribute ideas for its implementation.
Many businesses continued to suggest that the city address their obstacles. Mrs. Duong Thanh Thuy, representative of Trung Thuy Group, said that it needs a comprehensive change from policies to implementation to develop strongly and compete in the international market. If the current way of doing things is continuously maintained, domestic businesses will increasingly face difficulties and lose their advantages even in the home market. Specifically, Trung Thuy Group invested in a residential project in Go Vap District with a total capital of VND880 billion (US$31.4 million). Due to procedural obstacles, the project has been stalled for the past three years.
Chairman of Thanh Cong Investment Joint Stock Company, Nguyen Quoc Bao, said that it currently takes at least 18 months to carry out the process of applying for the issuance of a construction license. A construction permit application must go through six departments, with each unit taking about three months. If businesses could submit the application simultaneously to all six departments and receive feedback within three months, then make additions, revisions, and corrections to the documents, the process could be completed in just a few months.
Prof. Dr. Tran Dinh Thien, former Director of the Vietnam Institute of Economics, proposed that Ho Chi Minh City should build a strong business ecosystem, not only depending on foreign leading enterprises but also actively nurturing large domestic businesses. It requires close cooperation between large and medium-sized enterprises to create a strong investment ecosystem and talent pool. Ho Chi Minh City needs to expand the space for economic development, creating conditions for the development of digital enterprises, high-tech companies, and artificial intelligence (AI) businesses. This is a crucial factor to replace traditional business models that are no longer competitive in the new context.
According to Dr. Vo Tri Thanh, Director of the Institute for Brand Strategy and Competitiveness Research, the city’s government needs to listen to and accompany businesses, creating the most favorable environment for mutual development and enhancing the city's position on the national and regional economic map.
Speaking at the program, Chairman of the People's Committee of Ho Chi Minh City, Nguyen Van Duoc, shared that the city is accelerating public investment, especially the development of transport infrastructure, while also addressing obstacles from ongoing projects. Currently, the city is focusing on attracting resources to implement key projects such as the Can Gio international container transshipment port, the digital transformation center, and the international financial center, as well as developing multi-purpose high-tech centers in Thu Duc City, covering fields such as artificial intelligence (AI), innovation, and big data. Therefore, the collaboration of businesses is a crucial factor in achieving these goals.
He emphasized that the success of businesses is the joy of the government, and their difficulties are the local authorities' concerns. The city’s government is committed to always accompanying businesses towards a win-win relationship, where businesses and the government grow together. Ho Chi Minh City encourages businesses to promote their creativity and responsibility to contribute to the sustainable development of the city.
