HCM City (VNA) – Chairman of the Ho Chi Minh City People’s CommitteeNguyen Thanh Phong has updated foreign consuls general on informationconcerning the implementation of special mechanisms and polices to promote thecity’s development.

At ameeting on March 2​8, Phong appreciated the participants for their presence at theevent, saying that this show their interest and confidence in HCM City’sdevelopment potential.

While briefing delegates about the National Assembly’s Resolution 54/2017/QH14,Phong said under the resolution, the city will pilot special mechanisms andpolicies to foster its development in five fields: land management; investment management;financial-state budget management; empowerment mechanism; and incomes ofofficials and civil servants.

The resolution is hoped to untie bottlenecks in management, thus making iteasier for the municipal authorities to proactively roll out policies in a bidto serve its socio-economic development.

Regarding the project to develop HCM City into a smart city in 2017-2020 with avision to 2015, Phong said the project demonstrates the determination of administrationsat all levels to turn the city into an a city with rapid and sustainableeconomic growth.

According to the chairman, the project includes four pillars, focusing onbuilding centres for studying and forecasting socio-economic developmentstrategies, ensuring information security, and developing open-data ecosystem.

A creative urban area connecting district 2, district 9 and Thu Duc districtwill be formed, which is expected to play a centre role in implementing the fourthindustrial revolution in the city and the whole southern key economic zone,towards pushing knowledge-based economic development.

He hoped that the consulates general will serves as bridges connecting the citywith their countries’ authorities and businesses so that they could share relevantideas and advanced technological solutions with HCM City.

HCM City pledged to create more favourable conditions for foreign enterprisesand investors to operate in the locality, Phong affirmed.

Leow Siu Lin, Singaporean Consul General in HCM City who is head of the consuldelegation, said the resolution opens many new development opportunities forthe city.

While highly evaluating HCM City’s smart city development strategy towards a sustainableand knowledge-based economy, she said this is very important as the city is anattractive destination for investors.

During the event, participants debated a roadmap to implement the resolution,focusing on matters related to capital, cooperation in human resources development,experience sharing, and technologies for building smart city.-VNA