Gov't talks development mechanisms for HCM City: press conference

The information was made by Chairman of the Office of the Government Mai Tien Dung during a press conference in Hanoi held following the meeting on November 3.

The mechanisms for the southern economic hub will concern four main areas: urban planning and land management, finance and investment management, authorisation mechanisms, and the income of the city’s public servants.

According to the chairman, the issuance of a resolution on these mechanisms is “a necessity” as HCM City is the ‘economic locomotive’ of the country and contributes the most to the State budget.

Regarding the country’s economy situation, also according to Dung, Vietnam’s macroeconomy remains stable and in line government’s monetary and credit plans.

Foreign direct investment (FDI) reached a record of 28.2 billion USD in the first 10 months, up 37.4 percent from the same period in 2016. Import and export of goods also posted positive results, increasing by 22 percent over the same period, and the trade surplus reached 1.2 billion USD.

In terms of tourism, international arrivals reached 10.4 million by the end of October against the the year-end target of 13 million.

Regarding slow the equitisation of State-owned enterprises, Deputy Minister of Planning and Investment Nguyen The Phuong said this even though this process must be done quickly, but “in order to achieve effective equitisation, thorough asset evaluation must be carried out, otherwise, serious losses of State assets could occur.”

On the controversial draft law on cyber security, whereby foreign technology corporations like Facebook and Google could be asked to relocate servers holding Vietnamese users’ information to Vietnam, the chairman of the Government Office said the fact remains that overseas servers make State management much more difficult especially with hostile organisations and individuals having used social media to spread anti-State propaganda.