These days, on the construction site of F1 race at the My Dinh National Sports Complex, the working atmosphere is filled with urgency. All parts are rushing to be complete, to finally be put into operation from April 4, 2020. Hanoi - Formula 1 Vietnam Grand Prix 2020 is expected to make Vietnam one of the official 22 places that F1 races are organise around the world. According to many experts, this race will become a "nudge", contributing to promoting Vietnam's image to the world, attracting international tourists to Hanoi, significantly contributing to the economic growth of cities in particular and Vietnam in general. This is also a clear illustration of the effectiveness of Resolution No. 06-NQ / TU dated June 26, 2016 of the Standing Committee of the Hanoi municipal Party Committee on "Tourism Development of Hanoi Capital in the period of 2016-2020 and subsequent years.”.
According to the Director of the Hanoi Department of Tourism Tran Duc Hai, since the issuance of Resolution No. 06, all levels and sectors of the city have been more proactive in developing action plans with many real breakthroughs. Among them, the city has been promoted on the US Cable News Network (CNN) for the first time, as well as changed the mode of tourism promotion by inviting international travel businesses to Hanoi to directly survey instead of primarily going abroad for promotion. The capital tourism industry has new and impressive products such as: the pedestrian space around Hoan Kiem Lake and surrounding areas, the Phung Hung Street mural space, Hanoi book street, a double decker bus city tour service, and the live entertainment show “Tinh Hoa Bac Bo” (the Quintessence of Tonkin). Currently, the city has recognised 11 tourist sites, city-level tourist areas; piloting community-based tourism model in Ba Vi district. Thanks to these break throughs, after only three years of implementation, up to now, the city has fundamentally completed all four of the targets proposed by the resolution. Notably, the number of tourists in the period 2016 - 2019 increased rapidly, the average increase was estimated at 10.1% per year; in 2019, the number of tourists reached 28,945 million visitors. Particularly, the growth of international tourists reached an average of 21.2% per year, which was completed two years before the targets set out in the resolution.
For the 2015 – 2020 term, Hanoi Party Committee marked an impression, with many directing and effective management through large working plans, so that it will not only be implemented during the whole term, but also create an important premise for the next phase, such as Programme No.03 on economic development, Programme No.06 on development of transport and urban infrastructure, Programme No.08 on administrative reform. From 2015 to date, a series of key traffic projects have been completed such as Nhat Tan - Noi Bai road, expanding the Ring Road No.3's Mai Dich – Thang Long bridge section, upgrading Nguyen Van Huyen Street, and Nghi Tam street. In addition, many other projects are under urgent construction such as Ring Road No.2 (Vinh Tuy Bridge - Nga Tu So), overpass Linh Dam Lake or are completing investment procedures such as Vinh Tuy 2 Bridge, a road connecting Phap Van-Cau Gie Highway with Belt Road No.3, creating stronger conditions for the capital's development. Transport infrastructure is gradually being improved, speeding up urbanisation. In October, 2019, the city started work on a smart city project with a total investment of nearly US$4.2 billion. Located at the gateway to the north of the capital, along the Vo Nguyen Giap road, belonging to the planning of Nhat Tan - Noi Bai route, the smart city of more than 270 hectares will apply many smart technologies in various fields, such as energy, transport, governance, learning, life and economy. The project is expected to bring about long-term economic and social values, contributing to solving the current urban problems, creating motivation for the development of the northern of Red River Delta Region in particular and Hanoi in general.
Recently, the UNESCO organisation recognised Hanoi as a creative city. Director of the Hanoi Department of Culture and Sports To Van Dong affirmed that Hanoi will soon realize the city's commitments in the candidate profile for joining the UNESCO's Network of Creative Cities with a long term action programme; there will be specific strategies to raise awareness, connect the public with the city's cultural and creative beats. At the same time, the city will build programmes to connect Hanoi with creative cities in the region and around the world. Along with developing more creative cultural spaces, organising many cultural and art activities, Hanoi will complete more than 20 new parks, including lots of space for creative artists. The city will develop a startup programmes, connecting with businesses to form a plan to support worthy organisations and individuals with appropriate creative ideas.
In order to attain the above results, the city has always identified administrative reform, the best support for businesses as the central task. This step is not expensive, but highly effective. Up to now, Programme No. 08-Ctr / TU of Hanoi Municipal Party Committee for the 2015-2020 term on basic administrative reforms has been completed, of which some targets soon exceeded their targets, such as: Providing direct public services reached more than 80%; The level of satisfaction of the people and businesses on the service of administrative agencies and the handling of administrative procedures reached more than 80%. Therefore, in 2019, the city has 27,900 newly established businesses with the registered capital of VND510.7 trillion, an increase of 11% in the number of enterprises and an increase of 30% in the registered capital compared to the same period in 2018. The rate of online business registration documents maintains 100%, ensuring quality, on time. Foreign investment attraction in 2019 reached US$ 8,736 billion, the highest figure after 30 years since its opening, integration and the second consecutive year leading the country. These are important conditions for Hanoi to develop faster and more sustainably in the coming period.
