WashingtonDC (VNA) – A high-ranking delegation of Ho Chi Minh City had aworking session with leaders of the World Bank (WB) in Washington DC, the US,on December 15, seeking for the institution’s support in many fields.

Secretary of the Ho Chi Minh Party CommitteeNguyen Thien Nhan appreciated the WB’s assistance to his city and Vietnam overthe past years.

With a population of more than 10 million, HCMCity needs a new economic model to meet its development demand. It plans tobuild a centre for research, simulation and forecasting of economic developmentstrategies which is a rather new term in Vietnam but will play an importantrole in making plans for the city in the future.

He expressed his hope that the WB will considerand suggest ideas for the centre construction and introduce experiencedagencies and organisations which HCM City can cooperate with.

He noted that his city also wants the WB to helpassess and organise workshops on public spending, build the city’s budget plansfrom 2019, and evaluate public feedback on the quality of administrations’services.

The HCM City delegation’s visit also aims tolearn from the US’s experience in startup promotion, Nhan noted, adding thatthey had had a working session on this topic with the MIT Sloan School ofManagement.

The official also asked for the WB’s assistancefor Vietnam to solve issues facing the Mekong Delta region, which has beensuffering from serious subsidence, erosion, and saltwater intrusion.

Victoria Kwakwa, WB Regional VicePresident for East Asia and Pacific, said the bank can help to promote thecity’s development.

[HCM City highly appreciates WB’s support]

It can send working groups to HCM City todiscuss and assist the city in devising concrete solutions relevant to theassessment of public spending effectiveness and public feedback on localadministrations’ services, she said.

That HCM City is seeking ways to promotestartups, thus creating more jobs, is a right direction, she added.

At the working session, WB experts and HCM Cityofficials also looked into such issues as urban planning, smart city building,and innovation. 

The experts shared the view that it is necessaryto build HCM City into a smart city, and with its capacity and experience, theWB can connect HCM City with many smart cities around the world so that thecity can learn from their experience.

Also on December 15, the HCM City officials hada working session with the International Finance Corporation (IFC).

At the event, the municipal People’s Committeeand the IFC signed a memorandum of understanding on cooperation. This documentaims to set up feasible steps that can lead to the two sides’ cooperation inupgrading and expanding infrastructure in HCM City by diversifying localadministrations’ capital sources through the IFC’s provision of financial toolsand non-refundable technical consultancy services for the municipal People’sCommittee.

The same day, the Vietnamese delegation tookpart in a discussion with researchers from the Global Cities Initiative of theBrookings Institution.-VNA