HCM City (VNA) - Ho Chi Minh City must work to sustain its role as Vietnam’seconomic locomotive, driving growth in the surrounding area and the country asa whole based on its creative implementation of Party and State policies, PrimeMinister Nguyen Xuan Phuc has said.

He made the comments during a speech at the 11th Congress of the HCMCity Party Organisation for the 2020-2025 tenure, which officially opened onOctober 15 and gathered together 444 delegates.

The Government leader spoke highly of the city’s achievements in the 2016-2019tenure, noting it grew quickly and healthily, posting impressive numbers ateach turn.

The southern economic hub grew 7.2 percent on average every year during theprevious tenure, contributing approximately 22 percent and 27 percent to nationalGDP and the State budget, respectively. Its agricultural production has been modernisedto post productivity three-times higher than the national average, while itsnew-style rural building programme has been basically completed.

It also took the lead in building a smart city, especially in health,education, and transport management. 

The PM went on to emphasise a number of shortcomings facing the city,including problematic infrastructure and complex security issues in some areas.Local economic growth is yet to be on par with potential and the city’s specialposition, while human resources quality is still to meet requirements fordevelopment and international integration.

Phuc asked local authorities to effectively establish and implement planningfor the city in the 2021-2030 period with a vision to 2050, focusing onconsolidating its central role in development within the HCM City urban area, thesouthern region, the Central Highlands region, and the Mekong Delta.

He urged the city to tackle bottlenecks hindering improvements in trafficinfrastructure, human resources, administrative reform, and the business climate.

HCM City should be the pioneer in addressing the development challengesfacing Vietnam and in creating breakthrough policies to effectively mobilisingand allocating resources, he said.

The city needs to exploit its advantages as the country’s science andtechnology and training centre, to seize opportunities and push for innovationand science and technology application, the PM added.

He recommended it focus on harmonising socio-economic development,environmental protection, climate change response, and cultural growth.

He also highlighted the importance of building an efficient, democratic,modern, and active administrative environment and reinforcing defence-security,external relations, and international integration.

The PM asked the city to focus on personnel tasks during the congress toelect an effective apparatus serving its future missions./.