Hanoi (VNA) – Seeing the important role of the private sector to localdevelopment, Ho Chi Minh City will work to attract more private investment tocarry out smart urban area projects and branch out Industry 4.0 services, saidSecretary of the municipal Party Committee Nguyen Thien Nhan.

The city is home to 372,000 private firms, contributing 63 percent of localgross domestic product (GDP) and more than 41 percent of State budgetcollection, he said at the Vietnam Private Sector Economic Forum in Hanoi onMay 2.

However, he said companies face many challenges when investing in the city,including complicated administrative and State management procedures and confusinglaws.

He described capital shortage as main reason for low labour productivity,saying average investment in one worker in Vietnam is 20 times less than Japanand 6.5 times less than Malaysia.

Besides, tens of thousands of enterprises in the city have no access tonecessary infrastructure and services, making them inefficient.

Nhan said Vietnam needs strong policies to back the development of IT andscience and technology enterprises, driving the knowledge economy and serviceproduction, while authorities must see corporations’ satisfaction as animportant indicator to evaluate the efficiency of administrative reforms.

As for private firms themselves, they should work with training establishmentsif they want high-quality human resources, he stated.

He expressed his belief that following the forum, the Government will outlinerational policies to fit the demands of companies, and localities must joinbusinesses’ efforts to develop the nation’s economy.-VNA