An egg packaging line at the Vinh Thanh Dat Food Corporation in HCM City. The city is aiming for a 8.7 per cent GDP growth for 2017. — VNA/VNS Photo An Hieu
HCM City authorities have urged the city’s Department of Planning and Investment to propose solutions to achieve a Gross Regional Domestic Product (GRDP) of between 8.4 and 8.7 per cent this year.
Su Ngoc Anh, director of the department, said the city had set ambitious targets this year, including establishing 50,000 new firms and having investment represent 35 per cent of GRDP.
The city also plans to shift 25,000 family-run businesses into registered enterprises, speed up equitisation of State-own companies, and improve co-operation with surrounding localities to expand the market.
Anh recommended that the city work with agencies to review and give priority to essential projects. The city should also closely monitor construction projects, he said.
The city will offer incentives for enterprises to invest under public-private partnerships, especially in the city’s seven designated “breakthrough” programmes: human resource development, administrative reform, growth quality, competitiveness improvement, traffic congestion and flooding control, and cityscape rehabilitation.
Anh said the department would also assist enterprises in resolving hurdles, including shortening the time to register businesses.
In addition, it will set up a comprehensive information system to help businesses, especially small- and medium-sized enterprises, to invest in the support industry.
Vo Van Hoan, head of the Office of the People’s Committee, said the department should create better linkages among sectors and agencies to ensure consistent policy in licensing investment certificates.
The director of the city’s Department of Internal Affairs, Truong Van Lam, has asked the Department of Planning and Investment to closely oversee the operation of businesses after they receive investment certificates.
Nguyen Thanh Phong, chairman of the city’s People’s Committee, urged the Department of Planning and Investment to develop a master plan for the city.
Because of the city’s limited budget, the department must use investment carefully, with priorities given to projects in the seven breakthrough programmes, he said.
For other projects, the department must diversify investment models and seek investment from many sources in society, he said.
He also urged the department to complete a database on enterprises and work with agencies to develop sectors with high added value, especially the service sector.
The city has 290,000 enterprises. Of these, 36,000 were established in 2016, with 39.8 per cent in real estate and 18.7 per cent in trade and retail.
But only 175,000 firms are actually operating, while the rest have either suspended operations or moved out of the city.
The seven breakthrough programmes were approved last year by deputies of the 10th meeting of the city’s Party Congress.
The programmes are expected to benefit residents and businesses as they deal with pressing issues such as flooding, traffic congestion, saltwater intrusion, air pollution and complex bureaucracy. — VNS