To achieve the economic growth target of 7.5 -8 per cent, HCM City's departments are making efforts to remove bottlenecks in public investment disbursement.

Challenges such as bureaucratic obstacles, land clearance issues and project implementation delays must be overcome for HCM City to reach its growth target of 7.5-8 per cent for 2024, said city officials.

Lê Thị Huỳnh Mai, director of the Department of Planning and Investment, said that in 2024, the city has a public investment plan of over VNĐ79 trillion (US$3.12 billion), 1.5 times higher than in 2023 and the highest ever.

The Department of Planning and Investment has made a detailed disbursement plan for each month and each quarter with disbursement progress of 10 per cent at the end of the first quarter, 30 per cent at the end of the second quarter, 70 per cent in the third quarter and 95 per cent in the fourth quarter.

However, by the end of July, the disbursement rate of public investment capital in the city is at a low level, only reaching VNĐ11.8 trillion, equivalent to 14.9 per cent of the plan.

Trương Minh Huy Vũ, deputy head of the HCM City Institute for Development Studies, said that the city's economy is continuing its recovery but still faces many challenges. Among them, the biggest bottleneck is the progress of public investment disbursement, the economy's ability to absorb capital and import-export activities.

To achieve the growth target of 7.5 per cent, the city needs to focus on solutions to create breakthroughs in public investment disbursement progress, prioritising key public investment projects.

In addition, the municipal government also needs to reform administrative procedures so that public investment projects are approved faster.

Regarding trade, the city also needs to continue to promote public spending and domestic consumption, stabilise prices and digitally transform for e-commerce.

In the context of a number of new free trade agreements (FTAs) starting to take effect, the city needs to prioritise supporting businesses to promote trade, strengthen economic diplomacy and expand markets.

In addition, the city also needs to prioritise promoting new growth drivers such as the digital economy, green economy and improving infrastructure for trade and services.

Chairman of the People's Committee of HCM City Phan Văn Mãi said the city is determined to achieve the yearly growth target of at least 7.5 per cent by focusing on urgent disbursement of public investment projects, domestic consumption and exports.

Regarding public investment, Mãi requested the competent authorities to monitor statistics, closely follow projects, grasp any difficulties and solve them right away.

Regarding attracting FDI capital, the city needs to prioritise removing obstacles for investment expansion projects so that cash flow can soon enter productive activities.

At the same time, the management boards of industrial parks and export processing zones need to quickly develop plans to implement large investment projects.

The city's chairman also requested the Department of Planning and Investment to organise more investment promotion conferences for transportation and socio-cultural projects.

The Department of Construction is also required to focus on removing obstacles for real estate projects and closely follow the progress of social housing projects.

The Department of Industry and Trade continues to implement consumer stimulation programmes, coordinating with the Hồ Chí Minh Business Association to support credit for import and export activities.

The Department of Tourism needs to stimulate tourism demand through diverse products to attract tourists at the end of the year. — VNS