HCM CITY — Thủ Đức City’s new master plan will open up new avenues of development for the city, contributing towards transforming HCM City into an economic, cultural, scientific and innovative hub of Việt Nam, a conference heard on February 6.

The conference was held in Thủ Đức City by the HCM City People’s Committee to announce a master development plan for Thủ Đức City until 2040 and call for investment.

Phan Văn Mãi, chairman of HCM City People’s Committee, said that Thủ Đức City is a Class I urban area, and a traffic hub of the southeast region for land, railway, maritime and inland waterway transportation. It is also a hub for economic activity, science and technology, culture and education.

It will have a population of up to 1.8 million by 2030, and 2.6 million by 2040.

“The approval of Thủ Đức City’s master plan until 2040 plays an important role in its development. It is an important legal framework to orient the city’s spatial development, and organise its economic, social infrastructure and land use planning,” he said.

“This will help realise the goal of developing Thủ Đức City into a creative and highly interactive urban area. It will be a region that leads HCM City’s economy and other metropolitan areas through knowledge-based economic activities such as training, research, high-tech production and development cooperation."

It is expected to become a financial hub for not just Việt Nam but also the world, he added.

The master plan, approved on January 21, sees Thủ Đức City divided into nine development areas, each assigned different roles of being financial, commercial, high-tech production, sports, logistics or cultural hubs according to their own strengths.

There will be nine new urban and inter-regional railway routes, connecting Thủ Đức City to other parts of HCM City and the upcoming Long Thành International Airport in Đồng Nai.

New roads will be developed, such as a Cát Lái – Phú Hữu inter-port road, connecting from Nguyễn Thị Định Street to the intersection of Ring Road 3 of HCM City, and a road connecting Ring Road 2 to the under-construction HCM City – Thủ Dầu Một – Chơn Thành Expressway.

The city’s urban development will also lean towards public transportation.

Thủ Đức City will allocate more land for urban-level educational facilities, health facilities, cultural and sport construction works and green trees.

Mãi said that Thủ Đức City will work with other agencies to implement the master plan soon.

It also needs to focus on expanding its high-tech industrial park and strengthen connectivity with nearby localities such as Bình Dương, Đồng Nai and Bà Rịa – Vũng Tàu.

At the conference, HCM City called for investment for 535 projects worth a total of over VNĐ800 trillion (US$31.6 billion), through five different investment models.

Hoàng Tùng, chairman of Thủ Đức City People’s Committee, told Tuổi Trẻ newspaper that the city prioritises investment into key areas such as Thủ Thiêm Area, Rạch Chiếc sport area, Trường Thọ new urban area and a historical and cultural park, among others.

Thủ Đức City and HCM City will focus on creating favourable conditions for investors, ensuring stable policies and transparent procedures, and strengthening administrative reforms and the application of digital technologies to shorten procedure processing time.

Thủ Đức City also handed over investment certificates to 12 housing development projects worth over VNĐ33 trillion. – BIZHUB/ VNS