Three pillars of economic growth
Production, export and consumption are the three main pillars helping the city's GRDP to increase by over 7% in the third quarter.
Figures from the Ho Chi Minh City Statistics Office show that the industrial production index (IIP) in September increased by 11.2% over the same period last year, helping to raise the total IIP growth in the first 9 months of the year to 6.9%. This reflects a strong recovery in market demand, especially in the final months of the year.
Survey results of enterprises in the processing and manufacturing industry also show that nearly 60% of units assess the business situation as more positive, more than 25% as stable and only more than 15% facing difficulties.
The city's export turnover in the first 9 months increased by 10.2%, while imports also increased by 6.4%. In addition, total retail sales of goods and service revenue reached more than VND872,300 billion, up 10.5% over the same period last year.
Mr. Nguyen Khac Hoang - Director of the Ho Chi Minh City Statistics Office, said that maintaining this growth momentum requires effective implementation of stimulus programs.
Businesses need to be encouraged to boost promotions and connect with e-commerce platforms, while the city continues to implement price stabilization and social security policies to protect people's purchasing power.
In addition, developing tourism and stimulating consumption through events and promotions will also contribute to boosting growth.
The big challenge is that traditional export markets are facing difficulties. To overcome this, Ho Chi Minh City needs to accompany businesses and expand new markets through trade promotion activities.
Big challenges in public investment disbursement
Although the economy has many positive signs, Ho Chi Minh City is facing major challenges in disbursing public investment capital.
This year, the city aims to disburse 95% of the total allocated capital, equivalent to about VND79,200 billion. However, as of the end of September, only more than VND15,800 billion has been disbursed, reaching about 20% of the annual plan.
Many key projects have not yet achieved the expected disbursement progress. A typical example is the Tran Quoc Hoan - Cong Hoa road project (Tan Binh district) due to problems in site clearance, causing the capital of 400 billion VND to not be disbursed.
Similarly, this year, Ho Chi Minh City's Ring Road 3 was allocated capital of VND4,900 billion, but only nearly VND956 billion has been disbursed.
The My Thuy intersection project has only disbursed over VND1.8 billion, reaching 0.2% of the total capital of VND907 billion. The An Phu intersection was allocated VND1,820 billion but has only disbursed nearly VND150 billion.
Director of the HCM City Department of Transport Tran Quang Lam said that key transport projects are facing difficulties in the source of construction materials, which greatly affects the disbursement progress. To speed up the progress, HCM City needs to focus on implementing important projects such as the beltway and metro.
At the socio-economic conference held on the afternoon of October 1, Chairman of the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee Phan Van Mai requested that departments and branches need to have a plan to speed up disbursement in the last months of the year.
Mr. Mai affirmed that the city has no intention of adjusting the public investment disbursement target and will focus on solutions to achieve the target of 95% of allocated capital.
Secretary of the Ho Chi Minh City Party Committee Nguyen Van Nen also emphasized that the disbursement of public investment will improve other development indicators of the city. He affirmed that departments and branches need to be determined to complete their tasks, and if they encounter difficulties, they must immediately report to the city leaders to find solutions.
