As many indicators related to business activities in Ho Chi Minh City have declined, chairman of the municipal People's Committee Nguyen Van Duoc said this is a concerning issue and required developing a plan to comprehensively improve the local investment and business environment.

At a meeting on Friday to discuss the city’s socio-economic performance in February and tasks for March, the city leader said the local business environment had not shown positive changes as the number of businesses entering the market had fallen by nearly 12 percent and the number of firms withdrawing from the market had increased by 12 percent.

This is a worrying issue, the official noted, calling for a specific analysis of the causes. 

According to a report from the Ho Chi Minh City Statistics Office, the city authorities granted licenses to some 3,900 enterprises from January 1 to February 20, with registered capital amounting to VND29.6 trillion (US$1.2 billion), plunging 38 percent and 48 percent, respectively, year on year. 

At the meeting, Truong Minh Huy Vu, director of Ho Chi Minh City Institute for Development Studies, stated that in order to achieve double-digit growth in the short term, it is necessary to focus on social investment, including public investment and mobilizing social resources.

In 2025, the city must focus on disbursing public investment and increasing the economy's capacity to absorb capital, Vu said. 

Le Thi Huynh Mai (C), director of the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Planning and Investment. Photo: Supplied

In 2026-30, the focus must be on developing businesses, improving the business environment, and fostering innovation. Improving the business environment should be a key priority, Vu added.

According to Vu, the Ho Chi Minh City Institute for Development Studies has made six proposals, including a comprehensive plan to improve the local investment and business environment, to the chairman of the municipal administration.

The goal is to help Vietnam and Ho Chi Minh City to quickly rank among the top three ASEAN countries or cities with the highest competitiveness in investment and business.

Ho Chi Minh City must have breakthrough solutions, such as applying technology and artificial intelligence to reduce business procedures. 

It should also accelerate major projects to generate capital flows and build modern, synchronized infrastructure to support business activities. 

Focus should be given to boosting science and technology and leveraging the international finance center in Ho Chi Minh City.

According to Le Thi Huynh Mai, director of the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Planning and Investment, disbursing public investment and mobilizing social investment are important to achieve double-digit growth.

For projects planned for commencement in 2025, the investment decisions will be completed in the first months of the year. The disbursement for projects that received compensation funding in 2024 will also be completed. 

The city will also focus on resolving delayed and halted projects and promoting the public-private partnership in infrastructure development.

For state-owned enterprises, the city will develop a restructuring plan for their business production and investment development plans to enhance brand value, minimize costs, and optimize resources such as capital and land.

The city will also make efforts to attract foreign investment through new projects, project expansion, and mergers and acquisitions.

For domestic private investment, Ho Chi Minh City will focus on preparing land, zoning, and procedures to promote the implementation of 84 projects in 2024-25 while removing bottlenecks for these projects.

The city will proactively prepare and complete procedures to attract investment for 11 areas scheduled for transit oriented development.

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