The per capita income in Ho Chi Minh City is projected to reach US$9,800 in 2020 if the city is able to maintain a healthy gross regional domestic product (GRDP) growth rate of at least 8.5 percent yearly.

The numbers were announced on Wednesday last week by Tran Vinh Tuyen, deputy chairman of the municipal People’s Committee, at a conference to promote investment in the city.

According to Tuyen, the city made remarkable economic progress between 2011and 2015, recording an average GRDP growth rate of 9.6 percent yearly over the period – 1.66 times higher than the national average.

With the help of a continued transition from agriculture to industry and services, the southern hub is set to post an average yearly GRDP growth rate of 8.5 percent between 2016 and 2020, Tuyen said.

By the beginning of the next decade, services will have accounted for 56-58 percent of Ho Chi Minh City’s GRDP, he added.

Based off those projections, the city’s per capita income in 2020 is forecast to top $9,800, up 22.5 percent from a 2014 prediction of only $8,000.

A night view of Ho Chi Minh City. Photo: Tuoi Tre

Ho Chi Minh City, which covers 0.63 percent of Vietnam’s total area, currently accounts for 21 percent of the country’s GDP and contributes to one-third of the state budget, Tuyen noted.

The city also attracts roughly half of Vietnam’s foreign visitors and 30 percent of its foreign direct investment (FDI) into the country.

In 2016, Ho Chi Minh City exported $31.8 billion worth of products to foreign markets following an average yearly export growth rate of six percent during the 2010-16 period.

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