According to Mr. Phan Van Mai, the city’s economic growth in the third quarter must be above 7% and in the fourth quarter even higher to reach this year’s target of 7.5-8%.
The information was said by Chairman of Ho Chi Minh City People’s Committee Phan Van Mai in the socio-economic meeting of the first 6 months of the year, on the afternoon of July 1.
The expectations of city leaders are set in the context that GRDP in the first 6 months of the year increased by 6.46% over the same period in 2023, the highest speed since 2020. However, the speed has slowed down quarter by quarter. After the first quarter, the increase was higher than the whole country, reaching 6.54%, the second quarter was lower than the whole country, at 6.31%, and at the same time the lowest among the 5 centrally run cities.
The second quarter decelerated because pillars from industry, services and public investment tended to slow down. According to Mr. Nguyen Khac Hoang, Director of the Ho Chi Minh City Statistics Department, the increase in processing and manufacturing in the last quarter was lower than the general level of the industry.
The construction sector used to have high expectations but has not met expectations due to slow disbursement of public investment and the real estate market has not rebounded clearly. By the end of June, Ho Chi Minh City’s public investment disbursement had only reached 13.8% of the yearly plan.
Consumption in the second quarter also tended to slow down, increasing only 10% despite many stimulus measures. “The general picture in the second quarter is slower than the national average,” commented Mr. Nguyen Khac Hoang.
In order for GRDP to accelerate in the remaining two quarters, Mr. Phan Van Mai suggested that Thu Duc city, districts and departments focus all efforts and find all solutions to promote growth, trying to reach 8% in fourth quarter.
In particular, public investment has set up a specialized team to meet daily, private investment has a specialized team to remove obstacles and difficulties. “It is necessary to immediately remove obstacles to public and private investment. These activities must be reviewed every week,” Mr. Mai noted. In the near future, Ho Chi Minh City will organize investment promotion conferences to attract more capital.
With consumer services, the Department of Tourism is tasked with outlining festival and event plans for the second half of the year to build an event tourism brand for the city. In addition to household and business spending, administrative agencies have been mobilized to plan to increase shopping.
With the developments in the first 2 quarters of the year and the practice that growth in the last two quarters is usually higher, Dr. Truong Minh Huy Vu, Deputy Director of the Ho Chi Minh City Institute for Development Research, said that GRDP for the whole year could be about 6.8-7%. “If we work hard and make efforts, the yearly goal can still be achieved,” he said.
