Hanoi needs new momentum for growth: Prime Minister

PM Nguyen Xuan Phuc speaks at the conference - Photo: NDO

The leader was speaking at the conference “Hanoi 2018 - Investment and Development Cooperation” in Hanoi on June 17, the city’s largest investment promotion forum in the year with the participation of nearly 1,000 businesspeople and investors at home and abroad.

Hanoi should devise a master plan and an action program for its development, he said, taking Cau Giay district as an example, which has emerged from a very poor locality into an urban area with industrial value exceeding VND43 trillion (US$1.9 billion USD) and State budget contribution of over VND7 trillion (US$308 billion) thanks to the effective planning scheme. He urged the city to create high-quality human resources in spearhead sectors like artificial intelligence and data science, and carry forward its role as the country’s cradle in personnel training in natural sciences like mathematics, physics and computer science.

Besides, more attention should be paid to the construction of public facilities such as parks and public toilets, with all toilets at schools and hospitals satisfying set standards, the leader said. He called on investors to promptly carry out projects in the city, and urged municipal authorities and investors to coordinate with each other in land clearance.

Speaking at the conference, Secretary of the municipal Party Committee Hoang Trung Hai, said the event demonstrates Hanoi’s commitments to improving the business environment, accompanying enterprises and turning the private economic sector into an important impulse in the city’s economic reform. Chairman of the Hanoi People’s Committee Nguyen Duc Chung revealed that Hanoi aims to help start-ups with all expenditures and convenient services from August 1, 2018. This proposal is expected to be presented at the sixth meeting of the municipal People’s Council in early July, 2018.

He said domestic private investments make up 51.1 pct of the city’s total investment capital. The city, to date, has attracted 2,200 projects run by private investors, worth more than VND1 quadrillion (US$44 billion). As of June 15, more than 4,300 foreign direct investment (FDI) projects valued at US$33.38 billion had come to the city. In 2016-2017 and the first six months of this year, the city lured US$12.46 billion in FDI, equivalent to the number recorded during 1986-2015, Chung said.

At the conference, Hanoi signed memoranda of understanding on cooperation with other localities including Ha Nam, Ninh Binh, Hoa Binh, Nam Dinh, Bac Ninh, Hung Yen, Vinh Phuc, Hai Duong, Son La and Bac Giang, and agencies, organisations and investors. On this occasion, the city handed over investment decisions and licences to 71 projects worth VND397.33 trillion (US$17.48 billion), including 11 FDI projects with total investment capital of over VND130 trillion (US$5.72 billion).