HCM City has set a target of achieving a growth rate of 8.5 percent in Gross Regional Domestic Product (GRDP) next year, with total private investment accounting for 35 percent of GRDP.

Nguyen Thien Nhan, Secretary of the municipal Party Committee, said the city next year would aim to create 44,000 new businesses, creating 135,000 new jobs for its people.

Speaking at the end of a two-day meeting last week in the city, Nhan said the city’s labour productivity was nearly three times that of the whole country, and that its State budget revenue exceeded 3.3 percent of the target for the year.

Progress was also being made in a creative urban area in the city’s Eastern part (District 2 and 9) and a project to build a smart city.

The implementation of National Assembly Resolution 54, which gives more autonomy to the city to speed up development, had seen positive results as well.

The city also targeted becoming the largest start-up centre in the country, Nhan said.

“In an aim to attract more investment for much-needed infrastructure, HCM City is trying to become a digital- and knowledge-based economy with a highly skilled workforce,” he added.

The city will also continue to support enterprises with high competitiveness, focusing on green growth and the well-being of its people, according to Nhan.

Despite achievements, he said the city was facing unsustainable development, decreasing competitiveness in some sectors, and slow administrative reforms.

To achieve the targets, the municipal government would improve competitiveness to ensure growth, and work to create a transparent business environment to draw more investment.

State-owned enterprises would be restructured to enhance their efficiency, while export markets would be diversified to avoid dependence on a single market.

The city would also continue investing in urban infrastructure and climate-change adaptation, as well as flood-prevention and traffic congestion programme.

Key industrial sectors that use advanced technology and have high added value, with an ability to join global value chains, would be the focus of development.

In addition, domestic supporting industries would be given assistance in an aim to reduce imports of spare parts and manufacturing equipment.

This year the city’s economic growth is expected to be 8.32 percent, slightly higher than last year’s 8.3 percent, according to Nhan.

The city’s economic scale accounts for nearly 24 percent of the national economic scale, the highest figure ever.

This year, the city’s budget revenue is expected to surpass the target, an increase of 9 percent over last year. Total retail sales of goods and services rose by 12.1 percent over the same period.

The total number of international visitors to the city reached 8.5 million, a year-on-year increase of 14 percent with sales up by 14.5 percent over last year.

In addition, the city attracted 6.17 billion USD worth of foreign direct investment (FDI) in the first 10 months of the year, up 3.4 percent year-on-year, according to the municipal Department of Planning and Investment.