The HCMC Party Committee and the Thu Duc City legislature appointed the first Party and executive leaders for the new city Friday. 

The incumbent Party Committee secretary of District 5 and chairman of Nha Be District will take over corresponding positions in the new Thu Duc City.

Nguyen Van Hieu, 45, secretary of the District 5 Party Committee, was appointed Thu Duc City Party Committee Secretary for the 2020-2025 period by the Standing Committee of the HCMC Party Committee Friday afternoon.

Nguyen Van Hieu (L) is appointed Party chief of Thu Duc City by HCMC's Party
chief Nguyen Van Nen, January 22, 2021. Photo by VnExpress/Huu Cong.

Hieu has a master's degree in education management and bachelor’s degrees in law and administration.

Replacing Hieu as secretary of the District 5 Party Committee will be Nguyen Manh Cuong, who holds the corresponding position in the Thu Duc District Party Committee.

Earlier, the incumbent chairman of HCMC’s Nha Be District, 41-year-old Hoang Tung, an architect with a master's degree in urban planning, was appointed the first chairman of the Thu Duc City People’s Committee.

The appointment was made at the first meeting of Thu Duc City People’s Council, the legislature, Friday morning.

Hoang Tung, 41, is appointed chairman of the Thu Duc City People's Committee, January 22, 2021. Photo by VnExpress/Huu Cong.

Besides Tung, the People’s Council also appointed 43-year-old Nguyen Bach Hoang Phung (deputy chairman of HCMC’s District 2), 55-year-old Nguyen Ky Phung (deputy director of HCMC’s Department of Science and Technology) and Nguyen Huu An Tu (deputy chairman of the Thu Duc District People’s Committee) as deputy chairmen of the Thu Duc City People’s Committee.

Also Friday, Thu Duc kicked off its administrative apparatus to officially operate as a city within HCMC.

Thu Duc's formation was finalized on Dec. 9 after the National Assembly greenlighted its establishment. The new city has been formed by merging three eastern districts - 2, 9 and Thu Duc.

In its initial phase, the administrative apparatus of Thu Duc would employ 657 staff. This would decrease to 459 after 2025.

Thu Duc City spreads across 211 square kilometers and houses more than a million people. It is expected to contribute 30 percent of the city’s economic growth and 7 percent for the nation's every year.

With the establishment of Thu Duc City, HCMC is expected to contribute even more to the nation’s economic growth and boost the development of Southern Key Economic Zone (SKEZ), which comprises HCMC, the industrial hubs of Dong Nai and Binh Duong, the cash crop province of Binh Phuoc, the maritime transportation center of Ba Ria-Vung Tau, Tay Ninh Province, and two Mekong Delta provinces of Tien Giang and Long An.