'Bottlenecks' hindering the development of Ho Chi Minh City

Within the framework of the Asian Conference of the Econometric Society, East Asia and Southeast Asia 2024 (AMES 2024), on the afternoon of August 2, the delegation of economic experts attending the conference had a working session with Chairman of the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee Phan Van Mai.

At the meeting, AMES 2024 economic experts presented summaries of four scientific reports on topics such as global economy, population and social welfare, climate change, and solutions to attract talent.

Mr. Phan Van Mai highly appreciated the AMES 2024 organizing committee for choosing Ho Chi Minh City as the venue for the conference with the participation of many economic experts from around the world. According to him, this is a good opportunity for Ho Chi Minh City to access scientific research, necessary for the economic development of the locality.

During the development process, Ho Chi Minh City has found many “bottlenecks” that hinder growth. Some of these issues have been pointed out by AMES 2024 experts in scientific reports. With Resolution 98, Ho Chi Minh City is allowed to pilot a number of specific mechanisms to attract high-quality human resources.

In terms of orientation, Ho Chi Minh City plans to become a dynamic, creative, globally integrated city by 2050. In this plan, the city will restructure and transform its economy strongly towards added value, high technology and associated with digital transformation, green transformation and sustainable development.

“To create a foundation for that development, Ho Chi Minh City is promoting the implementation of three goals: completing the connection infrastructure, improving management and preparing resources, focusing on human resources. To realize this development strategy, in addition to internal potential, Ho Chi Minh City really needs international cooperation, connecting with organizations and experts here,” Mr. Mai shared.

The solution to the green transition problem

Regarding green transformation, Ho Chi Minh City Chairman Phan Van Mai said that the City has recognized this as an inevitable trend. However, at different stages of development, green transformation in each country is also different. To start the green transformation, the City really needs comments from AMES 2024 experts.

From the perspective of the management agency, Professor Harrison Hong (Columbia University, USA) analyzed that if businesses are required to produce green, it will make their business processes more complicated. In addition, the investment costs of businesses will also increase. Therefore, a process is needed to implement green transformation.

According to Professor Nguyen Duc Khuong - Chairman of AVSE Global, green transformation is a big and complicated problem and there are two solutions that will help Ho Chi Minh City solve the green transformation problem.

First, we must change mindsets through training programs at all levels. Future leaders and business owners must be able to envision green transformation, making policy making and implementation easier.

Next, Ho Chi Minh City is attracting the attention of many foreign investors, especially responsible investment funds, who are focusing on infrastructure investment projects that have a positive impact on the environment and sustainable development. Therefore, the city needs to periodically organize forums on green transformation, mobilizing the participation of leading experts.

“To have large corporations that are globally competitive, THHCM needs to focus on creating conditions and supporting small and medium-sized enterprises to develop. Their strengths are dynamism, flexibility, and easy change of business model. It is impossible to become a leading enterprise in one step, like Viettel, VNPT or FPT, which have to be built for decades,” said Professor Nguyen Duc Khuong.

Regarding development strategy, according to Associate Professor Tran Chung (Australian National University), Ho Chi Minh City needs an advisory board to monitor fluctuations and cycles of the world economy and connect with experts from other countries.

“After Covid-19, the global economy experienced inflation. To control inflation, countries will increase interest rates, leading to a trend of expensive money, meaning money will flow to major economies. Currently, inflation has slowed down and will soon shift to a trend of cheap money. If Ho Chi Minh City has a strategic advisory board that can read situations like this, there will be timely responses without missing a beat,” Associate Professor Tran Chung commented.

Econometrics is essential for a rapidly developing country like Vietnam.

AMES 2024 is the first major event organized by the International Econometric Society in Vietnam. With 60 conference sessions, 230 scientific reports will be presented.

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