Resolution 98 of the National Assembly on piloting a number of specific mechanisms and policies for the development of Ho Chi Minh City, effective from August 1, 2023, following Resolution 54, includes 44 policy groups in 7 areas, expected to bring many benefits to people and businesses in the city.

Dr. Tran Du Lich, Chairman of the Advisory Council for the implementation of Resolution 98, answered VnExpress about the initial results, advantages and difficulties, after more than 6 months of implementation in Ho Chi Minh City.

- After more than 6 months of implementation, how has Resolution 98 affected Ho Chi Minh City?

- Ho Chi Minh City has been very well prepared, so as soon as Resolution 98 took effect, the City People's Council issued a series of resolutions to implement and specify many contents. Issues were immediately handled such as allocating public investment capital, decentralizing management to Thu Duc City, implementing budget adjustments, approving the list of BT, BOT projects, policies on science and technology... By the end of last year, more than 20 resolutions had been issued.

Next, Ho Chi Minh City also reorganized the commune-level apparatus, increasing the number of vice chairmen of People's Committees for districts and communes with large populations. Another content that helps motivate city officials is the policy of increasing income spending.

At the same time, the city is implementing a number of key projects such as attracting strategic investors for the Can Gio transit port, the project to build a financial center, taking advantage of the TOD model (urban development oriented towards public transport development) of Resolution 98 to master plan 220 km of urban railway...

Thus, in a short time, many contents of Resolution 98 have come into life, bringing a positive atmosphere to the city.

- At a recent meeting with the Steering Committee for the implementation of Resolution 98, you commented that the new special mechanism only gives Ho Chi Minh City half of the power. What exactly does that mean?

In Resolution 98, the National Assembly assigned the Government to issue a number of decrees, and Ho Chi Minh City is currently in debt to the decree on decentralization, which has caused the implementation of specific mechanisms to be stuck. For example, Resolution 98 allows Ho Chi Minh City to decide on investment policies and attract strategic investors for projects, but the procedures must wait for the opinions of ministries and sectors and comply with the Investment Law. That is only giving half the power.

To solve the problem, the Prime Minister assigned the Ministry of Home Affairs to preside over the drafting of a decree to expand decentralization to the city. The goal is that the contents that previously had to wait for approval from ministries and branches are now decentralized to Ho Chi Minh City to ensure consistency from policies to procedures. This helps the city's apparatus operate smoothly, and officials do not have to worry about asking for help here and there.

At the second meeting of the Steering Committee for the implementation of Resolution 98, the Prime Minister strongly requested this content. I expect the Government to continue to support the Decree on decentralization and delegation of power to the city to be issued soon, preferably in the first quarter so that the apparatus can operate effectively.

- When implementing Resolution 54 before, Ho Chi Minh City also encountered difficulties in decentralization and delegation of power, why not learn from experience to solve these problems right in the draft Resolution 98?

- Ho Chi Minh City asked the National Assembly to pilot the implementation of some specific mechanisms, which means only asking for the policy, the detailed part is the complicated procedure because each decree and circular must be reviewed. Therefore, the contents cannot be included in a Resolution of the National Assembly. Moreover, Resolution 98 is equivalent to a law, and even laws need guiding decrees and circulars. Therefore, in Resolution 98, the National Assembly also assigned the Government to issue guiding decrees.

Since the beginning of this year, the Government has issued two decrees on the management of commune-level officials and civil servants in Ho Chi Minh City and guidelines for the implementation of BT contracts, exemption of corporate income tax and personal income tax related to innovation and start-up activities in the city's priority areas.

Compared to Resolution 54, Resolution 98 has more advantages, synchronizing many issues. For the first time, the city has a resolution that can create a huge impact, in many areas, with unprecedented breakthrough policies.

In recent times, the Central Government has also been very active in supporting. This is the first time a resolution has been implemented locally, but the head of the steering committee for implementation is the Prime Minister and many ministries and branches are members. The resolution has only been in effect for 6 months, the steering committee has met twice and all problems have been discussed and urged. Of course, there are still some slow issues, but the general spirit is very positive to bring Resolution 98 into life.

- What should the Central Government and Ho Chi Minh City do next to make Resolution 98 more effective?

- The most important thing is to soon issue a decree on decentralization of power to the city. Next is to add Can Gio transit port to the seaport planning, promote the construction of the project of an international financial center located in Ho Chi Minh City and finally, soon implement Conclusion 49 of the Politburo on urban railway construction from now until 2035.

Ho Chi Minh City alone has some problems such as investment projects, real estate market, detailed planning of projects... are stuck. The city needs to boldly apply Resolution 98 to solve these bottlenecks and unblock capital flows.

With the current roadmap, I believe that Ho Chi Minh City will effectively implement Resolution 98, achieving the goal of creating momentum for the leading city. Of course, the level of success depends on the determination of the Central and local governments. As someone who has been with the city for a long time and has followed the implementation of Resolution 54 and compared it with what has been done in the past 6 months, I believe that the city will not regret when the pilot period of Resolution 98 ends.

Le Tuyet