Ho Chi Minh City calls for investment in 210 projects

According to Ho Chi Minh City People’s Committee chairman Nguyen Thanh Phong, the city is calling for investment for 210 projects with the total investment capital of VND1,183.6 trillion ($51.3 billion)in the fields of transportation, infrastructure, agriculture, trade and services, urban development, education, healthcare, sports, tourism, and entertainment.

Ho Chi Minh City People’s Committee chairman Nguyen Thanh Phong calls for investment for 210 projects with the total investment capital of VND1,183.6 trillion ($51.4 billion) (Photo Le Toan)

“We understand that a good investment environment must include not only incentives for investors, but timely support from local authorities. Regular talks like this conference are very important for local authorities and investors to directly share points of view, to seek out opportunities, and especially to break through remaining bottlenecks,” Phong said at the conference on investment promotion to Ho Chi Minh City held on May 8.

“Ho Chi Minh City faces a serious shortage of capital as the current funds allocated in the state budget can only cover 20 per cent of the demand,” Phong said.

Transportation offers the most projects (85) with the total investment capital of VND923 trillion ($40.1 billion), including 55 projects in bridges and linking roads, seven waterway projects, eight urban railway projects, and 15 inner city road projects.

In infrastructure improvement, the city is offering 36 projects with the total investment capital of VND108 trillion ($4.7 billion), including four car park projects, 28 projects on building technical infrastructure system, and four projects to prevent flood in the city.

The city offers 9 trade and services projects, two agricultural projects, 29 urban development projects, 14 education projects, six healthcare projects, 15 sports an cultural projects, and 14 tourism and entertainment projects.

In the field of transport, Ho Chi Minh City issued a call for VND108 trillion (41.9 billion) for 85 projects. Photo Le Toan

Ho Chi Minh City is one of the fastest growing cities, contributing 22 per cent of the GDP, one third of the total industrial capacity, one-third of the total state budget, and one-fourth of the total export value of the whole country.

As of the end of 2018, 101 countries and nations were investing in Ho Chi Minh City with a total of 8,112 projects with the total investment value of $44.9 billion.

In 2018, Ho Chi Minh City received $7.07 billion FDI, an increase of 7 per cent compared to 2017, accounting for 22 per cent of the total FDI of the country.