Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam Still the Engine of Growth for Vietnamtitle>

HCM City Still the Engine of Growth for Vietnam
Achieves 11% growth rate in 2008

Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam

According to recent reports from Vietnam News Service and based on statements by the HCM City People’s Council, HCM City’s gross domestic product (GDP) in 2008 is estimated to be nearly VND291 trillion (US$17.2 billion) and to have grown by 11 percent this year. This growth figure is 1.6 times the national figure.

Chairwoman Pham Phuong Thao said in early December 2008 that the city had achieved the following in 2008:

Total exports of $24.8 billion, a year-on-year increase of 35.4 percent.
Total investment for the city’s social development reached VND114.5 trillion ($6.75 billion), a year-on-year increase of 20.4 percent.
Foreign direct investment (FDI) in the city reached $8,244 million this year; 4.25 times last year’s figure.
Though prices have risen by 21 percent year-on-year, they are lower than the country’s rise in the consumer price index (CPI) which stands at 24 percent.

Chairwoman Pham Phuong Tao said that 2009 would be a more difficult year for the city because of the financial crisis and the economic downturn. Despite this, the People’s Committee had se the following targets for 2009:

Economic growth target of 10.5 percent
Inflation target of below 15 percent for the next year.
Total investment for social development estimated at VND130.7 trillion ($7.7 billion).
Creation of 270,000 jobs
An unemployment rate cut to 5.3 percent
Reducing the number of households living under the poverty line (VND12 million or $710 per person a year) to 13.8 percent.
Reduce its birth rate by 0.01 percent;
Increase the number of residents with access to clean water to 91.5 percent (of the city’s population)
and have 480 million passengers use public transportation services.

In 2009, the City will continue its program to promote “Urban Civility" which promotes the cleaning of the city, removal of garbage and hygienic habits and practices.

About the Author:

Christopher W. Runckel, a former senior US diplomat who served in many counties in Asia, is a graduate of the University of Oregon and Lewis and Clark Law School. He served as Deputy General Counsel of President Gerald Ford’s Presidential Clemency Board. Mr. Runckel is the principal and founder of Runckel & Associates, a Portland, Oregon based consulting company that assists businesses expand business opportunities in Asia. (www.business-in-asia.com)

Until April of 1999, Mr. Runckel was Minister-Counselor of the US Embassy in Beijing, China. Mr. Runckel lived and worked in Thailand for over six years. He was the first permanently assigned U.S. diplomat to return to Vietnam after the Vietnam War. In 1997, he was awarded the U.S. Department of States highest award for service, the Distinguished Honor Award, for his contribution to improving U.S.-Vietnam relations. Mr. Runckel is one of only two non-Ambassadors to receive this award in the 200-year history of the U.S. diplomatic service.