HCM CITY: Thu Duc City’s new master plan will open up new avenues of development for the city, contributing towards transforming HCM City into an economic, cultural, scientific and innovative hub of Vietnam, a conference heard on Thursday (Feb 6).
The conference was held in Thu Duc City by the HCM City People’s Committee to announce a master development plan for Thu Duc City until 2040 and call for investment.
Phan Van Mai, chairman of HCM City People’s Committee, said that Thu Duc City is a Class I urban area, and a traffic hub of the southeast region for land, railway, maritime and inland waterway transportation.
It is also a hub for economic activity, science and technology, culture and education.
It will have a population of up to 1.8 million by 2030, and 2.6 million by 2040.
“The approval of Thu Duc City’s master plan until 2040 plays an important role in its development. It is an important legal framework to orient the city’s spatial development, and organise its economic, social infrastructure and land use planning,” he said.
“This will help realise the goal of developing Thu Duc City into a creative and highly interactive urban area. It will be a region that leads HCM City’s economy and other metropolitan areas through knowledge-based economic activities such as training, research, high-tech production and development cooperation."
It is expected to become a financial hub for not just Vietnam but also the world, he added.
The master plan, approved on January 21, sees Thu Duc City divided into nine development areas, each assigned different roles of being financial, commercial, high-tech production, sports, logistics or cultural hubs according to their own strengths.
There will be nine new urban and inter-regional railway routes, connecting Thu Duc City to other parts of HCM City and the upcoming Long Thanh International Airport in Dong Nai.
New roads will be developed, such as a Cat Lai – Phu Huu inter-port road, connecting from Nguyen Thi Dinh Street to the intersection of Ring Road 3 of HCM City, and a road connecting Ring Road 2 to the under-construction HCM City – Thu Dau Mot – Chon Thanh Expressway.
The city’s urban development will also lean towards public transportation.
Thu Duc City will allocate more land for urban-level educational facilities, health facilities, cultural and sport construction works and green trees.
Mai said that Thu Duc City will work with other agencies to implement the master plan soon.
It also needs to focus on expanding its high-tech industrial park and strengthen connectivity with nearby localities such as Binh Duong, Dong Nai and Ba Ria – Vung Tau.
At the conference, HCM City called for investment for 535 projects worth a total of over VNĐ800 trillion (US$31.6 billion), through five different investment models.
Hoang Tung, chairman of Thu Duc City People’s Committee, told Tuoi Tre newspaper that the city prioritises investment into key areas such as Thu Thiem Area, Rach Chiec sport area, Truong Tho new urban area and a historical and cultural park, among others.
Thu Duc City and HCM City will focus on creating favourable conditions for investors, ensuring stable policies and transparent procedures, and strengthening administrative reforms and the application of digital technologies to shorten procedure processing time.
Thu Duc City also handed over investment certificates to 12 housing development projects worth over VNĐ33 trillion. - Vietnam News/ANN
