HCM City outlines big plan for Thu Thiem area

The area was outlined to form part of the city’s central urban area and at the same time operate as a major economic and financial centre, which is expected to serve the whole country and Southeast Asia as well. 

The Thu Thiem area on paper can be well translated into reality as the magnetic attraction of the area’s host, Ho Chi Minh City, is highly recommended by both local and foreign investment consultants. 

“If the Thu Thiem area is further promoted to the world, it will have opportunities to find investors with good capacity,” Dr. Nguyen Trong Hoa, Director of the HCM City Development Research Institute said in an interview granted to Saigon Giai phong (Liberated Saigon) newspaper. 

Hoa suggested that the city organise more forums to call for domestic and foreign investment in Thu Thiem in addition to building websites introducing the area as well as its investment mechanisms and policies.

“The more open and transparent we are, the more chances we win over competent investors for the shaping of the Thu Thiem area,” Hoa said. 

According to Trang Bao Son, deputy head of Thu Thiem new urban area management board, construction of residential area and major social and technical infrastructure works in the new urban area has been interested by a number of investors.

Construction of four main roads in the area, including an arch avenue, a central lake-side road, a Saigon River-side road, and an overpass across the southern ecological garden, is expected to begin in mid-2013. 

A detailed planning on a central square of the area has also been submitted to the municipal People’s Committee for approval, Son said, adding the work will be carried out by the area management board using the State budget. 

A complex of 86-storey city-viewing tower and trade centre to serve television services, tourism and trade events has been studied by the Tien Phuoc Company.

In addition, projects to build an information and exhibition centre on city planning and a financial centre and work on residential and resettlement areas are also underway, he added.

Considered a heart of HCM City in the 21^st century, the Thu Thiem new urban area is located in Thu Thiem peninsula, which closely connects two lands raised by the Saigon River and faces the city’s existing centre by Saigon River.

Ho Chi Minh City authorities expressed wishes to learn from London’s experience in building an international financial area during the September 2012 visit to the city by Alderman David Wootton, Lord Mayor of the City of London. 

Viewed as the largest economic hub in Vietnam, the city has set a target of attaining an annual GDP growth of 12 percent in the 2011-2020 period, which is 1.5 times higher than the country’s average level. 

It expects to achieve a GDP growth rate of 9.2 percent and per capita income of US$3,700 this year.