Councilors of HCM City have assembled for a four-day meeting to vote for new leaders of the municipal People's Committee and discussion of several urgent issues as well as a review of socio-economic development.

The 20th session will run through December 11.

The council will vote on Friday to choose a replacement for the chairman of HCM City's People's Committee, Le Hoang Quan, who has completed two consecutive terms. It will also vote for two deputy chairman and five members of the committee.

In an opening speech delivered during the final meeting of HCM City's People's Council's eighth term, Nguyen Thi Quyet Tam, chairwoman the council, said voting for positions in the council and the city People's Committee were important tasks of the meeting.

Socio-economic achievements of the city in recent years were highly praised, but the city faces challenges as its competitiveness compared with the rest of the region has fallen in some areas.

Technical and social infrastructure has not developed well to match increased demand, and floods, traffic congestion and traffic accidents continue to be too numerous.

Moreover, the public has not been satisfied with results of administration reform, Tam said.

In 2015, the city's total State budget contribution reached VND268 trillion (US$12 billion), a higher amount than expected.

The city's total GDP for this year is expected to be VND962 trillion ($43.7 billion), an increase of 9.8 per cent against 2014, the highest rate of the last three years, said Tat Thanh Cang, deputy chairman of HCM City's People's Committee.

Its GRDP (Gross Regional Domestic Product) this year is expected to reach 7.72 per cent. The HCM City Consumer Price Index rose one per cent in 2015, a lower rate than nationwide CPI growth, which was two per cent.

Total export turnover for the city in 2015 is estimated to be $27 billion, a growth of 9.9 per cent compared with 2014. Import value is expected to be $32 billion, an increase of 6.2 per cent against the same period last year.

Hospitals overloaded

Beside more floods and traffic jams, patient crowding at hospitals is a major concern of city residents.

According to the HCM City People's Committee, each hospital receives between 1,000 and 5,000 patients a day.

The city's Pediatric Hospitals receive 7,000 and 8,000 patients a day, with each doctor seeing between 50 and 120 patients a day.

Next year, the city will speed up construction of new Pediatric Hospitals and start construction of a Tumour Hospital to help reduce hospital overload.

The city also plans to build three other new hospitals in Thu Duc, Cu Chi, and Hoc Mon districts with total investment of VND5.7 trillion ($259 million). Each hospital has a capacity of 1,000 beds.

VNS