VietNamNet Bridge – The newly elected councillors of HCM City discussed solutions to pressing issues, including inflation, flooding, traffic congestion and pollution, during the second meeting of the new municipal People's Council yesterday, July 13.

The two-day meeting is also considering the opinions of the public that the councillors heard during their election campaigns.

Councillors are evaluating the city's achievements in curbing inflation and improving people's lives.

"The council members will, together with the city government, uncover solutions to improve the lives of citizens, using experiences from the city's recent achievements in curbing inflation, as well as seeking solutions for stabilising production and trading in the city," said Nguyen Thi Quyet Tam, chairwoman of the HCM City People's Council.

"There were many difficulties during the first half this year. However, the city had solutions to deal with, under the guidance of the city People's Committee. The city's People's Council played a supervisory role in outlining the strong points and the shortcomings in an aim for better performance," she said.

After hearing reports from sectors and departments, the meeting's questioning session today will be focused on fulfiling the city's target for the second half this year.

The issues such as healthcare, inflation and social welfare will be brought into the questioning session for discussion.

Several councillors including Lam Thieu Quan, Thai Tuan Chi, Huynh Cong Hung have sent in advance their questions about the healthcare system's facility expansion, healthcare quality, disease outbreaks, food safety, drug prices and others.

"For the remaining six months, I believe that with the efforts of the city's leaders and people, the socio-economic situation will become better," Tam said.

During the first six months this year, HCM City's economic growth reached US$9.7 billion, a year-on-year increase of 9.9 per cent.

The city's growth was 1.77 times higher than the GDP growth of the country in the same period.

The CPI growth was reported at 11.54 per cent during the past six months, while CPI growth of the country was reported at 13 per cent in the same period.

The city's CPI growth in June was reported at 0.69 per cent, the lowest growth compared with the past 12 months.

At the first meeting organised last month (June 22), the council members approved the city's personnel appointments.

Ha Noi meeting

Also yesterday, the second session of the Ha Noi People's Council reviewed the implementation of socio-economic and defence activities during the first half of this year, and devising key activities for the remainder of the year, at a convention held yesterday.

The Chairwoman of the Ha Noi People's Council, Ngo Thi Doan Thanh, said that the session would additionally highlight issues based on the environment, the efficiency of using State budget in price stabilisation, the shortage of schools and the difference between public and private school fees.

The capital has designated the 2010-2015 period as especially important in completing its basic goals of industrialisation and modernisation, possibly one or two years ahead of schedule.

Nguyen Van Suu, vice chairman of the municipal People's Committee, told session participants that the city had experienced significant socio-economic development, its GDP increasing by 9.3 per cent during the first six months of the year.

Ha Noi's export turnover came in at around US$4.2 billion, an increase of 17.2 per cent compared with the same period last year and 14 per cent higher than the proposed target.

Import turnover managed to reached roughly $12.55 billion, an increase of 23 per cent against the same period last year.

The People's Committee affirmed its achievements in curbing inflation, stabilisation the macro-economy and ensuring social welfare.

The city's State budget collection brought in more than VND61trillion (US$3 billion, equivalent to nearly 53 per cent of budget estimates as set by the People's Council and 12.5 per cent higher than the same period last year.

According to Suu, the city's CPI would be reduced in the third quarter of this year, averaging around 17.5 per cent.

The city continues to face challenges in raising its GDP this year by 12 per cent while continuing its curb of inflation and ensuring social welfare.

The target could only be achieved with GDP in the second half of this year to reach 14.3 per cent.

Apart from its current aims, new opportunities beckon in mobilising financial resources for increased socio-economic development from now until 2030.

VietNamNet/Viet Nam News