At the meeting, National Assembly deputies received 12 opinions offered by people on the local development situation and solutions. Many voters showed attention to Resolution 98C, which has just been ratified by the National Assembly, on piloting specific policies to develop HCM City.

According to Nguyen Xuan Hien from the Bar Association of district 4, HCM City gained important achievements when implementing Resolution 54, the forerunner of Resolution 98.

To implement Resolution 98, he asked the delegation of National Assembly deputies, the people’s council and the people’s committee to prepare as soon as possible. During implementation, obstacles need to be recognized immediately and solved promptly.

“The new mechanism and specific policy must not be exploited illegally,” Hien said. 

At the meeting, businesspeople complained to city leaders about the difficulties they are facing, including the narrowing of markets, the decrease in number of orders, and bank loan inaccessibility.

Mai agreed that the city was "attacked from all sides" and it encountered difficulties in the first months of the year. The country was in a difficult situation, while HCM City’s situation was even more difficult. 

Because HCM City’s economy is nearly fully open, it is vulnerable to events in the world.

“While other localities have just begun bearing the impact from changes of the world’s economy, HCM City has sustained difficulties for a period,” Mai said.

He said that the number of orders placed with enterprises in HCM City has dropped by 30-50 percent on average. 

The figure is up to 70 percent at some enterprises and in some business fields. As there are fewer jobs, the incomes of workers have dropped dramatically, thus impacting workers’ lives and social security.

Besides external factors, the city also has other specific problems. The case of SCB and Van Thinh Phat, for example, has had a big impact on the city’s socio-economic development. 

Meanwhile, another problem is that civil servants and agencies are passive, and dare not make decisions for fear that they might violate regulations. 

The city has had to deal with outstanding problems, including the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic.

However, Mai affirmed that the situation has become better in the second quarter and it would be even better in the third quarter. 

Tran Chung