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| Ho Chi Minh City ranks second in the Savills list of fastest-developing cities on the planet recently released by the commercial real estate brokerage firm. (Photo: VNA) |
The southern metropolis ranks second, while the capital city, sixth, in the Growth Hubs Index, a companion to the Savills Resilient Cities Index.
According to Savills, the Growth Hubs Index builds on the Resilient Cities Index by forecasting the economic aspects of 230 cities through to 2033 to identify the fastest-growing cities.
Cities in India and Bangladesh, which are expected to see GDP growth of more than 68% over the decade, feature heavily. Bengaluru in India leads the Growth Cities pack, followed by HCM City.
Data is city-metro level from Oxford Economics. Future credit rating is at a country level. Only cities with a GDP in 2023 of 50 billion USD or above are included in the analysis.
The firm said HCM City’s strong forecast is driven by the largest increase in the number of high-income households, while Hanoi’s prospects are based on growing personal wealth and an expanding middle class.
Vietnam continues to lay the groundwork to reap the benefits of strong inflows of foreign direct investment in the coming decade through step-changes in infrastructure, regulation and planning.
About 6% of GDP is committed to infrastructure – the highest level in the region. This is for projects including Long Thanh International Airport, east of Ho Chi Minh City, as well as thousands of kilometres of new roads and deep sea ports.
“Vietnam has changed from traditional dirt-floor manufacturing, with companies just seeking a lower cost of labour, to a country that is high-tech, more intensive, with tertiary manufacturing,” says Troy Griffiths, Deputy Managing Director, Central Management at Savills Vietnam.
This means the production of solar panels, electric vehicles, chips, laptop batteries, phones, monitors and all the relevant downstream components. Vietnam relies on a couple of key relationships, however: Samsung represents a remarkable 10-30% of the country’s GDP, while LG Corp also has a strong presence.
HCM City has always been the gateway for foreign investment. At 92% occupancy, it has a strong office market with a shortage of Grade A stock. Retail is thriving too, with robust domestic demand driving modernisation of the city’s traditional shophouses.
Hanoi has also won a large share of high tech manufacturing opportunities recently, but its downfall is its air quality. Situated in a delta bordered by two mountain ranges, any pollution becomes trapped; the city recently topped a list of the most polluted cities in the world. However, improving infrastructure has facilitated the development of localities with clean and natural environments within an hour’s travel, offsetting the city’s pollution issues.
Overall, investment in infrastructure is expected to shift the country’s industrial landscape. Around these new projects, land will also be earmarked for residential developments, plus supporting services and amenities.
18th International Jewelry Vietnam opens in HCM City
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| People visit a booth at the exhibition. (Photo: VNA) |
The 18th International Jewelry Vietnam (IJV 2024) kicked off in Ho Chi Minh City on June 8 with the participation of more than 50 units both at home and abroad, Vietnam News Agency.
The exhibition, to run until June 11, displays various products such as diamond, sapphire, ruby, emerald, amber and pearl, along with machinery, equipment, chemicals, and packaging in service of the industry.
Hoang The Ngu, President of the Vietnam Gemstones Association (VGA), said Vietnam's gemstone market has huge potential thanks to rich resources and various gem mines, which can serve long-term exploitation.
IJV 2024 is a reliable destination in connecting trade, seeking partners, and expanding professional training programmes, he said.
The VGA reported that the domestic demand for gemstones is on the rise, especially in the fields of jewelry and feng shui. For export, Vietnam has shipped these products to many countries, including Japan, Thailand, and others in Europe.
Plans for phase 2 of Long Thanh Int'l Airport project to be mapped out
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| Construction workers make the Long Thanh International Airport's runway. (Photo: VNA) |
The Ministry of Transport has proposed the Prime Minister that the State-owned Airports Corporation of Vietnam (ACV) be in charge of drawing up plans for the next phase of the Long Thanh International Airport project, reported Vietnam News Agency.
It comes after the Prime Minister instructed them to contact relevant agencies to draft the next stages of the work that needs to be done, following the completion of Phase 1 in 2026.
According to project dossiers, ACV has developed a business strategy to gather funds for Phase 2 and a rough scheme for Phase 3. Phase 2 is expected to cost 48 trillion VND (1.9 billion USD) and to cover the period from 2028 to 2032.
Long Thanh International Airport is being built on an area of 5,000ha in the southern province of Dong Nai province, with a total final capacity of 100 million passengers and five million tonnes of cargo annually.
Phase 1 is projected to be put into operation in 2026, with an annual capacity of 25 million passengers and 1.2 million tonnes of cargo.
In Phase 2, the airport will be expanded with an additional open-configuration runway and terminal to service 50 million passengers per year.
When Phase 3 is completed, the airport will be the largest airport in Vietnam and one of the busiest transit airports in the region.
The total investment for the project is estimated at approximately 16 billion USD.
India is main market for Vietnamese star anise exports
India continued to be the main market for Vietnamese star anise exports as it imported 951 tonnes of Vietnamese star anise in May, accounting for 61% of the total exported volume of this item.
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| India is main market for Vietnamese star anise exports. (Photo: VOV) |
Statistics released by the Vietnam Pepper Association (VPA) indicate that Vietnamese star anise exports reached 1,560 tonnes in May with a turnover of around 7.2 million USD, up 5.4% compared to April.
The May figure raised the five-month export of the product to 5,475 tonnes with a total turnover of 27.5 million USD, down 14.7% in volume and 29.9% in turnover from the same period last year.
India became the largest consumer of Vietnamese star anise with 3,360 tonnes, followed by the United States and Bangladesh with 399 tonnes and 140 tonnes, respectively.
India is the world's leading consumer of cinnamon and anise products, whilst it is also a major producer of medicinal herbs. Currently, Vietnam dominates the Indian market with more than 80% of cinnamon and anise imports.
Vietnam has an anise growing area of about 40,000 hectares, mainly in Lang Son and Cao Bang provinces in the north, with an annual output of more than 16,000 tonnes.
The country is currently one of the strongest spices exporter in the world, ranking first for pepper and cinnamon export, and second for anise star export.
Import markets of Vietnamese spices are also increasingly diverse such as the United States, the EU, China, India, and the Middle East.
Hanoi identifies four main indicators in tourism development
The Hanoi People’s Committee has issued a plan to continue implementing Resolution 06-NQ/TU dated June 26, 2016 of the Standing Board of the City Party Committee on “Development of Hanoi’s tourism in the 2016-2020 period and the following years”.
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| Ba Vi district prioritizes tourism development to become a key economic sector. (Photo: hanoimoi.vn) |
The plan aims to attract numerous international and domestic tourists to visit and experience Hanoi, creating growth and comprehensive development of the capital’s tourism in terms of scale and quality of services, quantity and structure of tourists, ensuring sustainability.
It also focuses on improving the state management capacity of tourism in the city, maintaining Hanoi’s role as a major tourism center of the country and continuing to build the capital as a “Safe - Friendly - Quality – Attractive” destination, meeting the development requirements in the new situation, affirming it among the top tourist destinations in the world.
Accordingly, the plan identifies four target groups and four main indicators. In particular, Hanoi will be developed as a gateway to welcome and distribute tourists in the north and the whole country.
Along with that, the city will focus on synchronously developing groups of tasks and solutions to accelerate the recovery and development process of the capital’s tourism. It will strive to achieve a number of tourism development targets in the 2024-2025 period to gain equivalent or higher recovery level before the COVID-19 epidemic.
The capital will further promote the development resources and form professional and attractive tourism product groups with advantages and potential for breakthrough development in the coming period, including: Cultural tourism, MICE tourism, agricultural and rural tourism, entertainment - sports tourism, eco-tourism, resort, health care and golf tourism.
The city also implements solutions to attract international tourists to Hanoi, focusing on a number of key markets, such as Northeast Asia (China, Japan, the and the Republic of Korea), ASEAN, the EU, and the US and gradually exploit new and potential markets, such as India, Middle East countries, and Eastern European countries.
Hanoi strives to welcome and serve more than 30 million tourists by 2025, including over 7 million international visitors. Total revenue from tourists reached more than 130 trillion VND. The total contribution rate of the tourism industry to the city’s gross regional product (GRDP) strives to reach more than 8%. The average room occupancy rate in hotels and accommodations is over 60%./.