Overview of the 10th Congress of the Ho Chi Minh City Party Organisation's opening session. (Source: http://dangcongsan.vn/)The 10th Congress of the Ho Chi Minh City Party Organisation for the 2015-2020 tenure commenced on October 14, with the participation of 445 delegates representing more than 200,000 Party members across the city.
General Secretary of the Party Central Committee Nguyen Phu Trong attended the event, which is set to review the implementation of political and socio-economic development tasks during the 2010-2015 period and outline orientations for the next five-year term.
Delivering a political report at the event, Politburo member and Secretary of the municipal Party Committee Le Thanh Hai said over the past five years, the city has basically fulfilled its set targets, with an annual GDP growth of 9.6 percent, 1.66 times higher than the country’s average, and a per capita GDP increase of 12 percent each year, reaching 5,538 USD in 2015.
The city’s contribution to the national economy increased to 21.5 percent in 2014 from 18.3 percent in 2011.
Ho Chi Minh City completed its poverty reduction target for the 2009-2015 period two years ahead of schedule. The rate of poor households with an annual per capita income of under 16 million VND is now only 1.03 percent, while those with an earning of below 21 million VND per head per year, 2.64 percent.
Regarding the new-style rural building drive, three out of the five districts and 54 out of 56 communes have been recognised as new-style rural areas.
In addition, the city has maintained political stability, ensured social order and safety, and consolidated defence and security while making positive changes in judicial reform and expanding international cooperation.
According to Hai, one of the major successes of the city in the period was building a pure and strong Party organisation, with good outcomes in the implementation of the Party Central Committee’s resolution on Party building and the Politburo’s instruction on studying and following President Ho Chi Minh’s moral example.
However, he also pointed out a number of weaknesses in the city’s performance, including a lower-than-expected economic growth, poor infrastructure and weak State management in certain fields.
In the 2015-2020 period, the municipal Party Organisation will roll out 12 key measures and seven breakthrough programmes, including those to improve growth quality and competitiveness, develop sustainable urban areas, build synchronous infrastructure, maintain political stability and ensure social order and safety.
The city will strive to build a pure and strong Party organisation with its enhanced leadership and combating capacity and improved quality of Party members.
Addressing the event, Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong praised the city’s efforts and achievements in the past five years.
He urged HCM City to work harder to make it a modern and civilised city playing the role of a driving force for the country’s socio-economic growth and becoming an economic-finance- trade and science-technology hub in Southeast Asia.
To fulfill all targets set for the new period, the southern hub should mobilise all resources and make full use of its potential to create breakthroughs in economic growth and structure transfer, with a focus on restructuring the economy, renovating growth model, developing services, hi-tech industry and agriculture, he said.
The Party chief also asked the city to improve business environment, infrastructure and human resources quality while bettering living conditions and health care for the people.
He underscored that HCM City should continue building a pure and strong Party organisation, enhance the management efficiency of governments at all levels, promote the strength of the people’s solidarity and mobilise all resources for fulfilling its political tasks.
The congress will run till October 17.-VNA
