Ho Chi Minh City goes furthest and fastest in market makeover
A sleek new brochure produced by the municipal government awaits those considering putting money into Ho Chi Minh City.
On the cover is a large image of a hand holding up a butterfly net, poised to catch US dollar notes as they float down from the sky. Directly below that is the city Department of Planning and Investment's motto for wooing investors: 'Running the Extra Mile For You.'
It is a stark contrast to the staid, patriarchal tone of most government publications in communist-run Vietnam. But Ho Chi Minh City, 30 years after the city then called Saigon was captured to end the Vietnam war, is blazing the trail for the country's transition to a market economy.
Progressive business policies helped the metropolis hit 11.6 per cent in gross domestic product growth last year, its highest in six years and 50 per cent better than the national rate.
About 150 high-rises are planned for the next 18 months. Fast-food chains are proliferating. Luxury cars fight for road space with legions of motorcycles. And in a country where less than 10 per cent of people use the internet, 50 per cent of Ho Chi Minh's new businesses now register for licences on the city's website.
'We stress the investment environment and trade at all levels of the local government,' said the city's top political figure, Le Thanh Hai, chairman of the People's Committee, in a rare interview.
This business-boosting approach is not new. Shifting from the disastrous collectivised economy of the post-war years to a 'market economy with a socialist orientation' has been the national policy for 19 years.
But Ho Chi Minh City has gone further and faster than anywhere else. It now accounts for almost one-fifth of Vietnam's GDP, despite being home to less than one-tenth of its population.
While the national target is to become fully industrialised by 2020, Ho Chi Minh leaders already give industry a back seat to the services sector.
Professional services such as banking, tourism and trade are expected to reach 50 per cent of the local economy this year.
While Ho Chi Minh City stands at the forefront of Vietnam's market makeover, it also exemplifies many of its transitional troubles. Slums line the banks of the Saigon River, pollution is worsening and corruption remains widespread.
The streets are clogged with traffic; there are at least 1,500 motorbikes for every public bus.
'They're barely staying ahead of the bullet on transport,' said Fred Burke, managing partner of the Baker & McKenzie legal firm's Vietnam headquarters in the city.
'You can't keep developing economically if people can't get anywhere to do anything.'
The city has ambitious plans for rapid transit but still needs to find the money to finance them.
The same challenge faces the drive to bring solid-waste collection, clean water and other infrastructure up to modern city standards. Luong Van Ly, vice-director of the Department of Planning and Investment, calls it the city's No 1 problem.
'Ho Chi Minh City was built in the 19th century for 200,000 people,' Mr Ly said. 'Now we have 7 million. But because of the war, and the lack of money and attention from authorities after the war, infrastructure was not developed adequately,' he said.
'So we are now facing some very acute problems.'
Tomorrow: how the refugees who fled following the Vietnam war have become the country's biggest benefactors
