HCM City (VNA) – Ho Chi Minh City convened its first half-year review meeting on July 4 following its recent administrative merger, connected online to 168 communes, wards, and special zones.

The meeting assessed the city's socio-economic performance over the first six months of 2025 and outlined key tasks for the remainder of the year.

According to Nguyen Cong Vinh, Director of the municipal Department of Finance, the former HCM City recorded a GRDP growth of 7.82% in the first half compared to the same period last year.

For the newly merged HCM City, comprising the former city and the provinces of Binh Duong and Ba Ria-Vung Tau, the estimated GRDP growth stood at 6.56% (including crude oil) and 7.49% (excluding crude oil).

Reports from the municipal People’s Committee showed that total foreign direct investment (FDI) into the city post-merger surpassed 5.2 billion USD in the first six months. Budget revenue reached 415 trillion VND (15.85 billion USD), accounting for 60% of the annual estimate. As of June 2025, the city had removed obstacles for more than 70 key projects, unlocking nearly 400 trillion VND worth of capital for business and production activities.

Vinh also noted the continued strong recovery and steady growth of the city’s tourism sector. Alongside tourism and services, it saw encouraging FDI inflows thanks to efforts to remove business bottlenecks and improve the investment climate.

Nguyen Khac Hoang, Director of the municipal Statistics Office, remarked that the post-merger phase marks the beginning of a new development era for the southern metropolis as a special mega-urban economic and commercial hub. The annual growth target assigned by the Government for the three localities before the merger is 8.92%. To achieve this, the new city must post a growth rate of 11–12% in the second half of 2025, a challenge given external factors affecting key growth drivers such as exports and business operations.

Chairman of the municipal People’s Committee Nguyen Van Duoc acknowledged the heavy workload ahead, underscoring the need to swiftly and effectively mobilise all available resources to meet the city’s new development goals.

The local lead𒈔er stated the city must ensureꦫ the full and timely disbursement of allocated funds in line with the Government’s 2025 public investment plan./.