National Assembly (NA) Chairman Nguyen Sinh Hung has urged the capital
city of Hanoi to further leverage its role as an economic hub and a key
driving force in the north and the entire country as well since its
administrative boundary has been expanded in 2008.
Chairman Hung
made the point at a conference in Hanoi on July 31 to look at the
capital’s implementation of the NA Resolution No.15 dated August 1,
2008, specifying the capital city’s boundary expansion.
The
Chairman said he was glad that the Party, administration and people of
Hanoi have worked together to efficiently realise the NA Resolution and
the Party’s guidelines regarding the work, however, elaborated that a
lot of challenges still lie ahead in the coming time.
He asked
Hanoi to launch more communication campaigns to help its residents gain a
better understanding of their role, position and responsibilities in
the path of building and developing a civilised and modern capital city
in the future.
Chairman Hung underscored a must for the expanded
city to ensure that its economy grows in a sustainable, qualitative and
highly competitive manner and its citizens are provided with adequate
social welfare.
Hanoi should also work towards the nation’s major
cultural hub that is deeply imbued with modern and traditional
characteristics, the top legislator said.
The NA Resolution No.
15 allowed Hanoi to expand its administrative boundary to also encompass
its neighbouring province of Ha Tay, Me Linh commune of Vinh Phuc
province and four communes in Luong Son district, Hoa Binh province.
The city’s current land area covers 3,328 square kilometres, tripling
the former acreage and its population numbers over 7 million, up 1.5
times. The city runs 29 administrative units scattering in 577 communes,
districts and townships.
Over the past five-year journey, Hanoi
has reaped outstanding successes politically, socially and
economically, Secretary of the Hanoi Party Committee Pham Quang Nghi
reported.
Notably, the city’s economy made up of over 10 percent
of the nation’s GDP, posting an average growth rate of 9.51 percent
during 2008-2012, 1.5 times higher than the national average rate.
Its export turnover grew 15.2 percent a year, jumping to 10.3 billion USD in 2012 from 6.9 billion USD in 2008.
The city’s contributions to the State budget were up 2.5 times to
146.3 trillion VND in 2012, accounting for over 20 percent of the
country’s total State budget.
In the five-year time, Hanoi
has pumped 50 trillion VND into agriculture, rural areas and farmers,
and eagerly developed socio-technological infrastructure and new style
rural areas.
As many as 12.6 million square metres of housing were built while new urban areas and public works were developed.
With sustained efforts, Hanoi has managed to lead other localities in
other realms as well, ranging from culture, education-training,
science-technology, literature, to art, health care and sports.
The Party build-up has always been a key task so that the city’s
political system from the grassroots to central levels has become
stronger. At present, the municipal Party Committee unites over 360,000
members, or nearly one tenth of the nation’s figure.
Those
achievements confirm the rightness and practicality of the NA Resolution
in the long run while constituting the great efforts as well as vivid,
persuasive evidence of unity, cooperation, responsibility and
creativeness of Hanoi’s Party Committee, administration and people in
making their city civilised and modern.-VNA