HCMC sets up Thu Thiem urban development board

Ho Chi Minh City’s administration has established Thu Thiem Urban Development Area Management Board to better support the Thu Thiem peninsula’s development process.

The new board is a result of the restructuring of the city administration’s Thu Thiem Investment & Construction Authority. The city’s Thu Thiem Construction and Investment Consulting Service Center was also incorporated into the new board.

The new unit’s tasks include helping the city administration manage urban development on the peninsula, surrounded by Saigon River and expected to become a new growth driver for the southern economic hub.

The board is responsible for managing and supervising the process of Thu Thiem urban development subject to planning, ensuring synchronous connection of technical infrastructure systems, managing projects invested by state budget sources assigned by the HCMC People's Committee, and other tasks.

It is also in charge of working with relevant agencies to build annual and five-year plans for Thu Thiem so that the city administration can make approvals.

It is allowed to organize investment promotion activities and propose preferential policies and specific mechanisms for construction and investment in this area.

The board will also function as a unit making urban development proposals for HCMC administration appraisal if assigned by the People's Committee; preparing plans to select investors for the committee to make decisions; and guiding and supporting investors in preparing for and developing projects on the peninsula.

Once expected to become the Pudong of Vietnam, the Thu Thiem area on the other side of Saigon River has witnessed slow development for more than a decade. Late last April, after three years of construction and a further four-year delay, Thu Thiem 2 Bridge opened to traffic, also connecting the peninsula with District 1, HCMC’s heart, to ease traffic on the existing Thu Thiem Bridge and Thu Thiem Tunnel placed under the river. The new bridge has been renamed after its location as Ba Son.

Developing Thu Thiem faster is one of the major tasks for HCMC, Vietnam’s economic powerhouse.

Thu Thiem was formerly expected to attract multinationals, international banks, and investment funds to become a financial hub in HCMC to compete with Singapore, Hong Kong, or Seoul. The dream is still far from being real because most associated projects are for housing or shopping purposes.

South Korea’s Lotte Group started the construction of its $900 million multi-function Eco Smart City project in Thu Thiem last September. The 5-hectare site is envisaged as a combination of a shopping mall, hotel, office buildings, serviced apartments and residential complex.

Thu Thiem Urban Area spans 657 hectares. To date, the area still has a number of land lots not yet allocated for development purposes.