Ho Chi Minh City targets over 11% Q3 growth to achieve at least 10% full-year goal

The target was discussed at a meeting on the city's socioeconomic performance in August and the first eight months of 2026 and tasks for September, chaired by chairman of the city's administration Nguyen Van Duoc on Friday.

Duoc said the city had only four months left in 2026 and still faced many tasks, urging agencies and sectors not to become complacent about the economic gains achieved so far.

He asked agencies to clearly outline measures to achieve the Q3 growth target of at least 11.07 percent, particularly those related to public and private investment disbursement.

The city is also targeting growth of at least 9.43 percent in the first nine months and 12.3 percent in Q4, with these milestones aimed at helping it achieve GRDP growth of 10 percent or more for the full year.

The targets come as the city recorded strong economic performance in the first eight months of the year.

Total retail sales of goods and consumer service revenue exceeded VND1.3 quadrillion ($49.9 billion) during the period, up 13.7 percent from a year earlier.

State budget revenue reached VND624.757 trillion (nearly $24 billion) in the first eight months, or 62.4 percent of the target, up 19.2 percent year on year.

By the end of August, the city had disbursed about VND85.141 trillion ($3.3 billion) of public investment capital, representing 57.7 percent of the annual plan.

Building on this strong performance, authorities will step up efforts in the coming months to promote industry, trade, services, tourism, exports, the private sector, innovation, digital transformation and green transformation.

The city also aims to mobilize more than VND1.2 quadrillion (US$46 billion) for development investment, collect more than VND1 quadrillion ($38.3 billion) in state budget revenue and attract at least $11 billion in foreign direct investment this year.

Duoc stressed that site clearance was crucial to accelerating investment disbursement and boosting economic growth.

He also called for greater mobilization of private capital, particularly for railway and expressway projects.

He emphasized that the city will accelerate key projects and works while addressing bottlenecks related to planning, land, compensation, site clearance, construction materials and investment procedures.

The city’s leader also emphasized the need to tighten discipline and accelerate administrative reform, saying some procedures remained cumbersome and were affecting efforts to attract investors.

For delayed projects, authorities will flexibly adjust capital plans and transfer funds from projects unlikely to disburse their allocations to those with better disbursement capacity.

Project performance will be monitored through key performance indicators, with a warning mechanism involving ‘yellow cards’ and ‘red cards’ for projects facing problems, Duoc stressed.

Hoang Vu Thanh, director of the municipal Department of Finance, told the meeting that the city is working to resolve 921 stalled or long-delayed projects.

Of these, 216 have had their difficulties and obstacles resolved, while 461 have been given directions for resolution and 244 are still being handled, Thanh said.