HCMC – On the second working day of the 23rd sitting of the HCMC People’s Council on December 8, Le Hoa Binh, director of the HCMC Department of Construction, and Phan Thi Thang, vice chairwoman of the municipal People’s Council, were elected as vice chairpersons of the municipal People’s Committee for the 2016-2021 tenure.

Binh, 50, born in the central province of Quang Ngai, used to serve as deputy director of the management board of the HCMC Urban Upgrade Project and the municipal Department of Construction and chairman of the District 7 government before holding the post of director of the Department of Construction since April last year. He will be in charge of the city’s urban issues. Binh committed to conducting 13 programs and meeting six targets as well as eliminating any shortcomings in urban management. Meanwhile, Thang, 44, born in Ben Luc District of the Mekong Delta province of Long An, used to be vice chairwoman of the Binh Tan District government, deputy director and director of the Department of Finance before serving as vice chairwoman of the municipal People’s Council since July last year. She will be responsible for the city’s finance, trade, service and tourism sectors. Thang pledged to develop high value added services, improve the effectiveness of public finance and budget management. She also committed to developing financial and banking services, the noncash economy, smart and green tourism and e-commerce. As such, Nguyen Thanh Phong is chairman of the HCMC People’s Committee and his five deputies are Vo Van Hoan, Ngo Minh Chau, Duong Anh Duc, Le Hoa Binh and Phan Thi Thang. Besides the two vice chairpersons of the municipal government, the municipal People’s Council elected Nguyen Thi Anh Hoa, director of the Department of Tourism, as a new member of the municipal government. Earlier, the HCMC People’s Council had relieved Le Thanh Liem from the post of vice chairman of the municipal government as he had been asked to lead the HCMC Party Committee’s board of internal affairs. Tran Vinh Tuyen is also no longer vice chairman of the city as he was prosecuted in July for violating regulations on the management and use of State assets, causing losses and wastefulness.