On the afternoon of February 23, 2024, the Appraisal Council met at the Ministry of Planning and Investment to review the Hanoi Capital Master Plan for 2021-2030, with a vision to 2050.

Dinh Tien Dung, Politburo member and Secretary of the Hanoi Party Committee, and Nguyen Chi Dung, Party Central Committee member and Minister of Planning and Investment, co-chaired the appraisal meeting on the Hanoi Capital Master Plan for 2021-2030, with a vision to 2050

The meeting was chaired by Nguyen Chi Dung, member of the Party Central Committee, Minister of Planning and Investment, and Chairman of the Provincial Planning Appraisal Council, with the participation of Council members representing ministries and ministerial-level agencies and experts serving as reviewers.

Representing Hanoi’s leadership at the meeting were Dinh Tien Dung, Politburo member and Secretary of the Hanoi Party Committee; Tran Sy Thanh, Party Central Committee member and Chairman of the Hanoi People’s Committee; Nguyen Thi Tuyen, Party Central Committee member and Permanent Deputy Secretary of the Hanoi Party Committee; Ha Minh Hai, Vice Chairman of the Hanoi People’s Committee; Pham Quy Tien, Vice Chairman of the Hanoi People’s Council; Dr. Le Ngoc Anh, Director of the Hanoi Institute for Socio-Economic Development Studies; and members of the standing leadership of the Hanoi Party Committee, leaders of the Hanoi People’s Committee, heads of departments and agencies, and chairpersons of the People’s Committees of Hanoi’s urban districts, rural districts, and district-level towns.

Other delegates attending included Prof. Dr. La Ngoc Khue, former Deputy Minister of Transport; Prof. Dr. Dao Xuan Hoc, former Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development; Prof. Dr. Le Quan, President of Vietnam National University, Hanoi; Prof. Dr. Nguyen Quang Ngoc, Vice President of the Vietnam Association of Historical Sciences and former Director of the Center for Hanoi Studies, Vietnam National University, Hanoi; Assoc. Prof. Dr. Pham Trung Luong, former Deputy Director of the Institute for Tourism Research, Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism; Dr. Cao Viet Sinh, former Deputy Minister of Planning and Investment; Dr. Duong Dinh Giam, former Director of the Institute of Industry and Trade Policy, Ministry of Industry and Trade; Dr. Dang Kim Son, former Director of the Institute of Policy and Strategy for Agricultural Development, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development; Dr. Nguyen Thi Thu Trang, Director of the Center for Land Survey, Planning and Valuation, Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment; Assoc. Prof. Dr. Nguyen The Chinh, former Director of the Institute of Strategy and Policy on Natural Resources and Environment, Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment; Dr. Mai Thanh Dung, Deputy Director of the Institute of Strategy and Policy on Natural Resources and Environment, Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment; and representatives of 21 ministries and agencies serving as members of the Appraisal Council.

Representing the consulting consortium preparing the Capital Master Plan were Prof. Dr. Hoang Van Cuong, former Vice President of National Economics University (NEU) and Head of the Executive Board; Dr. Nguyen Van Thung, Head of the Department of Planning, Institute of Agricultural Planning and Design, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development; Assoc. Prof. Dr. Tran Van Quy, Deputy Director of the Institute of Natural Resources and Environment, Vietnam National University, Hanoi; Nguyen Anh Tuan, Director of the Institute for Tourism Development Research, Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism; and staff and experts from consortium members, subcontractors, and expert groups undertaking consulting assignments for the Hanoi Capital Master Plan. Also attending were numerous central and local news agencies and television stations, as well as newspaper and broadcast reporters.

Nguyen Chi Dung, Minister of Planning and Investment, speaks at the meeting

In his opening remarks at the Appraisal Council meeting, Nguyen Chi Dung, Party Central Committee member, Minister of Planning and Investment, and Chairman of the Appraisal Council, noted that the Hanoi Master Plan was being prepared under favorable conditions, with the Resolution of the 13th National Party Congress; Politburo Resolution No. 30-NQ/TW dated November 23, 2022, on orientations for socio-economic development and ensuring national defense and security in the Red River Delta through 2030, with a vision to 2045; Politburo Resolution No. 15-NQ/TW dated May 5, 2022, on orientations and tasks for developing Hanoi Capital through 2030, with a vision to 2045; the Resolution of the Hanoi Party Congress for the 2020-2025 term; and national sectoral master plans, particularly those for transport infrastructure and electricity, already in place. In particular, the National Assembly had approved the National Master Plan. These provide the foundation and basis for Hanoi to consider and translate development orientations for the city into specific provisions through its master plan.

Alongside the advantages and achievements, Minister of Planning and Investment Nguyen Chi Dung also highlighted several difficulties, challenges, and “bottlenecks” that the city and ministries and agencies need to address, including infrastructure that is not yet integrated. According to Minister Nguyen Chi Dung, to achieve robust development, Hanoi needs to clearly identify its unique potential and distinctive and outstanding strengths. In particular, this master plan must adopt new approaches and thinking, broaden the development vision, and set out a clear implementation roadmap. Development must have clear priorities and areas of focus, drawing on regional linkages to generate spillover effects that stimulate the economy and reflect the city’s position as a growth pole for the region and the country.

Tran Sy Thanh, Chairman of the Hanoi People’s Committee, says Hanoi considers the preparation of this master plan a political task of the highest priority

Speaking at the meeting, Tran Sy Thanh, Party Central Committee member and Chairman of the Hanoi People’s Committee, said that the Hanoi Capital Master Plan has a very broad scale and scope of study, covering almost all fields and integrating numerous proposals from sectors, fields, and localities. Despite the scheduling requirements, the Hanoi Capital Master Plan has been prepared thoroughly, systematically, and rigorously, in compliance with planning laws.

Building on the potential, advantages, and development achievements of recent years, the Hanoi Capital Master Plan proposes new elements that represent major breakthroughs in development orientations.

Specifically, the Master Plan proposes developing the city into a capital rich in cultural heritage, civilized, and modern, where the finest achievements of the nation and humanity converge; a major national economic and financial center with regional influence; a growth pole that leads and generates spillover effects to promote the development of the Red River Delta and the northern growth-driver region; a center for science, technology, and innovation; a leader in education and training that meets international standards; a city with an advanced, modern healthcare system and comprehensive welfare provision; and a highly competitive city with a level of development on par with the capitals of advanced countries in the region.

The Master Plan sets out six priority tasks for the planning period. Prominent among them are comprehensively addressing river pollution and tackling environmental pollution in the Nhue and Day rivers to ensure safe irrigation water for agriculture; fully resolving flooding in urban areas and proposing measures to ensure safety during the rainy and flood season in low-lying areas; and fundamentally addressing traffic jams at the city’s gateways and urban traffic congestion during peak hours.

The Hanoi Capital Master Plan also identifies development orientations for key sectors. These include becoming a leading center for the semiconductor chip industry, information technology and AI, and biotechnology; developing agricultural products with high scientific and technological content and plant varieties and animal breeds that lead agricultural development in the northern provinces; developing services and the urban economy as economic pillars by building mixed-use commercial centers offering integrated services and using underground spaces for a wide range of business and trading activities in place of sidewalk and street trading; and ensuring balanced, harmonious development across other sectors and fields, including healthcare and public health services; education and training; culture and sports; labor, employment, and social welfare; science and technology; and security, national defense, and foreign affairs.

Hanoi Capital’s development space will be organized around five growth axes. Among these, the Red River axis will serve as the main growth axis and a focal feature of the central urban area, connecting urban areas south and north of the Red River. The orientation is to create spaces for culture, festivals, cultural activities, and sports, and to develop tourism, nighttime economic services, accommodation, resorts, and elderly care facilities along both banks. The five economic corridors and ring routes will be used effectively so that Hanoi Capital truly becomes a point of convergence, a connectivity hub, and a driver of spillover effects within and across regions. It will play an important role in connecting with provinces and cities in the Red River Delta, the Capital Region, and the Northern Midlands and Mountainous Region, extending toward international border gates and seaports, and affirming Hanoi’s role as a driver of regional development, a national growth pole, and a gateway connecting the ASEAN region with China.

Organize the five development spaces harmoniously and use them rationally, and develop a model of green, smart, modern, and innovative cities under the capital, with special governance and institutional arrangements, to serve as growth engines for the capital, comprising one central urban area and four cities under the capital. Develop the urban system and organize rural territories; develop smart, modern functional zones and technical infrastructure.

At the meeting, Council members and delegates viewed the full Report on the Hanoi Capital Master Plan for the 2021-2030 period, with a vision to 2050, presented in a 25-minute documentary produced by the consortium of consultants preparing the Capital Master Plan.

Next on the meeting agenda, Dinh Trong Thang, Director of the Department of Planning Management under the Ministry of Planning and Investment, presented a consolidated report on Appraisal Council members’ comments on the consolidated Capital Master Plan Report on behalf of the Appraisal Council’s standing agency.

At the meeting, expert reviewers and representatives of ministry and sector leadership also offered comments to help finalize the consolidated Capital Master Plan Report so that it meets the requirements and follows the orientations for developing the capital into a place of cultural heritage, civility, elegance, and modernity in the coming period.

Dinh Tien Dung, Secretary of the Hanoi Party Committee, speaks at the meeting

Speaking at the meeting, Dinh Tien Dung, Politburo member and Secretary of the Hanoi Party Committee, thanked Appraisal Council members, leaders of central ministries and sectors, experts, and scientists for their insightful and dedicated contributions to the Hanoi Capital Master Plan for the 2021-2030 period, with a vision to 2050.

Through the efforts of the consulting consortium, the engagement of the entire political system, and the attention of central ministries and sectors, domestic and international experts and scientists, Hanoi has now largely completed the planning dossier, including an overall report of more than 1,200 pages.

Overall, participants agreed that the Capital Master Plan dossier had been prepared meticulously, scientifically, and rigorously; integrated national-level plans and included regional development orientations suited to the new context, particularly new trends and Party policies; and largely met the requirements of legislation on planning and environmental protection. They broadly agreed with the proposed viewpoints, objectives, and development orientations in the draft Master Plan.

Nevertheless, some aspects of the planning dossier still require further review, revision, and updating to further improve its quality. Following the Appraisal Council meeting, the city will work closely with the Ministry of Planning and Investment and other ministries and sectors to study comments from Council members, experts, and organizations, and review, select, and incorporate relevant input to finalize the Capital Master Plan to the highest possible standard.

Appraisal Council members and reviewers offer many thoughtful contributions

Concluding the meeting, Minister Nguyen Chi Dung announced the results of the evaluation vote by members of the Appraisal Council for the Hanoi Capital Master Plan for the 2021-2030 period, with a vision to 2050. All 31/31 members (100%) voted to approve the Capital Master Plan dossier submitted for appraisal. Of these, 27/31 members voted for approval subject to revisions and additions, while 4/31 voted for approval without revisions or additions (12.9%).

Article and photos: Planning Administration Board

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