HCMC – Party General Secretary To Lam has told HCMC to ensure that travel time between downtown HCMC and Long Thanh International Airport in neighboring Dong Nai Province will not exceed 30 minutes.
If it takes up to two hours to travel from the city center to the under-construction airport, no one would choose to use it, he said. While building the airport is crucial, synchronizing and properly planning connectivity between downtown HCMC and Long Thanh airport is equally important, he added.
Currently, to travel between the center of HCMC and the airport, one would have to take the HCMC-Long Thanh-Dau Giay Expressway but this road is often congested due to increasingly heavy traffic. It is undergoing expansion while the airport would be put into commercial service in the middle of this year.
On February 9, Party General Secretary To Lam visited HCMC to extend Lunar New Year greetings to the Party Committee, government and people of HCMC, and presented gifts to policy beneficiary families and outstanding contributors to the revolution on the occasion of the Lunar New Year 2026.
Speaking at the meeting, the Party chief said HCMC is facing five bottlenecks that have been addressed but not fully resolved, and therefore must be tackled decisively this year.
Regarding traffic congestion, he stressed that it cannot be allowed to persist. Priority should be given to easing congestion at key gateways and major corridors, as well as in the inner city and central areas, and on routes linking the city with the western, eastern and northern regions.
“Traffic bottlenecks will constrain HCMC’s development because goods cannot circulate and tourists cannot reach the city,” he said.
On environmental pollution, he said it is unacceptable for a modern and civilized HCMC to remain polluted for years, as this directly affects public health and living and working conditions. The city should learn from international experience to address the issue, he added, calling it HCMC’s responsibility to its residents.
Regarding flooding, he called for comprehensive planning to prevent inundation. “Who is responsible for this issue? When will it be completed so that it can be reported to the people?” he asked. Efforts should focus on specific areas, prioritizing the most severely affected zones.
On food safety, he said people’s lives must be safeguarded so that HCMC remains a livable city. Food safety violations, counterfeit and substandard goods cannot be tolerated, and a full-scale fight against such crimes is needed with the involvement of the entire political system and the public. “HCMC has long grappled with food safety issues and has established a Department of Food Safety. The city must examine every aspect of the problem to find effective solutions. Development must go hand in hand with safety, ensuring that residents are not left anxious or frustrated,” he said.
General Secretary To Lam emphasized that for HCMC to develop further, it must adopt a new development master plan. The city should set common quality standards aligned with national benchmarks while striving to outperform other localities. At the same time, it must ensure the efficient use of investment resources and contribute meaningfully to economic growth.
He underscored that implementing the Resolution of the 14th National Party Congress over the next five to 10 years will be pivotal in achieving the goals marking the centenary of the Party and the country. “In that process, HCMC must continue to affirm its role as a locomotive, taking the lead and setting an example; a place where the central authorities can confidently entrust new, difficult and major tasks; a driving force for national growth, innovation and integration,” he said, noting that HCMC’s tradition lies not only in being the country’s largest growth pole but also a key hub of innovation.
