DECISION

APPROVING THE MASTER PLAN ON CONSTRUCTION OF THE HO CHI MINH CITY REGION UP TO 2020, WITH A VISION TOWARD 2050

THE PRIME MINISTER

Pursuant to the December 25, 2001 Law on Organization of the Government;
Pursuant to the Government’s Decree No. 08/2005/ND-CP dated January 24,2005, on construction planning;
At the proposal of the Ministry of Construction in Report No. 31/TTr-BXD dated April 23,2008, concerning approval of the master plan on construction of the Ho Chi Minh city region up to 2020, with a vision toward 2050;

DECIDES:

Article 1.

- To approve the master plan on construction of the Ho Chi Minh city region up to 2020, with a vision toward 2050, with the following principal contents:

1. Development objectives:

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- To develop a regional spatial structure, bring into play the role, position and potential of the Ho Chi Minh city region as a gateway of international trade, a leading economic hub in the country and the region, link provinces and cities in the region with one another and connect the Ho Chi Minh city region with other regions in the country and the world;

- To build and develop regional- and international-level high-grade trade, finance and service centers in the central area within a radius of 30 km and national-and regional-level service centers within a reasonable service radius;

- To build a system of urban centers throughout the region, link urban areas so that they can support one another, especially the central urban area within a radius of 30 km. To form counterbalance urban areas with development poles being core cities, and connect them with the central urban area through urban economic corridors;

- To develop consolidated areas with hi-tech and specialized industries. To form economic corridors of industries and services, serving as a driving force for rapid and sustainable development in the regional provinces;

- To form a diversified and flexible system of social infrastructure;

- To develop international-level tourist areas and centers in association with culture, urban areas and natural landscape;

- To develop urban and rural areas in a balanced manner. To establish ecological settings;

- To lay orientations for the development of transport, power supply, water supply and drainage and environmental sanitation infrastructure facilities which are regionally interconnected to tap the advantages of each area for the rapid and sustainable development of all economic and social zones;

- To formulate strategic projects that can influence, spread and promote regional development;

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2. Vision toward 2050:

By 2050 the Ho Chi Minh city region will become a dynamic economic region with high and sustainable economic development rates; a leading economic development region in the whole country, an economic center of the region and Asia; an international-level trade, finance and service center, a center of highly specialized hi-tech industries; and concurrently a high-quality cultural, training and healthcare center and a region with good landscape and environment.

3. Planning scope:

The planning scope of the Ho Chi Minh city region encompasses the whole administration territories of Ho Chi Minh city and seven surrounding provinces of Binh Duong, Binh Phuoc, Tay Ninh, Long An, Dong Nai, Ba Ria - Vung Tau and Tien Giang with a total area of around 30,404 km² and an influential radius of 150-200 km.

4. Population forecasts:

- It is projected that by 2020 the region's population will be 20-22 million, with 16-17 million living in urban centers and an urbanization rate of 77- 80%;

- Vision toward 2050: The region's population will be 28-30 million, with 25-27 million living in urban centers and an urbanization rate of 90%.

5. Land use planning:

- At present, the total land area of the Ho Chi Minh city region is 30,404 km²;

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+ By 2020: around 180,000 - 210,000 ha;

+ By 2050: around 250,000 - 270,000 ha.

- Projected land areas for industries:

+ By 2020: around 30,000 - 40,000 ha;

+ By 2050: around 50,000 - 70,000 ha.

6. Regional development model:

The Ho Chi Minh city region will be development after the model of multi-polar concentration with the central area having a radius of 30 km and five development poles.

7. Orientations for the region's spatial development:

a/ The region's spatial structure:

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+ The southeastern pole in the direction of Ba Ria - Vung Tau, with Vung Tau as the regional core city and Phu My, Ba Ria and Long Hai urban centers forming the urban area of Vung Tau city;

+ The eastern pole embracing Dau Giay, Long Thanh, Gia Ray, Dinh Quan, Tan Phu and Vinh Cuu and Long Khanh urban centers, with Long Khanh as the core;

+ The northern pole embracing My Phuoc, Chon Thanh, An Loc, Loc Ninh, Hoa Lu and Dong Xoai urban centers, with Chon Thanh as the core;

+ The northwestern pole embracing Trang Bang, Go Dau, Moc Bai, Tay Ninh and Xa Mat urban centers, with Trang Bang, Go Dau, Moc Bai and Tay Ninh as the core;

+ The southwestern pole embracing Ben Luc, Tan An, Tan Hiep, and My Tho, with My Tho and Tan An as the core.

The spatial structure of landscape areas will consist of the system of Sai Gon, Nha Be, Be, Vam Co Dong, Co Tay, Tien, Soai Rap, Thi Vai and Long Tau rivers, together with Tri An and Dau Tieng reservoirs and the East Sea area; natural landscape areas of Binh Chau – Binh Phuoc Buu, Nam Cat Tien, Vinh Cuu, Thac Mo, Bu Gia Map, Lo Go – Xa Mat, Dong Thap Muoi indigo forest and Can Gio biosphere area.

b/ Orientations for organization of the region’s development space up to 2020:

- Division of functional areas:

+ Urban development area:

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- Counterbalance area: The southeastern counterbalance urban area (Ba Ria - Vung Tau urban area – National Highway 51 urban economic corridor); the counterbalance urban area to the east of Ho Chi Minh city (Dong Nai urban area – National Highway 1A economic corridor); the northern counterbalance urban area (Binh Phuoc – National Highway 13 urban economic corridor); the northwestern counterbalance urban area (Tay Ninh - trans-Asia National Highway 22 urban economic corridor); and the southwestern counterbalance urban area (Long An, Tien Giang – National Highway 1A urban economic corridor running to Can Tho).

Distribution of the network of urban centers by nature and function:

- National-level and regional-level general urban centers: Ho Chi Minh, Vung Tau, My Tho, Bien Hoa, Ba Ria, Tan An, Thu Dau Mot, Tay Ninh and Dong Xoai cities;

- Specialized urban centers:

Trade, service and scientific urban center: Tam Phuoc new urban center (glade 3);

Border-gate urban centers: Hoa Lu, Moc Bai and Xa Mat urban centers (grade 3);

Scientific urban center of Long Thanh;

Tourist urban centers: Long Hai town (grade-3 urban center), Thac Mo town, Duong Minh Chau township, Vinh An township;

Industrial and port service urban centers: Phu My urban center, Nhon Trach city, and Hiep Phuoc new urban center.

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- Central industrial area in Ho Chi Minh city: hi-tech, information technology, biotechnology, clean, precision engineering and support industries;

- Northern industrial area in Binh Duong province: agricultural and forest product exploitation and processing, electronic and building materials industries;

- Eastern industrial area in Dong Nai province: interdisciplinary, agricultural and forestry product processing, mechanical engineering and support industries;

- Southeastern industrial area in Ba Ria – Vung Tau province: heavy, oil and gas, oil refinery and petrochemical and seaport-based industries;

- Southwestern industrial area Long An and Tien Giang provinces: agricultural, forest and aquatic product processing, agricultural engineering and consumer goods industries;

- Northwestern industrial area Tay Ninh and Long An provinces: building materials, mechanical engineering, electronics and other industries.

+ Ecological and resort area:

- National and international tourist areas: Ho Chi Minh city and urban centers within a radius of 30km, tourist areas of Vung Tau city, Con Dao island, My Tho city, and Tri An reservoir – Nam Cat Tien forest, and Tay Ninh tourist area;

- Regional-level tourist clusters: Dong Thap Muoi, Binh Chau, Thac Mo, Hoa Lu, Moc Bai and Xa Mat tourist clusters;

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- International-national tourist routes: From Ho Chi Minh city via seaport and airport to other regions in the world; from Ho Chi Minh city through the trans-Asia road to Cambodia, Thailand and Laos in the sub-Mekong River region; from Ho Chi Minh city to tourist areas in the Central Highlands, Nha Trang, Can Tho, Vung Tau and Con Dao;

- Agricultural and nature conservation areas;

- Agricultural areas to be protected and developed with advanced biotechnology: largely in Long An and Tien Giang provinces and parts of Tay Ninh, Binh Duong, Bnh Phuoc, Dong Nai and Ba Ria – Vung Tau provinces;

- Nature conservation areas: Can Gio biosphere zone, sea area in the east of Vung Tau city, Long Hai - Binh Chau and Phuoc Buu beaches, Tri An reservoir – Nam Cat Tien national park area, Vinh Cuu forest park, Thac Mo lake - Bu Gia Map nature reserve, Dau Tieng reservoir – Lo Go – Xa Mat nature reserve, and Dong Thap Muoi ecological zone.

- Orientations for organization of the regionalspace:

+ Urban construction space:

- Urban construction space inside belt road 2: covering the Ho Chi Minh city’s central area inside belt road 1, Nha Be, Binh Chanh and Hoc Mon districts, Thuan An and Di An districts (Binh Duong), part of Long Thanh district (Dong Nai), Nhon Trach city, forming a scientific and hi-tech urban space closely linked with the central space of Ho Chi Minh city;

- Urban construction space between belt road 2 and belt road 3: covering Hiep Phuoc port, Ben Luc, Duc Hoa, Cu Chi, Thu Dau Mot, Bien Hoa, Uyen Hung, Trang Bom and Tam Phuoc urban centers, forming a system of satellite urban centers of the core urban center being Ho Chi Minh city;

- Urban construction space in adjacent areas within a radius of 30-50 km: covering urban centers associated with belt road 3 and centripetal urban economic corridors of the region. The construction space is scattered and associated with ecological land scape, agricultural and forest areas.

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- The system of Sai Gon, Dong Nai, Vam Co Dong, Nha Be – Soai Rap, Thi Vai and Tien rivers will constitute the major landscape space of the core area;

- Other landscape spaces in the region: Can Gio biosphere zone, the east sea area of Vung Tau city, Long Hai - Binh Chau and Phuoc Buu beaches, Tri An reservoir, Nam Cat Tien national park area, Vinh Cuu forest park, Thac Mo lake, Bu Gia Map nature reserve, Dau Tieng reservoir, Lo Go - Xa Mat nature reserve, and Dong Thap Muoi ecological zone. To combine the system of rivers in the region and forest and agricultural spaces into an open natural landscape and ecological space for the whole region.

+ Industrial, trade and service space.

- The space of the central area within a radius of 30 km will encompass zones of hi-tech industries and clean industries with high technical content and international-level trade, financial, cultural, scientific and art centers;

- The industrial and service space of counterbalance areas linked with core urban centers of Phu My, Long Khanh, My Phuoc, Trang Bang, My Tho and Tan An. These areas will develop flexibly under proper control and offer favorable conditions for investors.

- Orientations for development of social infrastructure in the region:

+ Distribution of the training system :

- Ho Chi Minh city will provide tertiary and postgraduate training programs involving high-quality researches, disciplines in natural sciences, technological sciences, social sciences and humanities, spearhead and new techniques and modern technologies such as automation information, biotechnology, new materials technology, and training of economic managers, social managers and policymakers;

- Other training centers in the region will be concentrated in Ho Chi Minh city, and Thu Dau Mot, Bien Hoa, My Tho and Vung Tau urban centers.

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- The system of level-1 hospitals: To be located in urban centers and district centers, each having 50-200 patient beds;

- The system of level-2 hospitals, including general and specialized hospitals, to be located in provincial centers, each having 300-1,000 patient beds;

- The system of level-3 hospitals, including high-quality central hospitals, to be located in Ho Chi Minh city and Bien Hoa.

+ Distribution of the system of dwelling houses:

- The central area inside belt road 2: Commercial dwelling houses will be developed at a high density;

- Areas between belt roads 2 and 3: Dwelling houses will be developed in expanded urban centers and in the center of urban centers close to industrial parks and ecological areas;

- Urban areas linked with industrial parks: Dwelling houses at cheap prices and with expanded land areas will be developed rapidly in urban and adjacent areas in the region under flexible mechanisms and policies.

+ Distribution of the trade service system:

Ho Chi Minh City and Vung Tau city will be international service, finance and trade centers; Ba Ria, Long Khanh, Tam Phuoc, Bien Hoa, Thu Dau Mot, Chon Thanh, Trang Bang and My Tho urban centers will be turned into national and regional service centers; urban centers in the center of tourist, ecological and border-gate areas will become regional service centers within an appropriate service radius.

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a/ Transport:

- Roads:

+ Outbound centripetal roads:

To renovate and upgrade existing centripetal national highways. To build express ways: Ho Chi Minh city - Vung Tau, Ho Chi Minh city – Long Thanh - Dau Giay - Da Lat, Ho Chi M?nh city - Thu Dau Mot – Chon Thanh, Ho Chi Minh city - Moc Bai, Ho Chi Minh city – Trung Luong – Can Tho, and Ho Chi Minh city - Nhon Trach; to renovate existing provincial roads in support of centripetal national highways; to build provincial road 25C connecting Nhon Trach urban center with Long Thanh International airport; to extend the road to Phuoc An port, to build abridge over Thi Vai river to link the Cai Mep – Thi Vai section to the southern inter-regional expressway;

+ Inter-regional ring roads: To build inter-regional ring road sections to connect core urban centers and other functional areas in the region to meet the socio-economic development demand in the region.

- To build cargo terminal stations at the gateways to the inner area of Ho Chi Minh city and along belt road 1; to renovate and build inland clearance depots to meet the cargo transport demand in the region.

- Railways:

+ National railways:

To build and renovate the national railway network and the system of railways stations and service facilities in the region toward modernization and reducing the increased pressure on land transport; to build urban railways to facilitate mass transit in Ho Chi Minh city and the whole region.

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+ Seagoing ship fairways: To renovate seagoing fairways and establish a vessel traffic service (VTS) system on Long Tau and Soai Rap rivers to help container ships of up to 20,000 DWT arrive at the new general port of Hiep Phuoc;

+ River-going ship fairways: To renovate and upgrade river fairways connecting various provinces in the region up to grade III;

+ System of seaports: To build a network of seaports in the region in the region in line with the detailed planning on the group of seaports in the region of Ho Chi Minh city - Dong Nai - Ba Ria – Vung Tau (group No. 5).

+ System of river ports: To build a network of river ports to meet the demands of cargo and passenger transport by river in the region and cargo transport by river from the Mekong River delta through the seaport in Hiep Phuoc.

- Airways:

+ The Tan Son Nhat international airport will become a regional and international terminal by 2020. It will be renovated and upgraded to accommodate 9 million passengers/year by 2010 and 20 million passengers/year by 2020;

+ To formulate an investment project to build Long Thanh international airport, Dong Nai province, so that the airport building can start after 2010;

+ To build Go Gang Vung Tau airport (Ba Ria – Vung Tau);

+ To upgrade Co Ong Con Dao airport (Ba Ria - Vung Tau);

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b/ Technical preparation:

- Anti-flood work:

+ River bank protection:

In order to prevent, control and reduce landslides along Dong Nai and Sai Gon rivers, the following measures should be taken in a coordinated manner:

- To adopt plans and methods of exploiting sand and dredging the rivers in a scientific manner in combination with regulating the river flows by supplying water from big reservoirs in the upstream areas (Tri An and Dau Tieng reservoirs) to ensure that the river bed is not affected and the river now direction and speed an not altered;

- To take measures for strengthening river bank sections at high risk of destruction, such as embanking and planting trees;

- To take measures for protecting headwater protection forests largely in Binh Phuoc and Tay Ninh provinces in order to retain water and reduce flow speed, prevent and control flooding which may wash away natural soil surface.

+ For urban centers prone to flooding, the following measures should be taken:

- To determine specific construction control heights for each urban center or residential area on the basis of the highest water level at the rate of 1% according to current regulation;

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- In existing urban centers frequently affected by inundation, to take various renovation measures of elevating sectional foundations or building dykes and one-way (anti-flood) sluices to prevent water from flooding construction sites. Existing canals not used for waterway transport should be dredged and embanked to create landscape. Along these canals, anti-flood dams should be built to turn them into natural reservoirs. To renovate the water drainage system combined with reservoirs and stations to drain rainwater during the flood season or high tide.

- Planning of water drainage for urban centers:

For new urban centers, to build separate rainwater and wastewater drainage systems. For old urban centers, to renovate and build common water drainage systems and select the solution of building main culverts with flow-separating pits to collect wastewater for treatment at consolidated water treatment stations in these urban areas.

c/ Water supply:

- Water supply sources: Water supplied for the region will be mostly exploited from Dong Nai, Sai Gon and Tien Rivers and Tri An and Dau Tieng reservoirs. Groundwater will only be used for small areas distant from surface water sources.

- General forecasts about water demand:

+ Urban areas: 95% and 100% of population will be provided with clean water by 2015 and 2025, respectively;

+ Rural areas: 90% and 100% of population will be provided with clean water by 2015 and 2025, respectively;

+ Total water demand will be 7.2-7.5 million m³/day, including 6.2-6.7 million m³/day for daily-life activities and 0.8-1 million m³/day for industrial parks.

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To research and divide water supply areas into main water supply areas and routes; to build regional water plants to meet water demand of the whole region; to connect urban water supply networks and regional water plants, balance water sources and water demand, which will be regulated through regional water mains and water plants

d/ Power supply:

- The Ho Chi Minh city area: Electricity will be supplied from Hiep Phuoc and Thu Duc power plants and 550 kV and 22 kV transformer stations. With the formation of Hiep Phuoc port urban

center, a power plant and source stations will be built in this area according to plan;

- Provinces in the Ho Chi Minh city region:

Nhon Trach thermoelectricity center with a capacity of 1,200 MW is under construction in Nhon Trach city according to electricity plan VI.

e/ Solid waste treatment:

- To collect and treat solid wastes: To build two complexes to treat garbage and industrial wastes discharged from big urban centers in the Ho Chi Minh city and other regions, and a complex to treat hazardous industrial and hospital wastes, in which a hazardous waste landfill can be selected for general management;

- To build solid waste treatment complexes:

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+ To build a garbage treatment complex on an area of 1,760 ha in Thu Thua (Long An) to serve Ho Chi Minh city and Long An;

Existing separate landfills in the region should be upgraded into separate complexes using combined technologies and each covering 100-200 ha.

+ In districts: To plan the locations and determine the sizes of garbage treatment zones to collect and treat garbage on a district scale and with a transport distance of under 10 km, each covering 30-50 km.

f/ Cemeteries, interment technology:

- Ho Chi Minh city and grade-1 cities: To build 2 or 3 public cemeteries of 200-300 ha each; independent urban centers and other districts and townships: To plan and build a public cemetery

of 20-50 ha;

- To plan the locations and determine the sizes of incineration and burial zones for provincial and regional use, each having multiple functions and possibly being regarded as a cemetery park, having a transport distance of under 50 km and covering an area of 200-300 ha. One will be located in Long Thanh to serve Long Thanh and Ba Ria – Vung Tau; two will be located in Binh Duong and Binh Phuoc to serve Ho Chi Minh city, Binh Duong and Binh Phuoc; one will be located in Tay Ninh to serve Ho Chi Minh city and Tay Ninh. Long An and Tien Giang will have one zone each. These zones will be developed with priority in Long Thanh, Ba Ria - Vung Tau and Long An as they do not affect water sources;

- In order to save cemetery land, to encourage the building of incinerators in provincial cemeteries. Cemeteries will be built in the form of cemetery parks where land plot division and uncontrolled tomb building will be prohibited.

g/ Protection of eco-environment:

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+ Land exploitation and use must ensure proper purposes and scale and strictly follow econo-technical criteria and norms set in specialized plans in line with land use master plans and plans of the provinces, cities and the whole region in each period;

+ Exploitation of natural resources must be coordinated and centralized in line with specialized development plans and strictly follow technical and technological processes environmental protection solutions.

- To protect the ecological system of protection headwater forests and vegetational cover:

+ To restore and protect the ecological system of existing natural forests and green cover: Within the area of provinces and cities in the "planned region" to zone off areas where the ecological system of natural forests will be restored and protected. To maintain and stabilize areas under industrial plants in Dong Nai, Binh Phuoc and Tay Ninh provinces;

+ To zone off protected land areas along Dong Nai and Sai Gon rivers for the development of vegetational cover to protect fresh and ground water sources. To prohibit construction of hazardous industrial establishments such as textile and dying, paper production and leather tanning ones, and heavy industrial establishments, such as steel and iron, motorcycle and automobile manufacturing and plating ones, in the fresh water areas of these two rivers. Industrial parks, plants and enterprises must be located far from these rivers to ensure waste water control and treatment.

- To exploit and use water source:

+ Surface water of Dong Nai, Sai Gon and Be rivers must be used for proper purposes in conformity with water source balance planning; exploitation must observe technical processes. The building of industrial plants discharging hazardous wastewater in water source protection areas is strictly prohibited;

+ Tri An, Dau Tieng and Thac Mo reservoirs in Binh Duong and Binh Phuoc, Da Den lake, Ray river, Phuoc Thai, Ca and La Buong springs in Dong Nai and Ba Ria - Vung Tau will be important water sources of urban centers. Therefore, rearing fishes in cages and building animal raising farms in reservoir and upstream areas and discharging wastewater from production and business activities into reservoirs are strictly prohibited. A certain distance from reservoirs must be ensured and industrial parks and residential areas will not be allowed to be built in upstream areas.

+ Groundwater sources: It is necessary to assess groundwater reserves, plan their rational exploitation and use according to proper technical processes... rationally distribute and refrain from excessively exploiting groundwater in each area, refrain from continuously exploiting groundwater for a too long time, which may lead to exhaustion and lowering of the groundwater level, reduction of water reserves as well as cause other uncontrolled impacts on environmental quality;

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+ To plan and improve the system of plant protection centers and stations to be able to control inputs and outputs in the use of fertilizers and plant protection chemicals;

+ To set up a system of aquatic and marine resources protection system in addition to the veterinary system and the cattle, poultry and water fowl protection systems to enable the quality control of input and output water, vaccines and curative medicines.

9. Priority investment programs and projects and forecasts about resources:

a/ Priority investment programs and projects:

- Infrastructure programs:

+ Development of inter-regional ring roads;

+ Development of mass transit networks in Ho Chi Minh city, especially intra-city and inter-regional railways;

+ Development of the system of seaports;

+ Development of centripetal national highways and inter-regional expressways;

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+ Building of a regional power supply system;

+ Development of a regional water supply system.

- Programs to improve living standards and environmental protection:

+ Development of the urban space in the central area (inside belt road 2);

+ Development of international, national and regional-level public service facilities;

+ Programs to control environmental landscape and protect water sources;

+ Programs to develop tourist resort areas;

+ Programs to develop dwelling houses for low-income earners and industrial park workers.

b/ Forecasts about resources for implementation:

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- ODA loans;

- Capital from domestic and foreign investors;

- Exploitation of land value for development.

10. Organization of implementation:

- The Prime Minister shall decide to set up a steering committee for planning of and investment in the construction of the Ho Chi Minh city region to direct, organize study of policies, mechanisms and strategies on urban development in the whole region suitable to a long-term vision, and coordinate the development of key economic regions to ensure sustainable development for the whole region.

- To assign the Ho Chi Minh city People's Committees and the People's Committees of the provinces in the region to review and adjust or propose the Prime Minister to adjust the approved construction planning schemes and investment projects which are no longer suitable, including general plans on provincial cities, new urban centers and industrial parks.

- To assign the Ministry of Transport to assume the prime responsibility for, and coordinate with the Ministry of Construction and the People's Committees of the provinces and city in the region in, formulating a transport master plan for the Ho Chi Minh city region, especially on development of a modern and rational system of mass transit in the region, in order to reduce traffic congestion in Ho Chi Minh city, and submit it to the Prime Minister for approval.

Article 2.

- This Decision takes effect 15 days after its publicatoion in "CONG BAO."

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- The Mimsters of: Planning and Investlnent; Transport; Natural Resoures and Enviromnent; Education and Training; Defense; Finance; Industry and Trade; Construction; and Culture, Sports and Tourism; the People’s Committees of Ho Chi Minh City and Binh Duong, Binh Phuoc, Tay Ninh, Long An, Dong Nai, Ba Ria – Vung Tau and Tien Gieng provinces, and concerned organizations shall implement this Decision.

PRIME MINISTER




Nguyen Tan Dung