Under the plan, the highway linking Noi Bai airport to Nhat Tan bridge in the districts of Dong Anh and Soc Son will be named after General Vo Nguyen Giap. It will be 12km in length and 70-100m in width.

During the session, which continues until July 11, council members are expected to consider other proposals submitted by the municipal People's Committee, including one on conserving biodiversity.

They will also discuss regulations on prices for new medical services at State-run medical establishments and fines for administrative violations in construction and culture.

Chairwoman of the council, Ngo Thi Doan Thanh, said the capital's economy encountered an array of difficulties in the first half of the year.

Thanh noted that Ha Noi's economic growth had slowed compared to the same period last year, falling behind the set target. Meanwhile, she said there were many problems in urban management, land use, environmental protection and health care.

Permanent Vice Chairman of the municipal People's Committee, Vu Hong Khanh, reported that the city's gross domestic product grew by 7.4 per cent in the first six months, about 1.5 times higher than the national average.

He said in the last months of the year, local authorities would continue with efforts to remove difficulties for production and business - and step up investment in development.

The meeting will hear reports summing up feedback from voters and recommendations and the implementation of decisions made by the council at its previous session.

HCMC Council meets

Administration reform and the East Sea issue will be the main topics of a four-day meeting of HCM City's People's Council that began yesterday.

Nguyen Thi Quyet Tam, chairwoman of HCM City's People's Council, said yesterday that the city's economy had continued to recover with a stable GDP growth rate.

The chairwoman noted that administration reform and social welfare policies played an important role in the city's socio-economic development amid the global economic downturn and complicated situation in the East Sea.

"The current implementation of administration reform has not matched the position and role of HCM City. The administrative sector has not really been professional, causing problems for citizens," Tam said.

During the first six months of the year, an inspection team was established to monitor the administration reform process in the city's four departments, six district-level People's Committees and several wards.

A one-door policy has been applied in all of the city's wards and districts.

Recovering economy

Nguyen Thi Hong, deputy chairwoman of HCM City's People's Committee, said the city's GDP for the first half of the year was VND379 trillion (US$18 billion), an increase of 8.2 percent compared with the same period last year. This is the second consecutive year for growth.

In another matter, Nguyen Huu Tin, deputy chairman of HCM City's People's Committee, said the city had inspected more than 2,000 suspended projects and cancelled 536 projects operated by investors who were deemed incapable.

As for the East Sea situation, Tam, the city's People's Council's chairwoman, said that councilors should offer suggestions to help people, fishermen and fisheries surveillance forces involved in the issue.

In May, China placed its Haiyang Shiyou-981 oil rig illegally in Viet Nam's exclusive economic zone in the East Sea.

The councilors today will discuss the issue as well as results of administration reform between 2011 and 2013.