Ho Chi Minh, former Saigon, is the largest city in Vietnam and is located near the Mekong River delta. Today, the city's core is still adorned with wide elegant boulevards and historic French colonial buildings.
The most prominent structures in the city center are Reunification Hall, City Hall, Municipal Theater, Revolutionary Museum, State Bank Office, People's Court, and Notre Dame Cathedral.
Saigon is home to a well-established ethnic Chinese population. Cholon, now known as District 5 and the parts of Districts 6, 10 and 11, serves as its Chinatown. With a population now exceeding 7 million, Ho Chi Minh is in need of vast increase in public infrastructure. To meet this need, the city and central governments have embarked on an effort to develop new urban centers. The two most prominent projects are Thu Thiem city center in District 2 (currently under planning) and the Phu My Hung New City Center in District 7.
Ho Chi Minh is the most important economic center in Vietnam. Some 300,000 businesses, including many large enterprises, are involved in high-tech, electronic, processing and light industries, also in construction, building materials and agro-products. Currently, the city has 15 industrial parks and export-processing zones, in addition to the Quang Trung Software Park and the Sai Gon Hi-tech Park.
Saigon is also a vacation resort, many travelers visit it every year, so there are 171 medium and large scale markets, tens of supermarket chains, dozens of luxury shopping malls and many modern fashion or beauty centers. Over 50 banks with hundreds of branches and about 20 insurance companies are situated inside the city. The first Stock Exchange of Vietnam was opened in the city in 2001.
Beside Municipal Theatre, in Saigon are other great entertainment resorts such as: the Ben Thanh and Hoa Binh Theaters and the Lan Anh Music Stage. Dam Sen Tourist and Cultural Park, Suoi Tien Cultural Park and the Can Gio Eco beach resort are recreational sites inside the city, attracting travelers from all around the world.