HCMC inaugurated statue of President Ho Chi Minh

A 7.2 meters bronze statue of President Ho Chi Minh is placed before the municipal People's Council and Committee, on the centre square towards Nguyen Hue Street, Bach Dang (Saigon River). It was inaugurated in the morning of May 17th.

Speaking at this, General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong said that the inauguration of the monument to President Ho Chi Minh – the national hero - a world cultural celebrity, coinciding with his 125th birthday, is an event of profoundly political and cultural significance.

President Hồ Chí Minh (19 May 1890 – 2 September 1969), born Nguyễn Sinh Côn, or Nguyễn Sinh Cung, also known as Nguyễn Tất Thành and Nguyễn Ái Quốc, was a Vietnamese Communist revolutionary leader who was prime minister(1945–55) and president (1945–69) of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (North Vietnam). He was a key figure in the foundation of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam in 1945, as well as the People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN).

Ho Chi Minh City, formerly named Saigon, is the largest city in Vietnam. It was once known as Prey Nokor, an important Khmer sea port prior to annexation by the Vietnamese in the 17th century. Under the name Saigon, it was the capital of the French colony of Cochinchina and later of the independent republic of South Vietnam 1955–75. On 2 July 1976, Saigon merged with the surrounding Gia Định Province and was officially renamed Ho Chi Minh City after Hồ Chí Minh, the first president of Vietnam (although the name Sài Gòn is still unofficially widely used).

From Wikipedia

Along with the launch of construction of monument of President Ho Chi Minh, the City People's Committee has also conducted other projects to upgrade, repair Nguyen Hue Street with budget of more than 430 billion dong. Accordingly, the entire road Nguyen Hue was renovated to become the first walking street, which creates the beautiful spaces and specially honors Uncle Ho Monument.