The city will establish an 11-hectare center in District 8 to house more than 600 chemical shops next year, reports said, citing a plan which was discussed at a municipal meeting on July 26.
A majority of the targeted stores are in Kim Bien, a District 5-based wholesale market dubbed "death market" after its exposure by the media as the supplier of dangerous substances in numerous food safety scares.
Tran Vinh Tuyen, Vice Chairman of the City People's Committee, was quoted as saying at the meeting that removing the chemical business from Kim Bien is not only to secure the market's fire safety.
The "most important" thing is that only when the stores are brought to the center and thus under better oversight would local authorities be able to ensure food safety and hygiene, he said.