A total of 53 products from 47 businesses have been recognised as the city's key industrial items for the past five years under the Hanoi Programme for Developing Key Industrial Products during 2005-10, according to the Hanoi Department of Industry and Trade.

Director of the department Luu Tien Long said most enterprises that offer key products showed much higher production growth rates in the past five years and contributed significantly to the city's overall industrial growth.

According to the department's statistics, the key industrial products made up 34.23 percent of the city's total industrial production value last year against 27.6 percent a year earlier.

Director of the department's industrial division Trinh Thi Ngan said that 10 of the 53 products brought in an annual revenue of more than 1 trillion VND (51.3 million USD) each and another 17 had annual earnings of between 500 billion VND and 1 trillion VND (25.5-51.3 million USD).

Besides meeting the domestic market demand, Ngan said, the selected enterprises also earned 760 million USD from exports last year, accounting for 10 percent of the city's export turnover in the period.

Several recognised enterprises that have had breakthrough growth over the past years included Octorber 10 Textile Co and Son Ha Corporation, which recorded a year-on-year growth of 50 percent.

Under the programme, key industrial products were categorised into six groups: mechanical engineering, electrical and electronics, chemicals and plastics, footwear, garment and textile, paper and packaging, and processed foods.

Assistance for the recognised enterprises included help in building and promoting trademarks, technology development and priorities to resolve land use rights and administrative procedures, said Long.

Despite positive results, shortcomings in the city's assistance included help that was unfocused and poor co-ordination between agencies, especially in the land and environmental protection sectors. Assistance programmes were too general and not all enterprises were informed of what they were entitled to, Long said.

The programme for developing industrial products was launched in October 2005 with the aim to create favourable conditions for the continued development of these local products using all available advantages and resources./.