Hanoi’s retail sales of goods and services in the first half of this year reached 336 trillion VND (14.35 billion USD), up 16.5% year-on-year. (Photo: VNA) The domestic market, especially the capital city, has seen a strong recovery since the beginning of this year when the COVID-19 pandemic was brought under control.
Concentrated promotional and regional connectivity programmes have been rolled out in the community, with enthusiastic engagement from businesses that has contributed to both increasing total retail sales and to taming inflation.
Rosy market
Since late 2021, Hanoi and other localities nationwide have shifted to flexible adaptation to and effective control of COVID-19, helping to recover trade and services.
According to Tran Thi Phuong Lan, Acting Director of the municipal Department of Industry and Trade, apart from the consumption stimulus programmes launched by the city, retailers like Hapro, BRG, Co.opmart, Big C, Aeon Mall, Winmart, MediaMart, Pico and Nguyen Kim have also stepped up promotions to lure customers.
Nguyen Thi Kim Dung, Director of Co.opmart Hanoi, said through such programmes, the supermarket chain has attracted more suppliers and created opportunities for enterprises and cooperatives to put their products on its shelves.
MediaMart also reported growth of around 200%-300% thanks to the consumption stimulus programmes, according to its Marketing Director Vuong Tuan Anh.
In the six-month period, the retail sales of goods alone in the city hit 218.5 trillion VND, a year-on-year rise of 11.4%.
The figures reflect the efficiency in controlling the pandemic, economic reopening and stimulus campaigns, Lan said, adding that the increase in retail sales of goods and services has helped enterprises deal with difficulties in production and business, and contributed to the local economy.
Economist Nguyen Minh Phong also emphasised the great contributions of trade and services to the city’s gross regional domestic products (GRDP), saying trade, services and the domestic market form a pillar of the economy.
Stepping up domestic consumption promotion
The Ministry of Industry and Trade forecast that domestic consumption will rise in the time ahead thanks to the effective control of the pandemic, production recovery and tourism reopening.
Many enterprises in Hanoi have also increased investments and expanded production and business after the prolonged hiatus due to COVID-19.
The concentrated, large-scale promotion programmes have created “golden months” for consumers, said Dung.
Lan noted that from now till the end of this year, similar programmes such as “Hanoi Sales Promotion 2022”, “Hanoi Midnight Sale 2022” and Black Friday, with discounts of up to 100% will be put into place.
Illustrative image (Source: VNA) Hanoi will also pay more attention to e-commerce, cashless payment and modern business methods that match the digital economy and the pandemic situation, while assisting firms to form domestic production and supply chains, the official said.
Vu Ba Phu, General Director of the Department of Trade Promotion under the Ministry of Industry and Trade, said Hanoi’s Concentrated Promotion Programme and Vietnamese Goods Week 2022 with an array of activities will help to stimulate consumption in the city and recover business operations. The outputs should contribute to national economic development, he said.
Le Viet Nga, deputy head of the ministry’s Domestic Market Department, highlighted the importance of the programmes in connecting production and consumption as well as businesses and consumers in order to build supply chains in Vietnam./.
VNA
