Secretary of Hanoi Party Committee Vuong Dinh Hue (standing) speaks at the meeting (Photo: VNA) Hanoi (VNA) – Hanoi is seeking tofulfill socio-economic targets in 2020 amid the complicated and unpredictabledevelopments of the acute respiratory disease caused by SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19).
At a meeting in the city on March 12, Secretaryof the municipal Party Committee Vuong Dinh Hue said while the top task atpresent is to contain the COVID-19 outbreak, another important mission is toprevent the decline in economic growth.
The Party board of the municipal People’sCommittee reported that tourism is hardest hit due to strong declines in thenumbers of visitors from three main markets - China, the Republic of Korea(RoK), and Japan where the virus is raging through. Tourists from the threemarkets make up 37 percent of the total number of foreigners to Hanoi.
Industrial production also suffered when 15percent of exports and 50 percent of imports depend on China and the RoK.
Investment from Japan, the RoK and China, whichaccounts for 41.5 percent of the total foreign investment in Hanoi, is forecastto decline.
On the other hand, agriculture expects a 3percent growth. The production of medical supplies and health products as wellas the pharmaceutical industry are also forecast to post high growth.
Besides, the wave of shifting investment out ofChina due to the epidemic and the China-US trade tension is also an opportunityfor Hanoi.
Based on the outcomes in January-February, Hanoihas drafted three growth scenarios and selected the first one to strive for,under which, the city aims for a 7.51 percent GRDP growth in 2020 and 7.37percent on average during 2016-2020.
The key solutions are well controlling thedisease, promoting business production, and intensifying administrativereforms.
The city will also work to improve business andinvestment environment, remove difficulties for businesses, attract moreinvestment, and speed up the implementations of major projects./.
VNA
