Ho Chi Minh City, the country’s largest economic hub, posted an economic growth rate of 11 percent in this year’s first half, 4.6 percent higher than the same period last year, said a senior local official.

This is the highest economic growth the city has reached since 2006, said Le Hoang Quan, Chairman of the municipal People’s Committee, in a meeting to review the city’s socio-economic situation in the first six months of this year.

Of the GDP, the service sector accounts for 52.4 percent, up 10.8 percent year-on-year. Meanwhile, the industry and construction sector which also recorded an increase of 11.3 percent makes up 46.6 percent.

The performance is partly attributed to the city’s efforts to stabilise prices of essential goods, develop trading centres and encourage local people to buy local products, the Chairman explained, adding that the city’s total retail sales and service revenues made a sharp rise of 33.1 percent.

Remarkably, the state-owned economic sector in the city achieved a strong growth in comparison to the same period last year, Quan said.

Knowledge-based and high value-added industries such as manufacturing, electricity-electronics and production of rubber and plastic products registered growths of 31.2 percent, 21.5 percent and 14.5 percent respectively in the period.

Despite encouraging figures, the Chairman urged the city’s agencies and branches to continue carrying out measures to stabilise the city’s marco-economy, curb inflation and strive for an economic growth of more than 11 percent this year.

The measures include the promotion of production and export, economic restructuring and improvement of its investment environment and administrative procedures./.