Cat Lai Port in HCM City (Photo: VNA) HCM City (VNA) – Ho Chi Minh City needs to speed up December growth to achieve its economic growth target of 8.25 percent, heard a review meeting on November 30.
“We had to reduce the growth target from 8.4 percent to 8.25 percent because of inaccurate computation at the beginning of the year,” Vo Van Hoan, head of the People’s Committee Office, told the meeting held to review socio-economic development in the first 11 months.
Hoan pointed out that the general growth index had risen sharply, and higher than last year, but the economy needed to accelerate to achieve the target.
“Revenue collection has been only 88.34 percent of the target and related authorities must work hard to fulfil the full-year plan.”
Pham Thanh Kien, director of the Department of Industry and Trade, said the city should focus on its four key industries in the final month.
“Shopping malls, supermarkets and convenience stores have increased significantly, while e-commerce has grown 31 percent.
“The city should focus on e-commerce besides traditional businesses.”
He said software exports had seen very high growth this year with revenues reaching 1.5 billion USD in the year-to-date compared to 1 billion USD for full-year 2016.
Su Ngoc Anh, director of the Department of Planning and Investment, said the city’s revenues had grown by 12.6 percent to 307.3 trillion VND (13.5 billion USD), or 88.34 percent of the full-year target.
FDI has doubled to nearly 5.57 billion USD.
Services and retail sales grew by 11.5 percent and industrial output by 7.9 percent.
[HCM City exports to top 35 billion USD in 2017]
The city’s four key industries -- engineering and automation; electronics; chemicals, rubber, plastics; and food processing -- continued to perform strongly, expanding markets, investing in technology and improving quality and competitiveness, and growing at over 12.9 percent.
This year, 37,596 new companies with a combined registered capital of 778.5 trillion VND (34.6 billion USD) have been licensed, three times the number in the same period last year.
Job creation, vocational training and support for poor people have been carried out efficiently to ensure social welfare.
The number of jobs created rose marginally to 298,225 or 106.5 percent of the full-year target.
Exports were worth around 32 billion USD, an increase of 16.1 percent.
Exports to Singapore grew by 69.7 percent, to Myanmar by 75.1 percent, to India by 33.7 percent, to Malaysia by 24.1 percent, to Thailand by 25.8 percent, to China by 21 percent, and to the Republic of Korea by 22.2 percent but shipments to the Philippines, Indonesia, Italy, Germany, and the UK shrank.
Exports of rubber, vegetables, computers and electronics, and vehicles grew by 18 – 55 percent.
Imports were worth 38.9 billion USD, an increase of 13.5 percent.
Imports from China, India, the Philippines and Cambodia soared, with raw materials, equipment, electronic accessories and metals being the main imported items.
“Authorities have paid close attention to the environment, flooding and traffic as well as price stability,” Hoan added. - VNA
VNA
