HCM City’s economy continues strong recovery momentum

HCM City (VNA) – Ho Chi Minh City’s economy has seen a steady revival and is on course to return to pre-COVID levels, Chairman of the municipal People’s Committee Phan Van Mai said on June 29.

Speaking at a meeting on the city’s socio-economic situation in the first half of the year, he said the administration had made great efforts to help businesses access funds for their recovery and provided significant policy support to ensure socio-economic activities proceeded smoothly.

Administrative procedures remain the biggest obstacle to capital disbursement, hindering capital flows into production and trade activities and the creation of new jobs, he said.

Mai called on authorities in Thu Duc city and the city’s districts and government agencies to focus on smoothing administrative procedures to speed up economic recovery and growth.

Director of the Department of Planning and Investment Le Thi Huynh Mai said the Government’s policies to support businesses impacted by the pandemic had brought positive results, prompting economic recovery in the city and full resumption of socio-economic activities.

But the disbursement of public investment capital was well below targets and the city’s ranking in the Public Administration Reform Index dropped to 43 from 23 in 2020.

In the first six months of the year, the city’s gross regional domestic product (GRDP) exceeded 728.7 trillion (31.32 billion USD), a year-on-year increase of 3.82% after precipitous drops of 24.97% and 11.64% in the third and fourth quarters of last year.

Its Index of Industrial Production rose by 3.1% year-on-year, with the four main sectors, food processing, pharmaceuticals- chemicals-rubber-plastic, mechanical engineering, and electronics expanding by 7.1%.

Retail sales of goods and services surpassed 556.4 trillion VND (23.91 billion USD), an increase of 6.2%. The city’s exports grew by 13.8% to 24.9 billion USD and imports rose by 13.7% to 34.2 billion USD.

Revenues from tourism are estimated at 10.1 trillion VND (434.27 million USD), a year-on-year increase of 233%.

The number of domestic visitors to the city jumped by 43% to more than 11 million while international tourism resumed and nearly 478,000 visitors came.

The city’s revenues are estimated at 238.6 trillion VND (10.25 billion USD), or 61.74% of the full-year target and up 17.49% year-on-year./.