Production at a supporting firm in HCM City (Photo: VNA) HCM City (VNA) – Ho Chi Minh City’s Index of Industrial Production (IIP) in the first six months of the year expanded 7 percent from the same time last year, propped up by high growth of the processing sector.
According to Deputy Director of the municipal Department of Industry and Trade Nguyen Phuong Dong, strong growth of metal and furniture production (59.4 percent, and 41.7 percent, respectively) pushed local processing to scale up 7 percent.
The industrial sector contributed 1.61 percentage points to the city’s gross domestic product (GDP) of 7.61 percent in the six-month period.
Besides, stable business operation of local enterprises helped increase budget collection, with import-export revenue surged 19.8 percent year on year.
However, production of four key industries, namely mechanics, food processing, chemicals, plastics and rubber, and electronics and information technology, grew only 5.5 percent, as compared to 9.5 percent in the first half of 2018.
Economists said that it moved in tandem with the nation’s trend as exports faced hurdles while input costs increased, making local firms earn less.
To be more specific, mechanics, food processing, and chemicals-rubber-plastics experienced a modest increase of 3 percent, 1 percent and 0.8 percent. However, the IIP of the four key industries was backed by the electronics and IT’s growth of 28.3 percent.
Regarding the city’s key products, the HCM City Export Processing and Industrial Zones Authority (HEPZA) has licensed 42 projects to branch out potential and main industrial products.
The municipal Department of Industry and Trade has joined hands with competent agencies and worked with 17 local firms to remove their bottlenecks, while promoting trade promotion for the city’s industrial products.
Bui Hoang Yen from the city’s trade promotion office said that local processing and manufacturing are expected to increase in the coming time since the foreign direct investment capital continue to flow into the sectors.
Actually, many enterprises have orders for the whole year, and shifting of foreign capital into Vietnam provides a strong foundation for several breakthroughs in the export activities. -VNA
VNA
