The country’s Index of Industrial Production (IIP) increased 4.9 percent over the first quarter last year, a record three year low.

General Statistics Office (GSO) experts attributed the low increase to declined production in the processing and manufacturing industry, which accounts for nearly 71 percent of the country’s total industrial production.

The production of televisions decreased more than that of any other product, dropping 21.1 percent to 504,000 units. Textile industry output reached only 190.1 million square metres, down 11.3 percent, while seasoning powder decreased 6.5 percent to 58,900 tonnes.

However, production enjoyed strong growth in several sectors including urea fertiliser, which grew 94.2 percent, mobile phones, 20.6 percent, and motorbikes 13.7 percent.

The industrial sector’s inventory index stood at 16.5 percent, down 3.5 percent from the previous month.

However, the GSO said that the slowdown was not because of increased consumption but rather because industrial producers turned to other sectors or sold off products to retrieve capital.

To overcome these difficulties, experts recommended industrial producers restructure productions so they could churn out high quality products and sell them to a wider market.

They also suggested the Government provide firms with easier access to capital and improve tariffs and the business environment.-VNA