A brake production line of the Japanese-invested Nissin Brake Vietnam Co. Ltd in Vinh Phuc province (Photo: VNA) Hanoi (VNA) – Growth of Vietnam’s industrial sector is likely to slow down in thefirst quarter of 2020 due to negative impacts from the acute respiratorydisease caused by a novel coronavirus (COVID-19), according to the GeneralStatistics Office (GSO).
Sectors using materialsimported from China are badly affected since China has been a major supplier ofmaterials and accessories for Vietnam. The manufacturing and processing sector,which account for the lion’s share of the industrial sector, will be thehardest-hit.
The GSO said if theCOVID-19 outbreak is stamped out in the first quarter, the industrial sector isprojected to grow 2.68 percent compared to the same period last year.
Themanufacturing and processing sector is likely to expand just 2.38 percentinstead of 10.47 percent in case of no disease.
On the otherhand, if the disease lasts until the end of the second quarter, the industrialsector’s growth is forecast to reach nearly 6.99 percent. In this scenario, themanufacturing and processing sector is estimated to expand 8.51 percent.
Other sectorswill also be affected, especially garment-textile, leather and footwearproduction. In the first three months of the year, the textile sector isexpected to grow 1.9 percent, while the garment sector is forecast to contract1.5 percent and the leather and shoe production sector is likely to expand 0.5percent. Without COVID-19, the growth of these sectors are likely to reach 10.5percent, 7.9 percent and 8.5 percent, respectively.
The productionof motor vehicles and metals may also slow down in the first quarter by risingonly 6.9 percent and 5.2 percent, respectively. Meanwhile, electronic device,computer and optical device production will possibly see a decline of 2.3percent in the period.
The GSO hasproposed the Government address bottlenecks in a bid to accelerate theimplementation of major public investment projects nationwide, thus boostingsocio-economic development, said its General Director Nguyen Bich Lam.
The Governmentis advised to take supportive measures, such as seeking alternative suppliers,reducing export-import tariffs and working to boost domestic consumption./.
VNA
