Ministry supports trade and industry to boost production, exports

Ministry of Industry and Trade’s conference on reviewing the work of the first six months and implementing tasks for the second half of 2022(Photo: Duc Duy/Vietnam+)

In the first six months of 2022, the main indexes of industry and trade grew, in which exports increased by 17.3 percent. The industrial production index increased by 8.7 percent, and total retail sales of goods and services revenue up 11.7 percent.

In the first six months of 2022, the main indexes of industry and trade grew, in which exports increased by 17.3 percent. The industrial production index increased by 8.7 percent, and total retail sales of goods and services revenue up 11.7 percent.

In order to meet and even exceed targets set by the National Assembly at the beginning of the year, the Ministry of Industry and Trade continues to synchronously implement many solutions, including focusing on solving difficulties for businesses in order to promote production and exports.

The information was given at a conference held on July 14, in Hanoi to review the Ministry’s performance during the first six months of 2022 and set tasks for the last six months of the year.

According to a representative of the Ministry of Industry and Trade, the domestic commodity market in the first half of 2022 was affected by supply disruption. Domestic goods, especially foodstuffs and fuels for domestic consumption was well maintained, meeting the needs of local enterprises.

According to Deputy Director of the Ministry’s Planning Department Nguyen Thuy Hien, through the first half of the year, the total retail sales of consumer goods and services reached 2,717 trillion VND, up 11.7 percent over the same period last year.

Notably, exports continued to be the bright spot of the economy with an increase of 17.3 percent over the same period last year, reaching more than 186 billion USD. Exports increased steadily in commodity groups, such as fuel and minerals by 52.5 percent, agricultural and fishery products, manufacturing and processing industries all increased at about 17 percent.

Industrial production scale continued to expand with the index of industrial production (IIP) in the six months increased by 8.7 percent compared to the same period last year.

At the conference, representatives of the Ministry of Industry and Trade said that they have proposed many solutions to complete the targets this year, of which the biggest "lever" is to focus on removing difficulties for businesses to boost production.

This unit also mobilizes maximum resources, closely follows the situation and plans ahead to ensure sufficient supply of electricity, coal, gasoline, and fertilizer for production and daily life.

In addition, the Minister of Industry and Trade has directed functional units to closely monitor supply and demand. It coordinates closely with ministries to monitor the prices of essential commodities. This allows it to take timely regulatory measures in price management to control input prices, strengthen inspection to prevent hoarding, speculation and price manipulation activities.

According to Minister of Industry and Trade Tran Tuan Anh, to bolster exports, the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT) has been pushing ahead with solutions to seek new markets.

The MoIT has submitted to the Government a draft action plan on implementing the EVFTA that clarifies targets, main tasks, and relevant parties.

Anh said the ministry has also built trade promotion plans; assisted businesses to boost exports, especially to markets that may soon have the outbreak under control, like the RoK, Japan, and China; and has pressed on with online trade promotion activities.

To opportunely provide market information and remove obstacles facing exporters, the MoIT has set up mechanisms to ensure smooth contact via the internet. It uses this system to facilitate communications among trade counselors, the ministry’s departments, business associations, local trade promotion centers, and enterprises nationwide, he said.

Highlighting the domestic market’s importance, he pointed out that the potential from the country’s 90 million people hasn’t been fully tapped into.

The MoIT has directed relevant agencies to devise concrete plans and solutions to promote domestic trade, especially when the COVID-19 pandemic is over, he said. He added that the local market needs to be considered an important driving force of growth in 2020 and subsequent years./.