A conference was held in the northern province of Lao Cai on September 17 to discuss how to bolster links between the 28 provinces and cities in the North.
Speaking at the event, Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Tran Tuan Anh asked the departments of industry and trade in the localities to promote administrative procedural reform in a bid to create favourable conditions for enterprises to operate.
The industrial production value in the north is expected to reach 2.174 trillion VND (over 102 billion USD) this year, up 22.5 percent compared to 2013. The total value of goods sold totals 1,026 trillion VND (48 billion USD), a year-on-year increase of 16 percent.
The localities have planned to increase their combined export turnover to 74 billion USD, 21.58 percent higher than originally planned for this year.
To realise this goal, measures were proposed, focussing on the acceleration of infrastructure construction projects in industrial zones and parks, as well as the implementation of approved industrial and trade promotion schemes.
Participants also highlighted the necessity to apply information technology to facilitate administrative procedures, improve the efficiency of state management and boost regional linkages.
Industrial production and trade in the 28 northern provinces and cities saw a remarkable growth in the last two years, thus contributing significantly to national socio-economic development.
In the first nine months of this year, the regional industrial production value reached 1,429 trillion VND (67 billion USD), up 8.9 percent from the same period last year.
Meanwhile, the value of goods and services, and export turnover during the same period totalled more than 704 trillion VND (33 billion USD) and 45.87 billion USD, respectively, representing year-on-year rises of 12 percent and 21 percent.-VNA
