HCM City industrial output rises

HCM City’s industrial output was worth VND609 trillion (US$32 billion) this year, up 14.2 per cent, according to the city Statistics Bureau.

Output was up in 23 of 27 major industrial sectors.

The machinery sector saw the highest growth, with metal products output rising by 21.9 per cent, machinery and equipment by 28.9 per cent, and electrical products by 32.4 per cent.

Leather and footwear, rubber, plastic, electricity, food and beverages, textile and garment, chemicals, and building materials also saw high growth rates.

Automobile assembly and electronics, which could not compete with imports, achieved the smallest growth rates. Coal mining, office equipment, and vehicle repair actually declined in value.

The ratio of sectors manufacturing knowledge-based products, using high technologies, and boasting high competi-tiveness has gradually grown, the Department of Planning and Investment said.

The proportion dependent on natural resources and labour, such as food processing, textile and garment, and leather and footwear, have reduced gradually, moving to neighbouring provinces.

After five years’ implementation of restructuring its economy by increasing services and industry and decreasing agriculture, four major industrial segments – machinery; chemicals, plastic, and rubber; electronics and information technology; food and foodstuffs processing – account for 60 per cent of industrial output.

This is an increase of 5 per cent in 2005. — VNS