Industrial production surges past annual target

Industrial production in the first nine months of the year surged 13.8 per cent year-on-year, higher than the Government’s 12 per cent annual target, to reach roughly VND574.5 trillion (US$30.24 billion), according to the General Statistics Office.

In September alone, industrial production valued VND70.7 trillion ($3.7 billion), up 15.1 per cent over the same period last year.

With a growth rate of 17.4 per cent in the January-September period, foreign invested enterprises topped the list, creating value of VND241.8 trillion ($12.7 billion). Private businesses followed with a surge of 12.7 per cent to VND201.1 trillion ($10.59 billion). State-owned firms faired the worst, churning out an output of only VND131.5 trillion ($6.9 billion).

The GSO reported that the processing industry accounted for nearly 90 per cent of the country’s total industrial production value in the first nine months, noting that the industry’s 14.7 per cent growth rate contributed significantly to the country’s growth rate of 13.8 per cent in January-September.

The significant growth of the processing industry was, according to the GSO, due to the world’s economy recovery, which had helped industrial producers, especially foreign invested firms, to enlarge their production in the wake of rising consumer demand.

Sport shoe production saw a robust surge of 25.2 per cent year-on-year, churning out 146.3 million pairs. Glass production also rose 22.8 per cent to 69.2 million sq.m. Cement, fridges, vans and motorbikes also reported significant increases between 16.4 per cent and 21.1 per cent.

However, the mining industry in the first nine months of the year reported a modest 3.8-per-cent growth over the same period last year, with coal only rising 1.4 per cent to 32.4 million tonnes. Crude oil exploitation even reported a 13.8-per-cent decrease to only 11.1 million tonnes in the first nine months.

Deputy director of the Ministry of Industry and Trade’s Planning Department Nguyen Thanh Hoa said the industrial production’s growth had surged and remained stable at more than 13 per cent since April.

Besides the global recovery, Hoa also attributed the positive results to the effective implementation of Government policies including the encouragement to use Vietnamese products and the measures to limit the trade deficit.

With the increasing rate, Hoa forecast that the country’s industrial production would rise roughly 14 per cent this year. — VNS

Tags: Vietnam Industrial Production, Vietnam industries, Vietnam industry