Ha Noi plans to focus on key industrial products

The industry and trade sector in the city maintained a stable growth rate in the first two months of this year, with the index of industrial production (IIP) growing by 2.8 per cent, VND283 trillion (US$13.47 billion) worth of sales and service revenues, and $1.668 billion worth of export earnings.— VNA/VNS Photo Danh Lam

HA NOI (Biz Hub) — Ha Noi needs to have practical and specific solutions to boost its industrial production and exports, stated Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Ho Thi Kim Thoa.

"Ha Noi is one of the two leading areas in the country in terms of stabilising prices and taking Vietnamese goods to the rural areas, but its industrial production and exports are declining. For this reason, practical and specific solutions are necessary to boost growth in these areas," Thoa was quoted as saying by the ministry's Vietnam Economic Times at a recent meeting with the municipal Department of Industry and Trade.

Senior officials from the ministry's departments remarked that despite the efforts, the city's industrial production and exports increased less than the country's average growth.

The director of the municipal department, Le Hong Thang, reported that the city's industrial production will not grow rapidly due to the current difficulties. Moreover, most major industrial production plants have been moved to other provinces. It is also difficult to attract foreign direct investment (FDI) in industrial production due to soaring land lease prices and other expenses.

Thang requested the ministry to help the city in building the Hanoi South Supporting Industry Park, covering 640 hectares in the Dai Xuyen Commune, Phu Xuyen District, with a vision of expanding it to 2,000 hectares in the southern gateway.

It is expected to be the first large-scale urban and supporting industry park in Vietnam and an impetus for the capital's industry and exports to grow robustly in the coming years.

Representatives from the ministry's departments offered advice in terms of state administration of industry and trade.

Import-Export Management Department Deputy Director Phan Thi Dieu Ha proposed that Ha Noi should promote exports focusing on high-tech products, such as electric and electronic appliances, to match its goal of being technologically advanced.

Deputy Minister Thoa emphasised that the city needed to identify sound directions for industrial development and choose appropriate development areas.

She pointed out that the northern Vinh Phuc Province, for instance, had chosen to focus only on developing high technology. She strongly recommended that Ha Noi should choose key industrial products and intensively invest in them in order to generate high efficiency.

With regard to handicrafts and craft villages, the city should widely develop the programme to promote craft village tourism. However, Thoa underlined the need to manage the quality of products made in craft villages, while concurrently encouraging buyers and tourists to visit these craft villages.

She commended the city's trade promotion activities, including inviting more than 400 foreign importers to exhibitions and fairs in Ha Noi, thus providing opportunities for Vietnamese businesses to directly meet them.

She also recognised the city's efforts to strengthen state management in 2013 by drawing up 30 legal documents, while emphasising the need to seriously implement them.

Ha Noi's industry and trade sector is expected to increase industrial production by more than 8 per cent, retail sales by 20 per cent, and export revenues by 6-7 per cent in 2014. — VNS