Ha Noi’s Department of Industry and Trade is partnering with firms and business households to prepare goods for the upcoming Tet (Lunar New Year) holiday, worth VND26 trillion (US$1.14 billion) in total.

This was a rise of 10 per cent over last year’s plan due to an anticipated increase in consumption, the department said.

Le Hong Thang, the department’s Director, said the department would keep a close watch on market supply and demand with a focus on essential items such as food products.

Thang also asked district authorities to create conditions for firms and business households to accumulate goods for the Tet holiday and urged firms to actively study market demand and implement plans for production and goods purchase to ensure adequate supply and prevent scarcity of goods and unreasonable increase in prices.

Demand for goods in the months ahead of Tet (from January 1, 2018 to February 28, 2018) is estimated to be 10-15 per cent higher than other months, the department said.

The volume of goods for the Tet holiday included 193,600 tonnes of rice, 50,000 tonnes of pork, 14,000 tonnes of chicken meet and 13,800 tonnes of beef, as well as 200 eggs, 220,000 tonnes of vegetables, 12,000 processed food products and 12,000 fishery products, along with 3,500 tonnes of dry agricultural products, 3,000 tonnes of confectionary products, 200 million litres of alcoholic and beverage products and 120,000cu.m of petrol and oil. — VNS