Ha Noi’s economy has expanded since the beginning of this year with steady growth recorded in all key sectors of industry, trade, tourism and services and agriculture, reported the municipal People’s Committee.

The city’s industrial production index grew 6.5 per cent in the first eight months of 2017, of which the mining industry rose 7.1 per cent. The manufacturing and processing sector expanded 6.6 per cent while electricity production and distribution registered a 6.1 per cent increase. The water supply and waste treatment sector saw growth of 3.1 per cent.

During the January-August period, Ha Noi’s export turnover enjoyed a year-on-year increase of 8.5 per cent to $7.6 billion.

Since the beginning of the year, Ha Noi has welcomed more than 2.3 million foreign visitors, up 22.7 per cent year-on-year.

The number of newly-established business in Ha Noi rose by 14 per cent to 16,714 in the first eight months of 2017, with combined registered capital of approximately VND130 trillion, up 4 per cent year on year. Statistics showed that over 223,900 enterprises are operating in the capital city. In the reviewed period, some 93,000 business registration applications were submitted online.

The municipal administration has provided free consultancy for nearly 50,000 firms and individuals, both in and outside the country, who are doing business in the city.

The city welcomed 114 non-budget investment projects, worth VND71 trillion; 22 Public-Private Partnership (PPP) projects with a total investment of VND60 trillion; and $1.74 billion in foreign direct investment (FDI) projects. So far, Ha Noi has had 128 PPP projects with a combined investment of VND333 trillion, of which eight projects have been completed and 120 others are underway or preparing procedures.

Chairman of the municipal People’s Committee Nguyen Duc Chung emphasised that attracting investment is a very important task for the city though many challenges remain. Ha Noi has taken a wide range of measures to create favourable conditions for investors by stepping up the application of information technology and holding dialogues with businesses to remove difficulties they face, he added.

In the remaining months, Ha Noi will focus on stimulating consumption, exchanging goods with other localities, and promoting exports while managing the domestic market and developing tourism products.

The city will approve a planning scheme for developing industrial clusters by 2020 with a vision to 2030 while calling on more investors to build local industrial parks. It will take measures to remove difficulties in terms of procedures for investors and pay attention to big domestic and foreign-invested projects so that they could be licensed in 2017. — VNS