Hanoi (VNA)⛎ – Expansion in processing-manufacturing sector in the first three months of 2019 was mostly contributed by domestic businesses’ production, said Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Do Thang Hai.

Addressing a press briefing on April 5 in Hanoi, Hai said that the industrial production index in the first quarter of 2019 was high. The processing-manufacturing sector, despite having no outstanding achievements, remained a bright spot that made major contributions to the growth of the industrial sector as well as the whole economy.

Downturn seen in mining

The major reason behind the low growth in the processing-manufacturing sector was the production halting of the Nghi Son Oil Refinery in February due to electricity problems, he noted, adding that Samsung also experienced a transformation period with a slight rise in output and export at about 1.02 percent, much lower than that in the same period last year. However, the launch of the new smartphone model S10 is expected to push the production and export of Samsung up in the next months and theNghi Son Oil Refinery is scheduled to resume its full operation, thus boosting the expansion of industrial sector, said Hai. The Deputy Minister held that the growth of the processing-manufacturing sector in the first quarter of 2019 mostly came from production of domestic firms, including those in motored vehicle manufacturing, coke production and refined petroleum, with high expansion recorded in a number of sectors such as metal production (37.3 percent), and motored vehicle production (20.8 percent). Meanwhile, mining continued its downward trend, manifesting the economy’s independence from mining and natural resources exploitation. Natural gas and crude oil production fell 6.3 percent.

Solutions to remove difficulties facing enterprises

According to Hai, trade activities of Vietnam in the first quarter of 2019 also slowed down due to impacts from negative developments of the global economy. In the first quarter of this year, the country’s total export revenue reached about 58.5 billion USD, a rise of 4.7 percent, lower than the growth in the same time last year. Of the total, the domestic sector contributed 17.05 billion USD, up 9.7 percent year on year and accounting for 29.1 percent of the total export revenue. Exports of the foreign direct investment (FDI) sector (including crude oil) were 41.4 billion USD, increasing 2.7 percent and making up 70.9 percent of the country’s total. Vietnam managed to maintain its export growth mostly thanks to the expansion of the processing sector which enjoyed a turnover of 49 billion USD, up 6.1 percent over the same period in 2018, noted Hai. He said that in the first quarter, nine products enjoyed export revenue of over 1 billion USD, including seven earning over 2 billion USD, all from the processing-manufacturing sector. On the other hand, the country’s import turnover in the first three months of this year was 57.9 billion USD, a yea-on-year rise of 8.9 percent. In order to fulfill the target set for this year, the MoIT leader said that the ministry will continue keeping a close eye on developments of the world situation, especially the US-China trade tensions, to be active in management work and have measures to promote the exports of promising products. Besides, the ministry will strengthen international cooperation to develop wholesale markets, while conducting programmes to encourage and attract domestic and foreign investments in the field, said Hai. “The enhancement of linkages in goods value chain as well as the implementation of regulations in food safety and origin aim to encourage and support producers to improve their productivity and the quality and competitiveness of Vietnamese products,” stated the MoIT representative./.