Hanoi (VNA) - Vietnam’s index of industrial production (IIP) in May rose by 11.2 percentover the previous month but decreased by 3.1 percent year on year, according tothe General Statistics Office (GSO).

The growthof the May IIP was a positive signal during Vietnam’s fight against theCOVID-19 pandemic and restoring development of the economy, the GSO said. Atpresent, the pandemic is under control nationwide.

Of thefigure, industrial production decreased by 13 percent in the mining industry;2.4 percent in the processing and manufacturing sector; 2 percent in theelectricity production and distribution industry; and 2.3 percent in the watersupply and waste treatment sector.

The GSO alsosaid the IIP in the first five months of this year increased by 1 percent overthe same period last year. However, this figure was much lower than the growthof 9.5 percent in the first five months of 2019.

During thefirst five months, the index surged by 2.2 percent in the processing andmanufacturing industry year on year, lower than the growth rate of 10.9 percentin the first five months of 2019 compared to the same period of 2018.

The indexincreased by 2.6 percent in the electricity production and distributionindustry and 2.9 percent in the water supply and waste treatment sector.However, the index of the mining industry dropped by 8.1 percent year on year.

The GSOreported that due to the complicated development of COVID-19, the supply chainof raw materials for production has been interrupted, thereby seriouslyaffecting the domestic industrial production.

Someindustries saw a strong decrease in IIP during the first five months, includingsupport services for mining (36.5 percent); repair, maintenance andinstallation of machinery and equipment (16.4 percent); motor vehicleproduction (16.3 percent); auto and motorcycle production (15.6 percent); andbeverage production (14.6 percent).

Meanwhile,some other industries gained IIP growth in the first five months compared tothe same period of last year. They included the manufacture of medicines,pharmaceutical chemicals and medicinal materials (25.9 percent); production ofcoke and refined petroleum products (12.9 percent); pulp and paper products(9.3 percent); and production of chemical products (9.1 percent)./.