HCM City (VNA)🐻 – Faster expansion in trading activities has substantially contributed to overall economic growth in Ho Chi Minh City over the first 10 months of 2016.

The city earned 26.6 billion USD from exports in the reviewed period, up 6.5 percent year on year, while that of the same period of 2015 declined 3.8 percent, Director of the municipal Department of Planning and Investment Su Ngoc Anh said at a meeting to review local socio-economic performance on October 28. Shipments to some countries have risen considerably, including Indonesia (up 61.1 percent), India (52.6 percent), China (36.5 percent), Thailand (31.5 percent) and the Republic of Korea (26.4 percent). Meanwhile, commodities posting strong export augmentation included coffee (50 percent), machinery and spare parts (24.5 percent), and cashew (11.6 percent). About 30.3 billion USD worth of goods were imported into HCM City from January to October, climbing 10.7 percent from a year earlier. The rate was 8 percent in the corresponding period last year. Imports from the US rocketed 113.9 percent, from the Republic of Korea up 38 percent and from France 28.8 percent. The southern economic hub of Vietnam mainly purchased equipment and material for production such as electronic devices and components (up 43.8 percent in turnover); other machinery, equipment and spare parts (up 46.04 percent), and plastic materials (up 12.3 percent). Strong activities to promote investment and the local investment climate have helped attract domestic and foreign capital, Anh said, noting that 29,899 businesses were set up during the 10 months with a total registered capital of over 242.16 trillion VND (nearly 10.9 billion USD), increasing by 15.9 percent in the business number and 46.1 percent in capital. Up to 44,495 companies registered to raise their capital by almost 169.97 trillion VND (7.6 billion USD), rising 0.8 percent in the business number and 58.7 percent in additional capital. He added the city granted the investment registration certificate to 668 foreign invested projects, up 44 percent year on year, with a combined capital of 798.7 million USD. About 477.3 million USD was also added to 145 existing projects over the period. HCM City also allowed foreign investors to contribute capital to and buy stakes in local companies, at some 1.23 billion USD in total. It attracted 2.5 billion USD in overall foreign investment in the first 10 months, Anh noted. Chairman of the municipal People’s Committee Nguyen Thanh Phong said the administration will push forward with measures to improve the business and investment environment and the provincial competitiveness index, while supporting small- and medium-sized enterprises to make innovation.-VNA