Hanoi (VNA) – ꦏVietnam’s index of industrial production (IIP) in the first seven months of this year rose 7.2 percent year-on-year, the General Statistics Office (GSO) announced.

The growth rate was lower than the 10 percent registered during the same period last year. The processing and manufacturing sector, which accounts for more than 70 percent of the total value of the industrial sector, grew 9.9 percent in the first seven months, electricity production and distribution saw an increase of 11.6 percent, while the mineral industry decreased 2.7 percent. Economists from GSO said the low growth rate was due to the decline in product consumption as the consumption index in June increased by only 0.7 percent over May, while May’s consumption index grew 5.2 percent over April. Industrial products saw high growth, such as television which rose 79 percent, rolled steel grew 23.5 percent, automobiles increased 22 percent and animal feed jumped 19.7 percent, besides cement that rose 15.7 percent and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) by 14.8 percent. Meanwhile, industrial output of motorbikes and leather and footwear fell 1.2 percent and 1.3 percent, respectively, while sugar, crude oil and mobile phones declined 5.5 percent, 6.8 percent and 8.5 percent, respectively. According to GSO, the capacity for improvement in industrial production in the rest of this year was limited as the average inventory rate in the first six months was 70 percent, declining only 1.5 percent compared to the previous five months. Provinces where the IIP saw high growth were Binh Duong at 8.5 percent; Dong Nai at eight percent; Hai Phong at 16 percent; and Da Nang at 11.5 percent; besides Bac Ninh at 9.7 percent; HCM City at 7.1 percent; and Hanoi at 6.8 percent. Southern region The southern region’s industrial production expanded by 7.5 percent year-on-year in the first half of this year, according to a report by the Ministry of Industry and Trade. Retail sales and services were worth 922 trillion VND (41.9 billion USD), an increase of 6 percent. The region’s exports were worth 43.8 billion USD, an increase of 11 percent. This year the manufacturing and trading sectors set themselves targets of maintaining higher industrial growth than the national average and retail and services revenues of 89 billion USD, or 13.6 percent higher than last year. The export targeted is 98.8 billion USD, an increase of 14.2 percent. The figures were tabled at a conference organised by Binh Duong Province’s Department of Industry and Trade last week on speeding up administrative reforms and strengthening connectivity and cooperation for integration and development. The conference was attended by Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Do Thang Hai and the leaders of the 20 provinces and cities in the south. Officials from HCM City’s Department of Industry and Trade have urged southern provinces and cities to help sell 100,000 tonnes of salt produced by farmers in its coastal district of Can Gio. Pham Thanh Kien, the director of the department said at the conference that the city faces a challenge in finding buyers. In the recent salt season 140,000 tonnes were harvested in Can Gio but only 40,000 tonnes were sold to wholesalers. To sell salt and other stockpiled items, there should be cooperation between provinces and cities in the region, he said.-VNA