Vinh Phuc (VNA) – The northern province of Vinh Phuc enjoyedrobust economic growth in the first eight months of 2019.

The locality’s industrial production index in August increased by 1.6 percentfrom the previous month and 12 percent from the same period last year.

The growth was led by themanufacturing-processing, water supply and waste treatment, mining, electricitygeneration and distribution, and gas industries.

The industrial production index for January-August went up 11.8 percent fromthe same period last year. Industries with high growth rates were electronicappliances (44.5 percent), metal (25.4 percent), non-metal (23.6 percent), andelectrical appliances (22.4 percent).

Products with high increases in output included sport shoes (more than 4.8million pairs, up 30.5 percent), wall and floor tiles (99.6 million squaremetres, up 23.6 percent), air conditioners (over 18,200 units, up 28.7 percent)and electricity generation (over 3.9 trillion kWh, up 15.2 percent).

The province experienced slow serviceand trade activities in August as people often avoid making important purchasesin the seventh month in the lunar calendar, known as Ghost Month. However,revenue from retail sales and service in August picked up 8.52 percent comparedto the same time last year.

During January-August, the province gained nearly 29 trillion VND (1.25 billionUSD) from retail sales, up 9.16 percent year-on-year. Meanwhile, earnings from theservice sector surged 9.62 percent to exceed 4.7 trillion VND.

As of August 22, state budget collection in the province hit 22.66 trillionVND, 81.53 percent of the estimate. Of this, domestic revenue stood at morethan 19.9 trillion VND, and earnings from import-export activities were 2.7trillion VND, or 82.15 percent and 76.36 percent of the estimates,respectively.

To achieve those results, the province has worked to apply preferentialpolicies to help local residents develop agriculture. Besides, the province isenhancing trade and tourism promotion campaigns, and encouraging localbusinesses to improve product and service quality.

Efforts have been channeled to improve the business environment and enhanceprovincial competitive capacity to attract more foreign and domestic investment.

The provincial People’s Committee has given top priority to high-tech projectswhich are environmentally friendly, promote technology transfer and helpdomestic companies join global value chains.

Apart from removing bottlenecks for investors, the province is paying attentionto attracting investment from traditional markets such as China, Japan and theRepublic of Korea, member countries of the Association of Southeast AsianNations (ASEAN), and countries who are members of free trade deals like theComprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP).

Infrastructure developers were asked to accelerate construction at industrialparks in August while the management boards of industrial zones, departments,and localities have been ordered to handle challenges arising at Lap Thach I,Lap Thach II, Tam Duong I, and Thai Hoa – Lien Son – Lien Hoa industrial parks.

Vinh Phuc has reaped impressive achievements in attracting foreign directinvestment (FDI) over the past three decades, thanks to favourable geographicallocation and determination to improve business environment. The province is nowhome to over 9,700 foreign businesses, against the only 136 recorded in 1997.

According to the provincial People’s Committee, Vinh Phuc now has 18 industrialzones approved by the Prime Minister with a total area of over 5,700ha.

The province is now home to 330 projects, 270 of which are invested by foreignfirms and have a combined investment of more than 3.6 billion USD. Of the totalprojects, 246 are in operation, five FDI projects are halting operation, whileconstruction and equipment installation are being made to 28 others, and compensationand land clearance now underway for the remaining 51./.