Last year saw HCMC achieving GDP growth of 9.85%, the highest in four years and well above the nation’s GDP growth of 6.68%, according to a report by the city’s Department of Industry and Trade.
Speaking at a review conference last Friday, Pham Thanh Kien, director of the HCMC Department of Industry and Trade, said the city economy made positive achievements last year.
Business startups rose 29.2% while dissolved firms dropped 3.9%. Fresh foreign direct investment (FDI) approvals grew 43% to nearly US$4.6 billion, Kien said.
According to the report, total retail sales of goods and services surged 10.5% to nearly VND679 trillion last year. The city’s budget revenue edged up by 10.1%, well above the 4.8% forecast. The city’s export turnover reached US$30.59 billion, representing 19% of the country’s total and falling by 2.4% against 2014, as crude oil export revenues slumped a staggering 49% due to the global oil price plunge. If the oil factor was excluded, the country’s export turnover was US$26.89 billion, up 11.3% over 2014.
Kien also said the city had ample goods supply. The city now has 179 supermarkets, 38 commercial centers, and 723 convenience stores.
Kien said the city will try to attain industrial manufacturing index growth of 7% compared to last year, retail sales growth of 12%, and export growth of 8%, excluding crude oil, and consumer price rise below the country’s average.
Source: http://english.thesaigontimes.vn/
Key words: HCMC, GDP, growth, at four-year high
