He was reporting at a meeting on socioeconomic situation presided over by chairman of the city People’s Committee Nguyen Thanh Phong.
The city’s exports strongly increased to Singapore, Malaysia, India, Spain, Thailand and China but slowed down to the Philippines, Indonesia and Italy.
Major import items comprise equipment and materials for local production. Of these, electronic products and comportments increased nearly 36 percent, metals rocketed 40 percent and plastic materials hiked 18 percent.
Total retail sales of goods and services reached VND527,310 billion ($23.21 billion).
Leaders of the Department of Tourism said that the city received 3.2 million international visitors in the first seven months, a year on year increase of 16 percent. Especially, the city reported a raise of tourists from Asia and North Asia during off peak season this year. Still the increase in HCMC was lower than other provinces and cities in the northern and central regions where received a huge number of Chinese visitors.
Revenue increases
Director of the Department of Finance Phan Thi Thang said that the city’s budget revenue hit VND201,950 billion in the first seven months, accounting for 58 percent of estimates and surging over 13.6 percent over the same period last year.
During the seven months, the city spent VND25,590 billion ($889 billion) including VND8,570 billion on development investment and over VND16.2 trillion on regular spending. At present, investors are focusing on disbursing capital for works and projects, said Ms. Thang.
Ms. Thang reported some highly rising revenue sources such as personal income tax reaching VND8,280 billion, up 21 percent over the same period last year. Land and water face rent topped VND2,980 billion raising over 18 percent.
According to director of the Department of Industry and Trade Pham Thanh Kien, some industries posted high growth rate. For instance, motor vehicles hiked 29 percent and electric equipment soared 25 percent.
HCMC saw trade deficit during the first seven months because goods were also imported to the city for other provinces and cities. Import items mainly served production not consumption, said Mr. Kien.
In the upcoming time, the industry will rush up goods preparation for the coming new academic year and the Tet holidays. So far, 8,000 businesses have registered to attend 30,000 promotional programs ahead of the holiday. These are expected to contribute in raising service and trade income for the city to get development targets this year.
