Industrial production motive for industrial growth: minister

The index of industrial production grew 9.4% in 2017, well above the growth of 7.4% in the previous year, driven by steady expansion in manufacturing-processing (14.5%), he noted.

Consumption of the manufacturing-processing sector continued to enjoy a upward trend with an increase of 13.6% as of November, 2017, higher than the 8.5% rise in 2016, the minister highlighted, saying that the two-digit growth was seen in the consumption of beverage, garment and textiles, production of leather and leather products and production of medicine and pharmaceuticals, which contributed to boosting domestic production.

He noticed that the inventory index witnessed a year-on-year surge of 8%, lower than the 8.3% year-on-year increase in 2016. Also, he said that the engineering sector worked to master design and manufacturing of structural steel to increase the local content rate.

However, the support industry should be paid more attention so that local industrial production can join in the global production and value chain, he underlined.

Production of the manufacturing-processing sector is forecast to continue to be on track in 2018 thanks to numerous operational investment projects.

The Ministry is working on the restructuring of state-owned enterprises to better off business efficiency in key industrial segments of the country as part of efforts to realise the sector’s goal of 9% growth in 2018.

The move aims to slash management costs, improve business operation and ensure sustainable economic growth in the coming years, Minister Anh said.

The Ministry will prioritise networking events to connect and support local firms so that they can participate in supply chain while focus on foreign-invested projects to take advantages of economic integration.

Under the support industry development programme, the ministry has carried out an array of projects to back automobile industry, electronics industry, garment and textiles and leather shoes.