Processing and manufacturing enterprises have forecast better performance in Quarter 2. (Source: VNA)

The GSO said more stringent requirements on quality, production process, information and green production will exert pressure on domestic businesses, but 82% of the surveyed firms expect their business will improve from Quarter 1, while only 18% anticipate more difficulties.

Director of the GSO’s Industry and Construction Statistics Department Phi Thi Huong Nga said that industrial production thrived in the first three months of the year, with the sector’s index growing 5.7% year-on-year. She noted that 26 out of 33 industries showed growth, with 12 of them posting two-digit expansion.

Strong growth was recorded in production of electrical equipment (24.8%), that of metal (16.6%) and furniture (18.1%), she said, adding production of key exports bounced back such as garment and textile (14.6%), clothes (3.7%), and shoes and related items (5.5%).

Industrial hubs posting high increases in index of industrial production (IIP) in Q1 included Bac Giang (23.9%), Thanh Hoa (20%), Quang Ninh (14%), Hai Phong (12.6%), Vinh Phuc (6.7%) and Thai Nguyen (6.2%).

The IIP growth in Q1, nevertheless, was lower than the pre-pandemic level, and the lowest for Q1 in the past 10 years except for 2023.

GSO General Director Nguyen Thi Huong proposed that the Government roll out stimulus measures to boost consumer demand so as to support production as well as stabilise prices and material supply for enterprises.