HCMC is being affected, not only by the escalating trade war between China and the United States, but also by the Japan-the Republic of Korea trade dispute, so the HCMC Development Research Institute has proposed finding ways to avoid their negative impacts on the city’s economic development.

State officials visit Minh Hung Plastics JSC in Binh Tan District, HCM City. (PHOTO: LE ANH)

Speaking at a recent meeting on HCMC’s socioeconomic performance during August, Tran Hoan Ngan, head of the institute, said the city should promptly adopt appropriate solutions to cope with the fallout of the trade war between Japan and the Republic of Korea (RoK), as the two countries are HCMC’s largest investors.

Although the China-U.S. trade conflict has brought opportunities to the city, including ramping up HCMC’s shipments of goods to the United States, the trade war has also left a negative impact on the city’s economy, Ngan said.

The sharp depreciation of the yuan due to trade tensions put Vietnamese goods under pressure from competition with Chinese products, whose prices became cheaper.

Addressing the meeting, HCMC Chairman Nguyen Thanh Phong asked the municipal Department of Industry and Trade to anticipate the situation and trends for the city, and present the best solutions to ensure the growth of HCMC’s industry and service sectors.

Besides this, the customs and tax departments were told to try their best to fulfill their budget collection targets.

At the meeting, director of the HCMC Department of Planning and Investment Le Thi Huynh Mai said that export revenues for the city’s goods totaled US$27.2 billion in the January-August period, up 8.9% year-on-year.

Meanwhile, the city spent US$33.3 billion on the import of goods during the eight-month period, up 8.3% year-on-year. These imported goods were mainly equipment, computers and electronics.

Deputy director of the city's Department of Industry and Trade Nguyen Phuong Dong reported that in the January-August period, the city saw retail sales of goods and services generate an estimated VND747.3 trillion, up 11.8% against the year-ago period.

However, the growth of industrial production in the city between January and August was lower than that in the same period last year, due to the impacts caused by China-US trade tensions, Dong said.

Besides this, the food processing sector was affected by outbreaks of African swine fever, causing the food volume to drop significantly, Dong said, adding that HCMC-based food producers and processors should develop a plan to adjust the volume.