Deputy minister of industry and trade Phan Thị Thắng. The Ministry of Industry and Trade will encourage the purchase of home-made goods, and seek new markets for key exports. — VNA/VNS Photo

According to the official, Việt Nam's Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) in July reached 54.7 points, the highest since November 2018, with output increasing sharply thanks to increasing new orders for four consecutive months.

The index industrial production (IIP) in July grew by 0.7 per cent over the previous month and 11.2 per cent year-on-year, Thắng said, noting the index saw increases in 60 provinces and centrally-run cities in the first seven months of this year.

She attributed the result to improvements in the production capacity of domestic businesses that have also shown their readiness to optimise opportunities to access new markets in the time to come.

Additionally, the deputy minister said support policies and the drastic instructions of the Government and the Prime Minister in public investment disbursement and the implementation of key industrial projects have helped consolidate the confidence of both domestic and foreign firms.

The official also pointed to a range of challenges such as intrinsic weaknesses, regional and global volatilities, the risk of global supply chain disruptions, and the reliance on some export-import markets, along with the pressure of trade remedy investigations.

Given this, the Ministry of Industry and Trade will speed up public investment disbursement, review obstacles to key projects in electricity, oil and gas, processing and manufacturing, and minerals in order to soon put them into operation, and continue its cooperation with FDI firms and big enterprises at home and abroad as well as international organisations to step up connectivity and improve capacity for domestic suppliers.

The ministry will also encourage the purchase of home-made goods, and seek new markets for key exports, Thắng added.