The northern province of Vinh Phuc enjoyed robust economic growth in the first eight months of 2019.

An industrial park in Phuc Yen city, Vinh Phuc province
(Photo: Vietnamnet.vn)

The locality’s industrial production index in August increased by 1.6 percent from the previous month and 12 percent from the same period last year.

The growth was led by the manufacturing-processing, water supply and waste treatment, mining, electricity generation and distribution, and gas industries.

The industrial production index for January-August went up 11.8 percent from the same period last year. Industries with high growth rates were electronic appliances (44.5 percent), metal (25.4 percent), non-metal (23.6 percent), and electrical appliances (22.4 percent).

Products with high increases in output included sport shoes (more than 4.8 million pairs, up 30.5 percent), wall and floor tiles (99.6 million square metres, up 23.6 percent), air conditioners (over 18,200 units, up 28.7 percent) and electricity generation (over 3.9 trillion kWh, up 15.2 percent).

The province experienced slow service and trade activities in August as people often avoid making important purchases in the seventh month in the lunar calendar, known as Ghost Month. However, revenue from retail sales and service in August picked up 8.52 percent compared to the same time last year.

During January-August, the province gained nearly 29 trillion VND (1.25 billion USD) from retail sales, up 9.16 percent year-on-year. Meanwhile, earnings from the service sector surged 9.62 percent to exceed 4.7 trillion VND.

As of August 22, state budget collection in the province hit 22.66 trillion VND, 81.53 percent of the estimate. Of this, domestic revenue stood at more than 19.9 trillion VND, and earnings from import-export activities were 2.7 trillion VND, or 82.15 percent and 76.36 percent of the estimates, respectively.

To achieve those results, the province has worked to apply preferential policies to help local residents develop agriculture. Besides, the province is enhancing trade and tourism promotion campaigns, and encouraging local businesses to improve product and service quality.

Efforts have been channeled to improve the business environment and enhance provincial competitive capacity to attract more foreign and domestic investment.

The provincial People’s Committee has given top priority to high-tech projects which are environmentally friendly, promote technology transfer and help domestic companies join global value chains.

Apart from removing bottlenecks for investors, the province is paying attention to attracting investment from traditional markets such as China, Japan and the Republic of Korea, member countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), and countries who are members of free trade deals like the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP).

Infrastructure developers were asked to accelerate construction at industrial parks in August while the management boards of industrial zones, departments, and localities have been ordered to handle challenges arising at Lap Thach I, Lap Thach II, Tam Duong I, and Thai Hoa – Lien Son – Lien Hoa industrial parks.

Vinh Phuc has reaped impressive achievements in attracting foreign direct investment (FDI) over the past three decades, thanks to favourable geographical location and determination to improve business environment. The province is now home to over 9,700 foreign businesses, against the only 136 recorded in 1997.

According to the provincial People’s Committee, Vinh Phuc now has 18 industrial zones approved by the Prime Minister with a total area of over 5,700ha.

The province is now home to 330 projects, 270 of which are invested by foreign firms and have a combined investment of more than 3.6 billion USD. Of the total projects, 246 are in operation, five FDI projects are halting operation, while construction and equipment installation are being made to 28 others, and compensation and land clearance now underway for the remaining 51.