The capital city of Hanoi attracted over 1.7 billion USD of foreign direct investment (FDI) in the first four months of this year with 103 new projects worth 35.2 million USD and 50 projects permitted to increase investment capital by 91.8 million USD.
According to the city’s Statistics Office, during the period, 105 foreign investors contributed capital and bought shares worth 79.9 million USD. Japanese investor Sumitomo bought shares of VPBank with a transaction value of 1.5 billion USD.
During the four months, Hanoi had 10,300 new enterprises, up 13% over the same period last year. Their registered capital reached 93.1 trillion VND, down 24% over the same period last year.
Meanwhile, 1,200 enterprises in the city were dissolved in the last four months, marking an increase of 2% compared to that of the same period last year.
Moreover, 1,413 enterprises are completing procedures for dissolution, up 7%, and 11,800 enterprises registered to suspend operations, up 25%, while 4,200 enterprises resumed operations, down 22% over the same period.
Total retail sales of consumer goods and services in the city in the first four months of this year reached 244 trillion VND, up 11.2% over the same period.
Hanoi attracted nearly 1.01 million foreign visitors, 11 times higher than the same period last year.
In addition, the city’s export turnover of goods reached 5.3 billion USD, down 1.3% over the same period last year. Exports by the domestic economic sector reached 2.9 billion USD, up 0.8% while exports by the FDI sector hit 2.4 billion USD, down 3.8%.
In the first four months of 2023, the city’s index of industrial production (IIP) increased by 1.6% over the same period last year, of which the processing and manufacturing industry climbed by 1.2%; electricity production and distribution went up by 3.8%; water supply and garbage and wastewater treatment rose by 8.4%; and mining decreased by 8.1%.
Some manufacturing industries with the IIP in the first four months of the year increased compared to the same period last year were beverage production, up 24.9%; wood processing and wood products increased by 21.4%; production of drugs, pharmaceutical chemicals, and medicinal materials increased by 13.6%; production of metal products increased by 13.1%; tobacco production increased by 6%.
However, industries with the decreased IIP over the past four months were machinery and equipment manufacturing (34.6%); printing and copying records (20.1%); textile (6.6%), and metal production (5.8%).
Production of leather and related products also had the IIP decreased by 5.8%; garments by 4.5%, and production of rubber and plastic products by 4.3%.
According to the Ministry of Industry and Trade, industrial production in the first quarter of this year was less than that of the same period last year as the global economic slowdown was faster than expected, and the sharp decline in demand from abroad caused the decline in orders.
Moreover, in the first quarter, the price of input fuel and global energy remained high, which affected the production costs of domestic enterprises while the inflation rate remained high and monetary policy has not been loosened. The slow recovery of the world economy and the collapse of some banks in the world had certain impacts on Vietnam.
Meanwhile, domestic purchasing power, although recovered, was still weak, so it failed to stimulate production, investment, and consumption.
According to the ministry, there remains a lack of linkage between the domestic market and manufacturing industries. Inflationary pressures and high-interest rates also affected the consumption of luxury products such as automobiles or common products such as textiles, footwear, or footwear.
Enterprises have still found difficult to access capital, especially business in the manufacturing and processing industries as they are facing difficulties due to lack of orders./.
Source: Vietnam News Agency