Workers manufacture auto parts at the Keihin Vietnam Company (Source: VNA)Hanoi (VNS/VNA) - The Ministry of Industry and Trade seessupporting the manufacturing and processing industry as the key to boostingsocio-economic development this year.
According to Deputy Minister Hoang Quoc Vuong, the ministry will continue toaccelerate the restructuring of the economy to promote the industry and reducethe assembly of industrial products manufactured in Vietnam.
“We will complete mechanisms and policies to support domestic production,develop supporting industries and increase localisation rates,” Vuong said.
This goal for the manufacturing and processing industry is part of theministry’s development plan, through which it will create national brandproducts to compete in regional and the world markets.
The ministry will review the policies affecting every industry and product inorder to gradually remove difficulties for enterprises, increasecompetitiveness and build technical barriers for imported products in order tosupport domestic products.
"In the coming time, we will co-ordinate with relevant units to studypreferential credit packages for priority industries to enhance competitivenessand raise added value for industrial products,” said Vuong. “At the same time,we will also promote international co-operation to improve capacity ofVietnamese enterprises and connect to global production chains.”
The ministry expects the development of industrial production will haveadvantages this year. The business environment will be improved to bettersupport domestic enterprises to invest in production and develop the privatesector.
In addition, the many free trade agreements that come into effect this year areattracting new foreign direct investment, helping Vietnam raise its productioncapacity.
However, industrial production will continue facing challenges in 2019 becausethere are still few new large-scale projects that contribute to the growth ofthe industry.
In addition, processing and assembling for Vietnamese industrial products isstill prominent and the development of supporting industries is slow.Enterprises have not taken advantage of Industry 4.0 to improve productivity.
The ministry expects the Industrial Production Index (IIP) to increase by 9-10 percentcompared to 2018. Specifically, the manufacturing and processing industry willbe up 13 percent and electricity distribution and production up 9.5-10 percent.
According to the General Statistics Office (GSO), the nation’s IIP in 2018experienced an encouraging increase of 10.2 percent. The growth was fuelled bythe processing and manufacturing industry, which rose by 12.3 percentyear-on-year. — VNS/VNA
VNA
