Manufacturing and processing: The economy’s main growth driver

A key role

The index of industrial production increased by 9.2 percent in the first four months of 2019. The figure was lower than the 10.7 percent growth in the same period last year, but higher than increases of 7.4 percent and 6.6 percent in the commensurate periods in 2016 and 2017, respectively. Of which, the manufacturing and processing industry expanded by 10.9 percent year-on-year.

High growth industrial products from January to April included petrol and oil with 70.3 percent, steel and crude iron with 67.1 percent, television sets with 42.6 percent, liquefied gas with 29.8 percent, textile fabric from polyester or artificial yarn with 19.5 percent, automobiles with 18.3 percent, pure coal with 12.8 percent, beer with 12.2 percent, and urea fertilizer with 12.1 percent. Some products saw low growth or decrease in the reviewed period, such as steel bars and corners (up 3.1 percent), natural gas (down 0.4 percent), motorbikes (down 3.1 percent), and NPK fertilizer (down 5 percent).

In the manufacturing and processing industry, some sectors also recorded growth, such as coke and refined petroleum products with 77.5 percent, basic metals with 40.6 percent, rubber and plastic products with 14 percent, textiles with 12.1 percent, beverages with 11.6 percent, and paper and paper products with 11.2 percent.

In general, industrial production in April alone and in the first four months of 2019 recorded good growth, with the manufacturing and processing industry playing a key role.

According to the Ministry of Industry and Trade, compared to other countries in the region, Vietnam’s index of industrial production was quite high in the first four months of 2019, despite the fact that the figure was lower than the 10.7 percent growth in the same period last year.

Priority given to key solutions

The Ministry of Industry and Trade will focus on reviewing and understanding difficulties encountered by industries, especially the manufacturing and processing industry in order to improve production capacity and expand trade and production scale.

The Ministry will also make greater efforts to accelerate the progress of industrial production projects, such as Formosa, Nghi Son Refinery and Petrochemical Complex, and Dung Quat Hoa Phat Steel Integrated Complex. In addition, the ministry will speed up major projects of large corporations such as Truong Hai Auto Corporation, Thanh Cong Group and VinFast in order to increase their output of domestically manufactured and assembled cars.

The Ministry of Industry and Trade will also devise trade promotion solutions to advertise Vietnamese products in foreign markets, and prepare well to take advantage of opportunities provided by free trade agreements, especially the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP).