Vietnam wants its biggest city to achieve 6.7 percent growth in 2020

During the online meeting with the government chief, the municipal leaders said that the city’s economy could grow faster than 6.7 percent this year.

PM Phuc said that the city plays a pivotal role in the country’s economy. Therefore, it should take more drastic measures to realize the 2020 growth target of 6.7 percent.

In the first four months of this year, total goods and service revenue amounting to an estimated $ 16,5 billion, down 11 percent against the same period last year, Deputy Chairman of the city’s People’s Committee Le Thanh Liem told the government.

Total foreign visitors to the city fell by 55% to 1.3 million due to impacts from the Covid-19 pandemic. Tourism revenue stood at VND26 trillion ($1.1 billion), down by 42 percent.

The first four months recorded the establishment of around 11,224 enterprises, with registered capital of some VND148 trillion and foreign direct investment capital of $1.3 billion.

Regarding budget collection, the city collected VND120,703 billion ($5.1 billion) meeting 29.74 percent of the estimate but dropping 9.8 percent compared to the same period last year. Compared to the country’s total budget collection of VND491 trillion ($21 billion), the city achieved 24.56 percent.

The city’s high public investment disbursement is one of its good points, tripling the same period last year. Total export revenue in four months reached $14.4 billion, a year-on-year increase of 16.7 percent while import turnover was $16.08 billion, up 5.3 percent against the same period last year.

The city’s economy is expected to grow by 3.4 – 4.12% this year, according to a forecast from the Ho Chi Minh City Development Research Institute.

According to Director of Ho Chi Minh City Development Research Institute Tran Hoang Ngan said that in the worst scenarios the city economy could grow 2.5% in 2020.

In a better scenario, the economic growth of Ho Chi Minh City is around 5.42%. This scenario is based on the assumption that the world economy will grow slowly but not fall into recession, he said.

The Covid-19 pandemic greatly influenced the socio-economic situation of Ho Chi Minh City. The gross output of the city in the first 3 months was estimated to increase by only 0.42% over the same period last year (the same period increased by 7.64%).

Also in the first quarter of 2020, Ho Chi Minh City had more than 1,350 enterprises dissolved, an increase of 37.6% over the same period last year. FDI attraction only reached $1.05 billion, down nearly 33% over the same period last year.

► Vietnam wants economy to grow faster than 2.7% IMF forecast, inflation below 4%

Source: SGGP