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Loading and unloading import and export goods at Cat Lai port. Photo: Anh Tu

Regain growth momentum

After a sharp decline in 2021, Ho Chi Minh City's economy regained its growth momentum in the first months of 2022.

At the recent Economic Development Conference, Secretary of the Ho Chi Minh City Party Committee Nguyen Van Nen said that the economy is bouncing back after a year of the severe crisis caused by the Covid-19 pandemic.

In the first quarter of 2022, Ho Chi Minh City's economy is regaining its growth momentum with a rate of +1.88%, compared to -11.6% in the fourth quarter of 2021.

According to Mr. Nguyen Khac Hoang, Director of the Ho Chi Minh City Statistics Office, activities in Ho Chi Minh City are fully opened, production and business activities are not affected much, the socio-economic situation of Ho Chi Minh City in the first three months of 2022 has shown signs of recovery and prosperity.

Despite the difficulties, the business sector has operated stably and improved. According to the survey results of the People's Committee of Ho Chi Minh City on business trends of enterprises in the processing and manufacturing industries, 31% of those surveyed evaluated the situation of production and business as better in the first quarter of 2022; 34.6% kept steady and 34.4% more difficult. In which, the state-owned enterprise sector was the most optimistic with 80% of polled enterprises rating their production as better and keeping stable; this rate in foreign-invested and non-state-owned enterprises is 74.1% and 60.2%, respectively.

Forecasting the situation of the second quarter compared to the first quarter, 45.9% of enterprises rated better, 32.6% kept stable and 21.5% faced more difficulties.

In which, 91.4% of state-owned enterprises show positive prospects about their business situation in the second quarter, while this rate in the foreign and non-state invested sectors is 79.1% and 76.8% respectively.

Impressive exports

According to Mr. Nguyen Khac Hoang, in the first months of 2022, Ho Chi Minh City's economy recorded many positive signs of recovery, in which, the export of goods grew impressively in many markets. In the first quarter alone, the total export turnover of goods of Ho Chi Minh City enterprises at border gates across the country reached US$11,878.6 million, up 3.5% year on year in both the state and non-state economic ones which recorded US$564.4 million, up 107.9% and US$3,228.7 million, up 16.1%, respectively.

The group of agricultural products with export value increased quite high, reaching more than US$1.1 billion, up 54% over the same period and accounting for 11.7% of total export turnover. Most of the key export products had a high increase, such as rice with an export output of 365,000 tons and with a value of US$268.7 million, up 39.8%; coffee export volume reached 80,000 tons with a value of US$175.2 million, up 64.8%. Particularly, for crude oil, export volume in the first quarter reached 663,800 tons, up 90.8%; value reached US$451.2 million, up 200.9%.

Statistics of Ho Chi Minh City Customs Department show that export goods volume through HCMC ports also skyrocketed. Accordingly, the total import and export turnover of goods through Ho Chi Minh City border gates as of March 31, reached US$35.3 billion, up 14.9%. In which, export turnover reached US$19.4 billion, up 8.4% over the same period in 2021.

Many key export products grew very well. For example, aquatic products, textiles and garments and computers, equipment and accessories all gained an impressive increase year on year: 90.4%, 54.7%; US$4.73 billion, up 15.1%, respectively.

Notably, Ho Chi Minh City's export enterprises grew in many major markets. In particular, despite facing many difficulties in terms of the country's anti-pandemic policies in the Chinese market, domestic enterprises still managed to maintain the number one position in export, with export turnover in the first quarter reaching US$2,523.3 million. Followed by the US market with an export turnover of nearly US$1,700 million, up 5%; the third is the Japanese market with US$701.8 million, up 8.7%.

According to the leader of the People's Committee of Ho Chi Minh City, it is expected that Ho Chi Minh City will fully open; get the pandemic under control; curb the increase in consumer prices and raw materials prices.

According to the export project just approved by Ho Chi Minh City, it is forecasted that by 2025, Ho Chi Minh City's export turnover is estimated at US$70 billion and the average export growth rate in the 2026 - 2030 period will reach 9% per year; By 2030 export turnover is estimated at US$108 billion. In which, the group of software products and digital content, it is estimated that the export turnover by 2025 will reach US$10.1 billion and in 2030 may reach US$20.3 billion.

Ho Chi Minh City has set a task to 2025 of maintaining and supporting the development of traditional key products with high export turnover and growth, creating many jobs and making a large budget contribution to the city.

The City is preparing the most favorable conditions for industrial upgrading, joining the global value chain, and aiming to export services is the leading strategy to increase added value in line with the city's competitive advantage.