A view of HCM City at night. The city’s economy saw a significant improvement in the first six months of 2023. — VNS Photo

HCM CITY — HCM City’s economic growth reached 3.55 per cent in the first half of this year, its leader said.     

The city’s People's Committee on Wednesday (June 29) organised a conference to review the city's socio-economic performance in the first six months of 2023, and tasks for the rest of the year.

Speaking at the conference, chairman of the municipal People’s Committee Phan Văn Mãi said the city’s socio-economic situation has faced a difficult period from the beginning of the year to now.

“However, the city’s economy has improved significantly thanks to the joint efforts of local businesses and people together with the whole political system,” he said.

The city’s economic growth reached 5.87 per cent in the second quarter of the year. It was only 0.7 per cent in the first quarter.

Lê Thị Huỳnh Mai, director of the city’s Department of Planning and Investment, said the city's gross regional domestic product (GRDP) grew 3.82 per cent in the first half of the year. The service sector posted the highest growth at 4.96 per cent compared to the same period last year.

The city’s nine key services contributed to 90.6 per cent of the city's GRDP growth, up 4.92 per cent against the same period last year. Total revenue from retail sales of consumer goods and services in the first six months was estimated at VNĐ561.7 trillion (US$23.7 billion), a year-on-year increase of 7.1 per cent.

Results of the implementation of the 2023 detailed public investment capital plan showed that the city has allocated more than VNĐ68.5 trillion ($2.9 billion), including nearly VNĐ15 trillion ($633.5 million) of the central budget and about VNĐ53.5 trillion ($2.3 billion) of the city budget.

By June 26, the disbursement of the city’s 2023 public investment plan reached VNĐ10.2 trillion ($430.8 million), 15 per cent of the total allocated capital.

Along with the positive results, the city’s industrial production, especially in the electronics industry, was affected by the global economy situation and has faced difficulties along with the slow recovery of the real estate and financial markets.

In addition, high lending interest rates are putting pressure on enterprises, making it difficult for them to access banking credit to maintain production and businesses.

From nơ to the end of the year, the city will focus on carrying out solutions to promote the disbursement of 2023 public investment capital.

It will continue reviewing and handling problems and inadequacies in the fields of administrative reform, real estate, tax refunds, annual land usage prices, grant of land use rights, house ownership certificates, and other problems arising from land use and management.

More than 18,200 enterprises in the city withdrew from the local market while nearly 25,100 new enterprises were established in the first five months of this year. — VNS