A corner of HCM City. - VNA/VNS Photo

HCM CITY - Hồ Chí Minh City’s gross regional domestic product (GRDP) was estimated at over VNĐ406.34 trillion (US$16.34 billion) in the first quarter, a year-on-year increase of 6.54%, the highest growth recorded for Q1 since 2020, heard a meeting of the municipal People’s Committee on April 2.

The service sector remained the key locomotive of the city’s economic development during January – March, contributing 71.6% to the growth and accounted for 65.5% of the economic structure.

Meanwhile, industry posted positive expansion and contributed 16.4% to the overall growth. The local index of industrial production climbed 5.1%, higher than Hà Nội with 3.6%, Đà Nẵng 0.6%, Cần Thơ 2.1% but lower than Hải Phòng 12.6%.

State budget collection was also a bright spot with more than VNĐ138.54 trillion, rising 7.6% against the same time last year.

The city gained $10.1 billion from exports and spent $13.1 billion on imports, year-on-year increases of 7.5% and 3.1%, respectively.

Earnings from tourism grew 23.8% to an estimated $44.71 trillion.

During the period, there were 12,433 enterprises entering the market, registering VNĐ106.12 trillion in capital, up 12.01% in enterprise number and 8.47% in capital from the same time last year. However, 15,600 firms halted their operation, expanding 20.64% year-on-year.

Despite sound economic situation in Quarter 1, Chairman of the provincial People’s Committee Phan Văn Mãi pointed to several challenges that hampered economic growth, including low credit growth, a sluggish recovery of the realty market, and a fall in FDI attraction.

He called on competent departments and sectors to pen solutions to the current problems so as to achieve better economic performance in the following quarters.

He particularly stressed that the city must disburse VNĐ73 trillion in public investment by the end of the year, asking districts and relevant sectors to join hands to remove bottlenecks to realise the set target. - VNS