A view of HCM City. — Photo tuyengiao.vn

HCM CITY (VNS) —  HCM City’s economy underwent significant improvement during the first quarter of 2016 thanks to the administrative effort to adapt to the country’s period of global integration.

During a meeting held yesterday to review the city’s socio-economic situation, Nguyễn Hoàng Năng, director of HCM City’s Department of Planning and Investment, said the city’s GRDP of VNĐ221,816 billion (US$10 billion) showed growth at 7.1 percent against the same period last year of 6.9 percent.

According to the city’s Department of Planning and Investment, roughly 60 percent of the city GRDP was contributed from the service sector.

The city’s total export turnover was US$6.7 billion and import turnover 7.9 billion.

There was growth in the city’s main export markets, including China (26.5 percent), Hong Kong (10.3 percent), Indonesia (308.9 percent), Netherlands (26.6 percent), and Philippines (36.1 percent). Exports increased in categories including seafood, coffee, electronic products and spare parts.

The Consumer Price Index in March increased 0.09 percent against February and increased 0.64 percent against the same period last year. The CPI growth of last year’s first quarter was 0.74 percent.

In order to reach the achievement, the city government began several trade promotion programmes to expand domestic and foreign markets.

For domestic investment, the city government granted investment licenses to 6,987 new enterprises with total investment fund of VNĐ61,672 billion ($2.8 billion).

Combining the increased investment fund of 10,017 enterprises, the total investment fund of domestic enterprises in the city during the first quarter was VNĐ83,630 billion ($3.8 billion).

The city also granted investment licenses to 158 foreign direct investment projects with total investment fund of US$192.4 million, an increase of 58 percent compared with the same period last year.

At the meeting, Nguyễn Thành Phong, chairman of HCM City’s People’s Committee, said the city’s socio- economic situation had undergone positive development in all areas during the past months.

Thái Thị Bích Liên, chief officer of HCM City’s Party Committee, said after one month of operation, the hotline 0888247247 received 5,933 calls from the public.

Of the calls, 3,480 calls were opinions and complaints to the city’s leaders. Most were about document processing, social welfare, State management, and urban management, among others.

Liên said that the hotline indicated the city’s Party Committee and government listened to the public about the city’s socio-economic development. — VNS