A view of HCM City. Photo tripsavvy.com

HCM CITY — The chairman of the municipal People’s Committee Nguyễn Thành Phong has asked agencies to improve production of major industries and diversify tourism products, as well as speed up the capital disbursement rate of public investment projects in the city.

Speaking at a conference on Tuesday, Phong said the city government had asked the Department of Industry and Trade to propose measures to improve production of four major industries in the first quarter.

The request came as the four industries, which include mechanical engineering, electronics, chemicals-rubber-plastic, and food processing, saw a production decrease of 2.71 per cent in January over the same period last year.

In addition, the city’s industrial production index (IPI) in January 2020 decreased by 3.9 per cent compared to the same period last year.

Phong also urged agencies to complete a logistics development project that would make the city a major logistics hub by 2025.

The project would build three logistic centres through technical infrastructure, and would aim to increase the number of businesses hiring specialised logistic services, with the goal of reducing costs, Phong said.

To cope with the Covid-19 epidemic, Phong asked the Department of Tourism to provide advice on a planned request to the Prime Minister to reduce taxes on the tourism industry, especially on small business households in the city.

This week the city would hold a conference to remove difficulties for businesses and accelerate the progress of some real estate projects, Phong said, adding the city had received a number of real estate requests about legal procedures from businesses.

In addition, Phong said the city received over US$5 billion of remittances annually, of which 7.2 per cent is for production investment.

“This is a great resource, and the city will develop effective schemes to maximise remittances,” he said.

Lê Thị Huỳnh Mai, director of the city’s Department of Planning and Investment, said the city’s total retail sales of goods and service revenue reached VNĐ113 trillion ($4.86 billion) in January, up 3.6 per cent compared to December and up 11.2 per cent over the same period last year.

HCM City was estimated to earn $3.9 billion worth of exports in the first month of the year, up 10.2 per cent over the same period last year, according to the city’s Department of Planning and Investment.

The city welcomed 840,000 international visitors in January, an increase of 5.9 per cent over the same period last year, bringing in tourism revenue of more than VNĐ13 trillion ($559.72 million).

The city collected nearly VNĐ43 trillion worth of budget revenue in January, equal to 96.07 per cent of the same period last year.

Nearly 2,800 domestic enterprises in the city were established in January with a total registered capital of more than VNĐ33.5 trillion, mostly in real estate, building, wholesale and retail, and processing and manufacturing industries.

Regarding the key task this month, Phong said the city would continue to implement serious measures to strictly control the Covid-19 epidemic by detecting early cases of the virus infection in people coming from affected areas.

In addition, the city would strengthen market management, monitor fluctuations in prices of essential commodities, and strictly handle violations of the law on pricing.

The city would also continue administrative reforms this year to attract investors with a strong capacity. — VNS