Vietnam - Industrial production curbed by financial woes

Vietnam's Index of Industrial Production (IIP) growth rate has hit a record low since June with a year-on-year increase of only 6.9 percent in the first 11 months of this year, the General Statistics Office (GSO) has reported.

"In the first six months, the figure was 9.7 per cent and 8.8 per cent in seven months, 7.3 per cent in eight months, 7.8 per cent in nine months and 7 per cent in 10 months," the GSO said.

The office's experts said that the down-turn in the IIP reflected financial difficulties experienced by industrial companies, including high interest and foreign exchange rates.

Meanwhile, they added, the financial challenges also had a strong impact on their distribution and that was why many of them had to cut down their production.

Although the IIP continued to drop, the value of manufacturing and processing industries, which account for nearly 70 per cent of the industrial sector, still reached a high growth rate of 9.8 per cent.

Other industries reaching high growth rates during the same period included the sugar sector with 982,000 tonnes, up by 42.4 per cent against the same time last year; and the garment industry with 1.6 billion units, up by 15.1 per cent.

The auto and motorbike industry gained a growth rate of 19.9 per cent, manufacturing 3.8 million units.

During the 11 months, power production and distribution rose 9.7 per cent, reaching 92 billion kWh.

As of the beginning of November, the stockpile index saw a month-on-month increased of 0.4 per cent. Some industries have amassed huge stockpiles, including the furniture industry and paper producers.

VIR - VNA

Business & Investment Opportunities

YourVietnamExpert is a division of Saigon Business Corporation Pte Ltd, Incorporated in Singapore since 1994. As Your Business Companion, we propose a range of services in Consulting, Investment and Management, focusing three main economic sectors: International PR; Healthcare & Wellness;and Tourism & Hospitality. We also propose Higher Education, as a bridge between educational structures and industries, by supporting international programs. Sign up with twitter to get news updates with @SaigonBusinessC. Thanks.