The GSO said that business turnover reached VND662.5 trillion (USD37 billion), up 19 per cent over the same period last year.

 

Hotel and restaurant revenues reached nearly VND96 trillion (USD5.4 billion), a surge of 16.3 per cent year-on-year.

 

The service sector, meanwhile, contributed 9.3 per cent or VND78.8 trillion (USD4.4 billion) to the country’s total retail turnover, a year-on-year rise of 19.1 per cent.

 

Sales of goods and services in the country’s two largest cities – Ha Noi and HCM City – in the first nine months reached VND303.2 trillion (USD16.9 billion), accounting for 35.9 per cent of the figure nationwide and representing a rise of 18.5 per cent against the same period last year.

 

For the past few months, businesses have implemented a series of measures to boost domestic sales.

 

For example, fresh and frozen meat processor Vissan last month cut prices and increased its range of products, which helped it sell more than 1,000 tonnes of goods – a 27.9 per cent increase over the same period last year.

 

Deputy general director of Sai Gon Co-op Nguyen Thanh Nhan said that the implementation of promotion programmes last month helped turnover at his supermarket chain surge 40 per cent year-on-year.

 

The deputy director of the Domestic Market Department under the Ministry of Industry and Trade, Vu Van Quyen, said that besides promotion campaigns, Government stimulus policies included scrapping or reducing personal income tax and value added tax, which he said had had positive impact o­n retail sales.