Vietnam Industrial Parks InfoGate ! Industrial Zones ! Export Processing Zones ! Vietnamese industrial production to reach over $6 billion in first 2 months

In February, the country’s industrial production is estimated to reach USD 3.41 billion dollars, up 21.6% over the January’s figure and up 14.9% over corresponding period of last year, according to Vietnam’s Ministry of Planning and Investment.

This month, the state-owned sector saw a reduction of 4.4% in industrial production value, the non-state sector posted an increase of 6.6% and the foreign-invested sector reported a jump of 3.3%, said the Ministry.

The modest growth in the country’s industrial production was attributed to the difficulties faced by local industrial producers due to shrinking demand from both domestic and foreign markets, said the Ministry.

The industrial sector’s growth so far this year compared with an annual rise of 16.3% in the corresponding period of last year.

"Industrial production in the first two months of 2009 posted a low growth due to difficulties from the global economic crisis," deputy general director of the office, Do Thuc, said in the report.

The government has stepped up measures and solutions to boost production and businesses while preventing inflation and ensuring social welfares, he said.

Industrial output (percentage change from a year earlier):

Feb 2009 Feb 2008 Jan-Feb 09 Jan-Oct 08

Output 14.9 16.1 2.5 16.3

Of which:

State 10.7 12.5 -4.4 7.1

Non-state 17.3 17.8 6.6 21.9

Foreign-invested 15.4 16.6 3.3 16.7

In the recent review on the country’s social-economic performance, Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung requested government ministries, sectors and local authorities to concentrate their efforts on boosting production levels.