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Call to lift industrial growth
The Ministry of Industry and Trade has urged industrial companies to step up production of essential goods to ensure that prices remain stable for the last three months of the year.
Minister Vu Huy Hoang said the target was to achieve a growth rate of 16-16.8 percent this year in industrial production.
To do so, the ministry is encouraging more exports of key industrial goods, electronic goods and agricultural, forestry and aquatic products.
The ministry also aims to reach 64 billion USD in export revenue for 2008, a year-on-year increase of 33 percent.
It aims to cut the trade deficit by reducing imports of non-essential commodities such as deluxe cars, mobile phones and steel now in large stock.
Total import value dropped from 6.3 billion USD in August to 5.8 billion USD in September, contributing to the target of a 19 billion USD trade deficit.
The ministry also called for industrial enterprises to increase productivity and quality of products to achieve a 33 percent increase in the domestic market.
Meanwhile Hoang said September saw a high growth of 39 percent in exports compared with August as a result of the Government’s policy to increase exports.
Trade officials, however, expressed concern about unstable export levels of main commodities such as crude oil, garments, footwear, electronics and wooden products.
To fulfill the 2008 export plan, mainly industrial enterprises, including garments and seafood processing plants, have been urged to finish export contracts on schedule.
Current interest rates on bank loans remain high and most small-and medium-sized enterprises have been unable to access loans.
The ministry has called on the banking and financial sector to cut loan interest rates, and plans to increase import taxes levied on certain commodities, including meat, to boost domestic production.
The ministry also urged relevant agencies to closely coordinate and map out effective measures to boost industrial production and regulate market prices to maintain the country’s GDP growth rate of 6.7-7 percent this year.
VNA
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