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Ramping up production
In the later months of this year, top priority will be given to boosting production to meet the growing demands for domestic consumption and for exports, while efforts will be made to curb the trade deficit, said the Minister of Trade and Industry (MoIT), Vu Huy Hoang, at an online conference on Monday.
In the first quarter of this year, Viet Nam's import surplus reached US$3.5 billion, which increases the ratio of import surplus to exports to 25 per cent. This is 5 per cent higher than the set target due to increases in prices of several imported items such as petroleum, fibres and steel.
Hoang urged producers to foster technical innovation, enhance management capacities and use locally-made materials and equipment in order to reduce production cost and improve business results.
He also stressed that Vietnamese people need to be encouraged to buy domestically-made products to help the production of Vietnamese goods.
"The State-owned sector should take initiative in buying products made by local businesses. In the near future, the government will ask all State-funded agencies and organisations to use Vietnamese-made products," Hoang said.
MoIT would also issue a list of locally-made products that can be used in investment projects in the country, he added.
Ensuring power supplies
Attendees at the meeting expressed their concerns about electricity supplies because the Electricity of Viet Nam (EVN) said that it was difficult to ensure a non-stop electricity supply in the second quarter of this year due to bad weather. This will be problematic because the domestic demand for electricity is constantly increasing.
When the GDP growth rates reached 5.83 per cent, the growth in electricity consumption should have increased by 12-13 per cent. However, the current growth in electricity consumption has doubled, which has reached an alarming level of 22.6 per cent.
According to EVN's calculations, the electricity sector could supply 270 million kWh/day in April, 275 million kWh/day in May, and 285 million kWh/day in June. If the consumption demand was higher, then the sector would not be able to ensure an adequate supply.
The minister called for a strong and an effective energy conservation campaign in order to ensure an adequate supply of electricity for the whole country. The minister noted that the sector should prioritise implementing conservation efforts in industrial production and at schools and hospitals.
MoIT will co-operate with the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development to create a policy to better facilitate the consumption of key agricultural products such as rice, coffee and important seafood products.
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