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Ministry speeds up work to stimulate production
Helping enterprises clear inventories and maintain production would be a focus of the Ministry of Industry and Trade's action plans in the coming months, said Minister Vu Huy Hoang at a meeting in Ha Noi yesterday.
The ministry was considering the application of bartering among enterprises, in addition to stimulating demand by speeding up disbursement of projects financed by the State budget in such industries as building materials, cement, iron and steel, sanitary ware and electric devices.
It would possibly support the automobile industry with a 10-per-cent cut in registration fees in several major cities.
The ministry said it was asking the Government to assist farmers who bought machinery and small means of transport for agricultural production and produce processing by covering full interest rates for their loans, slashing value-added taxes (VATs) or allowing them to pay for machinery in instalments.
Reforming administrative procedures to boost exports would be an important measure in addition to limiting imports of consumer goods to stimulate domestic manufacturing, Hoang said.
The ‘Buy Vietnamese goods' campaign would be widely promoted, especially in localities inviting bids for State-financed projects.
The ministry would also help companies hold exchanges and develop distribution systems to border economic zones and neighbouring countries, he said.
A representative of the Heavy Industry Department suggested the Ministry of Finance should cut export taxes to zero per cent for articles which the country had been able to manufacture such as mechanical products, and firms should carry out synchronised measures including cutting costs and changing markets.
He noted that recent Government actions had only concentrated on stimulating corporate demand and public investment and purchase but did not encourage consumer demand, urging the ministry to soon reduce the VAT for consumer goods which were amassing high inventories.
Hoang urged the Ministry of Finance to soon supplement money for promoting trade on both domestic and foreign markets, stressing that with this year's finances for trade promotion representing less than half of last year's figure, efficiency wouldn't be up to expectations.
An official from the Import-Export Department said trade promotion financing should now be prioritised for particular goods in the country's major export markets, including the US, the European Union and Japan, which were all showing signs of decline.
Assuring concerns over reserves of farm produce exports, especially rice, he said the coming winter-spring crop would be vital to facilitate export contracts as well as stabilise prices of these products on the domestic market.
He added that local firms should take full advantages of trade agreements between Viet Nam and other nations, noting that export values through free trade areas accounted for 15 per cent of the country's total exports in the first half of the year alone.
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