INDUSTRIAL PRODUCTION EXPANDS 2.8% IN FIRST HALF

Viet Nam’s index of industrial production recorded a year-on-year rise of 2.8% in the first six months of 2020, according to the General Statistics Office.

The figure was much lower than 9.13% and 10.5% reported of the same period of 2019 and 2018, respectively.

Manufacturing expanded by 4.96%, the lowest first-half figure of the 2011-2020 period, while power generation and distribution grew by 3.04%, and water supply and waste treatment increased by 3.76%.

In addition, the drunk-driving law has also affected the beverage industry, making it suffer a fall of 17.4%.

Meanwhile, production of the pharmaceutical manufacturing increased 27.9% in the reviewed period.

According to the GSO, industrial production in the second quarter was severely affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, so the value added growth rate was only 0.74% compared to the same period last year.

The mining and quarrying sector contracted 5.4% as crude oil fell sharply by 13.9% and natural gas declined by 9.1%.

In a survey conducted by GSO, up to 58.7% of enterprises said that the number of new orders for export in the second quarter increased and remained stable.

But since the coronavirus crisis has been contained, various economic sectors have resumed, with industrial production starting to rebound in May.

The country’s GDP expanded by 0.36% in the second quarter, meaning growth in the first half of the year was at just 1.81%.

Source: VGP