Ho Chi Minh City’s two-way import-export turnover fell by more than 22% in the first months of 2023, due to the lack of orders from many export companies and the impact of the global consumption slowdown.

ALWAYS DIFFERENT

A representative of the Ministry attended the press conference on the afternoon of July 18, 2023 to provide information on the city’s industrial and commercial activities in the second quarter of 2023 and the main tasks to be implemented in the third quarter of 2023. The Ministry of Industry and Commerce of Ho Chi Minh City said export sales in six months were estimated at US$19.42 billion, down 22.4% over the same period. Meanwhile, six-month import sales were estimated at $25.5 billion, down 24.2% over the same period. This situation is expected to continue until the end of 2023.

According to the head of Ho Chi Minh City’s Ministry of Industry and Trade, the reason for the decline in import and export sales lies in the strong impact of the world economic situation due to geopolitical conflicts, high global inflation leading to a decline in consumption negative impact on the export of goods from Vietnam in general and the city in particular.

The difficult reality described above causes many companies to have no orders, while orders in the world market are gradually declining, and import and export sales of many items are declining compared to the same period in 2022.

However, there were still three bright spots in Ho Chi Minh City’s industry and commerce in the first six months of 2023.

The firstIndustrial development indicators gradually improved, in particular: the accumulation of the following month increased more than the previous month: the industrial sector (January IIP decreased by 15%, 2 months decreased by 2.5%, 3 months decreased by 0.9%, 4 months increased 1.4%, 5 months increased 1.6% and 6 months increased 1.9%.

Monday, The recovery in manufacturing and business relied on the leading role of key industries and sectors such as: 4 key industries with 6-month industrial output estimated to increase by 4.5% over the same period. Retail sales grew 9.7% over the same period, accounting for almost 60% of the city’s trade and service sales.

Tuesday, The growth recovery of the sectors, especially after the shock of the Covid-19 pandemic, shows sustainability due to the stable macroeconomic environment; business competitiveness is gradually improved; Above all, the goods market of the more than 10 million people in the city is still attractive.

Labor Price Limits

According to the Ministry of Industry and Commerce of Ho Chi Minh City, total retail sales of consumer goods and services in the city is estimated at VND 555,668 billion in the first six months of 2023, up 6% over the same period in 2022.

It estimated retail sales of goods in six months at VND330,686 billion, up 7.7% over the same period and accounting for nearly 60% of total retail sales of consumer goods and services.

Mr. Nguyen Nguyen Phuong, deputy director of the Ministry of Industry and Commerce of Ho Chi Minh City, said the city is implementing numerous stabilization programs, deep rebates and promotions to limit the rise in commodity prices in line with salary increases.

“In fact, some small traders are still increasing the price of goods, because the price of goods in the market depends on the amount of goods that traders prepare during the day and how customers shop at any given time. Therefore, in order to prevent commodity prices from rising in line with wage prices, the city has implemented a series of price stabilization measures from the first months of 2023 to boost consumer demand, promote retail activities and support the recovery of economic growth. This will help prevent the “wave” of price hikes as wages rise and alleviate some of people’s concerns,” Mr. Phuong stressed.

According to economists, from now until the end of the year, people’s demand for goods and services is expected to increase, which may lead to an increase in goods prices and the risk of inflation.

To prevent this situation, the city must actively engage in state management of essential goods and services. It is about ensuring a plentiful supply of goods and balancing supply and demand in the market. prevent hoarding, speculation and unreasonable price increases; Controlling the declaration and publication of prices in retail stores; Strictly deal with violations of the prices of goods and services.