Hanoi is working to boost industrial production, raise production efficiency and capacity of businesses in industrial parks and clusters, and lure big projects to this field, Chairman of the People’s Committee Tran Sy Thanh has said.

The city will continue pushing ahead with industrial production in line with the development programme for priority industries, the supporting industry development programme, and the key industrial product development project, he said while mentioning tasks and solutions for the last six months of this year.

At the same time, it will continue removing obstacles to enterprises while focusing on tapping the domestic market, improving domestic consumption and developing Vietnamese brands, effectively implementing the campaign “Vietnamese people prioritise using Vietnamese products”.

Digital application in tourism will be stepped up, he said, adding that information on tourist attractions, craft villages, and cultural relic sites and heritage will be digitalised, and more software launched to make it easier for visitors to access tourism information.

According to Dau Ngoc Hung, head of the city Statistics Office, between January and June, the number of newly-established enterprises dropped 3%, while those resuming operation rose 17% year-on-year.

He cited a survey by the office showing 77.4% of the firms operating in processing and manufacturing said their production and business in the second quarter were stable and even better than the previous quarter, and 82.8% said they hope for a brighter picture in the July-September period.

In processing and manufacturing alone, 28.7% of the enterprises saw better operation in the April-June period, 48.7% said their production and business remained stable, and 22.6% faced difficulties.

According to the survey, 32.3% of the businesses in the sector forecast better results in the third quarter when export markets are expected to see improvements and orders to increase, while 49.9% said they hope for stability, and 17.8% anticipated more difficulties.

Statistics show that the index of industrial production (IIP) rose 5% during the January-June period, with processing and manufacturing up 4.1%, and the consumption index up 13.1%. The inventory index, however, decreased by 30.1% at the end of June.

Notably, a host of solutions were put in place to support the labour market. In the first half, the city created jobs for 124.900 laboures, meeting 75.7% of the yearly plan, and up 10% year-on-year.

Hanoi also entrusted the Vietnam Bank for Social Policies (VBSP) to provide loans worth 2.1 trillion VND (82.3 million USD) for needy people and social policy beneficiaries.

As many as 35,900 people have received assistance worth a total of 1.08 trillion VND from the city’s unemployment insurance fund. Meanwhile, nearly 1.5 billion VND was earmarked to support 385 people in vocational training.

The number of tourists to the capital city increased by 13.7% to 14 million in the reviewed period, including 3.14 million international visitors, a rise of 52.6% over the same period last year.

The city attracted over 1.1 billion USD in foreign direct investment, up 52% year-on-year. However, it still faced some obstacles, including low State budget collection.

Although public investment disbursement increased from the previous period, it remained lower than the national average and failed to meet the set requirements./.