The statement was made by Minister of Industry and Trade Vu Huy Hoang at a December 16 meeting with the Minister-Counselors, and trade counselors of Vietnam’s trade offices abroad in Hanoi as part of the 2013 Commercial Counselor Conference.
The Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT) has devised some concrete orientations for the sector’s development in the coming year, he said.
Industrial production-construction to increase by 6.4-6.6%
Minister Hoang said the target for industrial production-construction is set at 6.4-6.6% to ensure the link between domestic production and foreign marketing.
It is important for the country to develop potential industries including support services for agricultural and rural development such as clean energy, renewable energy, and bio-industry production using intensive labour.
Prioritys will be given to investment in the areas of energy, mining, chemicals, oil and pharmaceutical chemistry to reduce imports and increase the competitiveness and added value of products.
Measures to achieve the export growth rate of over 10%
Hoang said that trade development should be closely associated with its sustainability and contribute to improving competitiveness of the national economy.
To promote exports, the MoIT has identified new commodities based on basic and high technologies to meet the consumer market demand in the world as defined in Vietnam’s export strategy. He proposed focusing on exporting seafood, farm produce, garment and textiles, and electronics.
The focus will be on developing markets for competitive and high added-value products or groups of items with a high proportion of turnover. So, it is important to seize new opportunities arising from international economic integration to promote exports to the US, EU, Japan, China, the Republic of Korea, ASEAN, India and other potential markets such as Russia, Eastern Europe and Latin America.
Trade surplus should be maintained at 6%
Minister Hoang said that next year’s import surplus should be maintained at 6% or a lower level compared to that of export earnings by importing only hi tech goods which local businesses cannot produce at a competitive price instead of luxury commodities.
Vietnam should continue to limit imports as a protection against domestic production in accordance with its international economic integration’s commitments within the framework of FTAS.
It should also strive to achieve a growth rate of 14% in terms of total retail sales revenue and domestic service turnover, Hoang added.
