Vietnam sees slight drop in industrial production

Vietnam’s index of industrial production (IIP) showed signs of recovery with a year-on-year growth of 2.8% in June, but fell 1.2% year-on-year in the first six months of this year.

The IIP went up 2% from May to June and 2.2% from April to May, the General Statistics Office (GSO) reported Thursday.

The 1.2% drop in January-June was an improvement from a 2% decrease in January-May, the report said. It attributed the performance to a low number of orders, weak demand, high input cost, and other factors.

In June, the IIP’s year-on-year growth was driven by increases of 3% in electricity production and distribution; 2.9% in water supply, waste and wastewater treatment; 2.9% in manufacturing-processing; and 1.9% in mining.

However, from May to June, the mining sector’s IIP fell 1.7%, while the other three sectors recorded positive growth. Sub-sectors with strong improvements included beverage with 4.6%; food processing and production with 3.7%; vehicle production with 11.8%; and electronics, computers, and optics products with 4%.

Among the nation’s cities and provinces, the best performances in the first half of this year were recorded by the northern province of Bac Giang and the Mekong Delta province of Tra Vinh with their IIP rising 15.7% and 22.3%, respectively. Other strong performers were the northern provinces of Phu Tho with 15.3%, Thai Binh with 13.8% and Nam Dinh with 13.3%.

The central province of Quang Nam underperformed with its IIP falling 29.9%, the worst result in the country. Other negative results were reported in the northern provinces of Bac Ninh with 18.4% fall, Lai Chau with 26.6%, Ha Giang with 28.2%, and Son La with 29.7%.

Overall, 48 localities recorded increases and the remaining 15 others saw their IIP fall.

Business registrations recover in June

In a similar development, 13,904 new businesses were registered in June with total registered capital of VND138.75 trillion ($5.89 billion), up 4.8% and 14.6% year-on-year, respectively. These firms employed 103,887 people, up 34.7% year-on-year.

However, the same figures for the first six months of the year were 75,874 enterprises and VND707.46 trillion ($30.01 billion), down 0.5% and 19.8% year-on-year, respectively. The number of employees also went down 1% to 509,870.

Besides, 37,676 firms resumed operations in the six-month period, down 7.4% year-on-year.

The first six months also saw 60,172 firms suspend operations, up 18.2% year-on-year. Of these, 31,023 suspended operations awaiting bankruptcy procedures, up 28.9%; and 8,831 completed bankruptcy procedures, up 2.8%.

Overall, the economy welcomed 113,600 new businesses in the first half of 2023, down 2.9% year-on-year; while about 100,000 others left, up 19.7%.