Socialist Republic of Vietnam

Viet Nam achieved an industrial production value of VND 67,939 billion (US $4.887 billion) in the first five months of this year, a 10.2 per cent year-on-year increase.

Big year-on-year increases were recorded in outputs of crude oil, 30.6 per cent; fertilizers, 13.6 per cent; bicycle, 22.4 per cent; motorcar assembly, almost 53 per cent; fishery processing, more than 18 per cent; and motorbike assembly, 45.5 per cent.

Because of poor marketing some industries recorded sales and production decreases. For example, coal production was down almost 19 per cent; rolled steel, down 19.6 per cent; and TV set assembly, down 4.1 per cent.

Foreign invested enterprises increased industrial value 22.5 per cent, continuing to spearhead growth.

The state-run sector increased 3.7 per cent and the non-state sector, 6.4 per cent.

The percentage of domestic investment in the total industrial production value dropped from almost 74 per cent in the first five months of 1995, to 65 per cent in the same period this year.

The foreign investment sector continued its strong performance as more such enterprises began operation.

Industrial production value of foreign invested enterprises in Hanoi increased only 2.9 per cent in the first five months of this year. Falls in production value were recorded at some businesses such as VMEP, which saw a decline of 18.6 per cent, DAEWOO HANEL, 33.4 per cent and ABB transformer factory, 34.5 per cent.

(VNA June 4, 99)