Illustrative photo. (Source: VNA)The office said the index in traditionalindustries fell 9.8 percent compared to the same period last year.
Some saw a sharp plunge between January andFebruary, including medicine production, water drainage and wastewatertreatment, motorised vehicle production, and paper and paper productmanufacturing.
Several key industries, meanwhile, enjoyed a year-on-yearincrease in their production index, such as electronics manufacturing (32.4percent), electrical device production (28 percent), the manufacture ofproducts from metallic minerals (22.4 percent), chemical and chemical productmanufacturing (10.8 percent), and food production and processing (9.8 percent).
The Statistics Office added that last month theinventory index of the processing - manufacturing industry increased 12.3percent year-on-year. Industries with an index higher than the sector’s averageincluded leather and related products (up 155.4 percent), chemicals and chemicalproducts (60.8 percent), and electrical devices (45.2 percent).
The sales index of processing - manufacturingwas down 25.4 percent month-on-month in February and 9 percent year-on-year.
Industrial enterprises in HCM City said Vietnamis still coping with the latest outbreak of COVID-19 while countries that are importantpartners are also struggling with the pandemic. This has led to shortages ofmaterial supplies for production as well as poor sales in both domestic andforeign markets.
In talking about market contractions, which haveaffected local production and business activities, Nguyen Phuong Dong, DeputyDirector of the city’s Department of Industry and Trade, said authorities areworking to devise new and breakthrough policies, especially those helping firmscapitalise on the opportunities generated by the recently-adopted EU-VietnamFree Trade Agreement (EVFTA) and EU-Vietnam Investment Protection Agreement(EVIPA).
He also recommended enterprises keep a closewatch on the pandemic’s developments and proactively seek new export and importmarkets./.
VNA
