Ha Noi moves to tackle widening trade deficit
The capital city of Ha Noi has carried out trade promotion plans targeting both traditional and new foreign markets in order to tackle its widening trade deficit, which exceeded the national average in the first five months of this year.
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Statistics show that during the January-May period, Ha Noi’s export turnover reached 4.73 billion USD, up 12.2 percent over the same period last year, mainly driven by local enterprises.
Meanwhile, its import value stood at 11.67 billion USD, resulting in a trade deficit of nearly 7 billion USD, compared with the national average of 2.7 billion USD. More than half of the figure was contributed by Ha Noi-based centrally-run businesses.
The city’s major imports include equipment, machines and materials for projects or production chain installation. In many cases, import items were declared by firms based in Ha Noi but transported to other localities.
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| Hanoi's trade deficit in the first five months stood at nearly 7 billion USD, compared with the national average of 2.7 billion USD. (Photo: VIR) |
To reduce the trade deficit, Ha Noi will cut exports of raw materials and increase exports of high value-added products while developing the supporting industry to join the global value chain.
Trade promotion will focus on handicrafts, agricultural products and garments-textiles.
Meanwhile, the city will create favorable conditions for foreign importers and support local businesses in international integration through workshops that provide them with information about markets, preferential policies and benefits generated by Vietnam’s free trade agreements, said Nguyen Thanh Hai, Deputy Director of the municipal Department of Industry and Trade.
Ha Noi is also working on several large and modern logistics centers to serve exporters.
Economists have also suggested establishing technical barriers regarding product quality and safety to curb imports of low quality products.
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(Source: VNA)
