A report of Department of Planning and Investment said total retail sales and service revenue in April is estimated at VND 56,581.2 billion, up 3, 8% compared to previous month and up 10% compare to the same period, total retail sales and service revenue in the first four months of 2015 is estimated at VND 230,849.4 billion, up 11,0%. Export volume of HCMC in April is estimated at US$ 2,7 billion, up 1% compared to March and 6,6% compared to the same period, export volume of the first four months is estimated at US$ 9,7 billion, up 5,0% compared to the same period. The export volume is estimated at US$ 8, 9 billion excluding value of crude oil, up 12, 4%.

Domestic and foreign investment has some positive changes. Total capital of domestic registered and additional investment is about VND 127,210 billion, up 51% compared to the same period. In term of foreign investment, a total of 237 new projects are granted certificates of investment registration worth US$ 228, 6 million (up 50% of numbers projects and down 62, 8% of capital compared to the same period) and 42 adjusted capital projects with total investment capital of US$ 164, 6 million (down 19, 2% of numbers of projects and down 21% of adjusted capital compared to the same period). Generally, total newly registered capital and adjusted capital reach US$ 393, 2 million, down 52, 3% compared to the same period.

At the meeting, Mr. Nguyen Thanh Phong expressed his worry that in 2015, HCMC was ranked 6th among top 10 of Provincial Competitiveness Index (PCI) in 2015, down 2 places compared to 2014. Many indicators dropped significantly while other indicators increased slightly from 1 to 2 points. In term of fair competition and business support, the city remained the same place.

Mr. Nguyen Thanh Phong said PAPI of HCMC in 2015 was ranked 47 out of 63 cities and provinces, of which 5/6 contents dropped compared to 20154, the only indicator of administrative procedure remained the same place.

He affirmed that construction of healthy and open business environment for domestic and foreign investors is the most important factor, he requested departments-agencies-districts to continue carrying out solutions on boosting production and business activities, removing difficulty for enterprises, improving investment environment to attract domestic and foreign resources, strengthening trade promotion activities, expanding market in the direction of attracting investment in sectors which are encouraged to develop in HCMC.

Mr. Nguyen Thanh Phong also requested leaders of relevant departments and agencies to frequently visit factories or establishments to remove difficulty for enterprises, not sitting and waiting for report. He affirmed that the city will strengthen decentralizing more power to districts-departments-sectors to make it more effective.

HCM CITYWEB