It has also targeted 34.95 billion USD from exports, an 8-10 percent increase over last year, Le Van Khoa, Director of the department, told a recent review meeting.

Exports, excluding crude oil, were worth 27.89 billion USD last year, a year-on-year increase of 12 percent, with shipments of industrial and processed goods increasing significantly from previous years, he said.

The city will strive to ensure balanced trade and prevent indiscriminate imports, especially of luxury goods. It will take measures to ensure inflation is lower than the national figure and to speed up the restructuring of the industrial sector so that it can play a greater role in the global value chain, Khoa said.

Amending zoning plans so that industrial parks, processing zones and industrial clusters specialise in certain industries, upgrading traditional markets, ensuring supply and demand are matched and strengthening market oversight is also on the cards for this year, he said.

The city will undertake programmes to resolve difficulties faced by companies and help them sell more in both domestic and foreign markets.

There will be focus on developing support industries to increase local content in industrial products,” he said.

Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Do Thang Hai hailed the efforts made by the city's industrial and retail sectors last year, urging the city to implement measures to help businesses expand investment and trade and integrate more into the global economy.

He also suggested that it should improve the efficiency of its programmes like price stabilisation and Vietnamese people prioritise using made-in Vietnam goods and those to strengthen links between banks and businesses.

(VNA)