Provinces in the southeastern region posted impressive economic figures in 2018, proving themselves an important growth engine of the whole country.
Provinces in the southeastern region posted impressive economic figures in 2018, proving themselves an important growth engine of the whole country.
The Binh Duong People’s Committee reported that the local gross regional domestic product (GRDP) rose 9.01%, with a 9.79% increase in the industrial production.
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The province attracted nearly US$1.4 billion of foreign direct investment (FDI) and VND5.2 trillion (US$222.8 million) of domestic capital. Last year, its export revenue increased by 15.6% from 2017. Exports by foreign invested businesses rose 17.5% to account for 80.5% of the total overseas shipments.
As a result, Binh Duong recorded a trade surplus of over US$4.8 billion, up more than US$100 million from the previous year. The exports included wood, textile-garment, footwear, rubber, and ceramics.
Notably, wood export reached US$4.48 billion by the end of October, rising 8.5% year on year and making up almost half of the country’s total export of the product.
Meanwhile, the neighbouring province of Dong Nai estimates its export turnover in 2018 at over US$18.6 billion, up 11.7%. Its trade surplus of around US$2.6 billion surged over fourfold from 2014, the first year Dong Nai enjoyed a trade surplus – US$625 million.
About US$980 million of FDI capital was poured into 106 new projects, and another US$870 million was added to 92 existing ones in Dong Nai, according to local authorities.
In Ba Ria – Vung Tau province, the economic growth rate reached 7.2%, contributed by the year-on-year expansion of the GRDP (6.43%), the industrial production value (8.72%), and exports (13.32%, excluding oil and gas).
Chairman of the Binh Duong People’s Committee Tran Thanh Liem said in 2019, his province will push ahead with industrial development while paying more attention to the sectors with high added value and less environmental impact like electricity, electronics, and auto manufacturing.
At the same time, Dong Nai will continue prioritising investment attraction to supporting industries so as to raise the rate of local components in products, Vice Chairman of the provincial People’s Committee Tran Van Vinh said, noting that once the domestic supply of materials is ensured, the trade surplus will rise even higher in line with export growth in the coming years.
Ba Ria – Vung Tau authorities said in the time ahead, they will promote the five economic pillars of industry, seaports, logistics, tourism and hi-tech agriculture, which in turn will help the province reduce its dependence on the oil and gas sector and the FDI capital.
