Industry – Trade Sector: highlight of Economic Recovery and Development

Kien Giang's industry, commerce and service sector has remarkably developed in recent years and greatly contributed to the overall growth of the province. In particular, the sector has experienced a strong post-COVID-19 recovery thanks to local consistent solutions.

Modern services, trade and utilities are increasingly developed in Kien Giang, helping boost consumption and raise people's living standards

Steadily growing industrial production

Industry is an important economic sector that has a great contribution to economic growth and restructuring of Kien Giang province and plays an active supporting role in developing agriculture, trade and service.

In 2016-2020, the industry developed stably and achieved decent growth. Industrial production value reached VND46,515 billion (US$2 billion) in 2020, an increase of 133.40% over 2015. The annual average growth was 5.9% 2016-2020. The share of industry in the province's GRDP rose from 11.20% in 2015 to 13.30% in 2020.

Kien Giang has attracted many industrial investment projects, which invested a total of VND5,314 billion and employed more than 44,000 local workers. These projects are working effectively and making great contributions to the province's budget revenue every year.

In 2021-2025 and to 2030, Kien Giang is determined to accelerate industrial restructuring to unlock local potential advantages to strongly develop key industries and incorporate innovations into the intensive growth pattern (growth in quality and added value) and value chain-based production for sustainable industrial development.

In particular, the province will focus on export-oriented investment in sectors and fields with advantageous access to natural resources such as cement industry, agricultural and aquatic processing (highly value-added products made from rice and seafood) and to human resources such as textile - garment and leather - footwear. It will research and propose some development support policies for key industrial products. The province will give priority to investment in value-added industrial development such as electronic and electric equipment manufacturing and assembling, mechanical engineering, construction, and shipbuilding (sea transportation). It will mobilize all available resources to fully invest in infrastructure in industrial zones to call for industrial development investment and prioritize funding sources for supporting industries.

Promoting trade, import and export

Beside industrial production, Kien Giang's trade sector has experienced strong growth in recent years. Total retail revenue of consumer goods and services was VND545,798 billion in the 2016-2020 period (including VND110,800 billion in 2020), representing a year-on-year growth of 11.44%.

Export value was US$3,228.7 million 2016-2020, including US$682.08 million 2020, and the annualized growth was 11.99%, higher than the previous period. The province's main export products are agricultural products (accounting for 33.4%), aquatic products (accounting for 34.3%), leather footwear (20.8%) and other goods (10.3%).

Currently, the province has 42 exporters which are shipping their products to 43 markets, including South Africa, China, Hong Kong, Japan, South Korea, Russia and Cambodia. In 2016-2020, the province diversified its export markets, with growign shipments to the United States, the UK, Thailand, the Netherlands and Switzerland.

The province's import value totaled US$576.9 million in the 2016-2020 period, including US$129.4 million in 2020, representing a year-on-year growth of 19.61%. Its key imports consist of machinery, equipment, tools and components (accounting for 67.2%) and raw materials for production (32.5%). Its main imports also included fishing nets, tools and machine parts, plastic resin and gypsum.

Kien Giang province is home to Ha Tien Border Gate Economic Zone, which has facilitated border trade development. The merchandise export value through its border gates has continuously increased. In 2020, the import and export turnover reached US$198.35 million (rising 12.31% yearly), including US$90.93 million of import value (growing 11.4% yearly). This performance boosted the share of trade and service to GRDP to 42.67% in 2020.

In 2020-2021, the complicated development of the COVID-19 epidemic disrupted the global supply chain and the service industry was the hardest hit but the trade and service industry still made up a high share in the province's GRDP. This showed that this sector developed steadily, created high-valued products, applied scientific and technological advances to business to improve labor productivity and reduce cost.

To draw investment fund for trade and service development, the Department of Industry and Trade advised the Provincial People's Committee to launch Plan 223/KH-UBND dated November 23, 2021 on Kien Giang trade infrastructure investment and development in 2021-2025, the Kien Giang Trade Development Master Plan in 2021-2030, with a vision to 2050; Plan 23/KH-UBND dated February 3, 2021 for implementation of the Memorandum of Understanding on development and connectivity of Kien Giang border trade infrastructure between Vietnam and Cambodia. The department submitted the plan for logistics competitiveness improvement and development in Kien Giang province in 2022-2026 to the Provincial People's Committee to serve as a basis for investment attraction for trade infrastructure development, facilitate circulation, consumption and distribution of products, thus helping boost industrial manufacturing growth and increase consumer retail revenues.

Source: Vietnam Business Forum