Ho Chi Minh City recorded strong economic growth in the first fourmonths of 2015, according to a report from the municipal Department ofPlanning and Investment released on April 23.

Retailand service revenue totalled more than 221.4 trillion VND (10.3 billionUSD) within the period, an annual rise of 10.7 percent.

However, four-month export turnover amounted to 9.29 billion USD, a 3.4 percent reduction from 2014.

The fall in exports was fuelled by decreased volume of crude oil,explained Head of the department Thai Van Re. Excluding crude oil, thetotal export revenue marked 8.03 billion USD, increasing 8.3 percentyear-on-year thanks to the annual 12.2-percent growth in industrialproducts, he added.

As of April 20, there were 158licences granted to new foreign-funded projects worth 615.3 million USDand additional investments poured into 52 existing projects.

During the period, 8,823 domestic enterprises were founded withregistered capital amounting to approximately 47 trillion VND (2.2billion USD).

The city collected some 98.2 trillionVND (4.6 billion USD) for the State budget, up 9.36 percent annually,said Director of the municipal Finance Department, Dao Thi Lan Huong.

To maintain the current economic momentum, the southern hub’sauthorities will press ahead on a number of measures including enhancingtraditional markets, seeking new potential markets and launching arange of trade promotion campaigns to boost local business performance.-VNA