HCM City’s Stimulus via Investments programme is successfully resolvingfinancial difficulties for enterprises and contributing to restructuringthe industrial sector, according to industrial officials.

From 2009 to 2014, HCM City approved 209 projects for its stimulusprogramme with a total investment capital of 17.6 trillion VND (820million USD), 8.47 trillion of which will be loaned at a discountedinterest rate.

The city has consistently givenpriority to projects in four key industries, helping raise theirproportion in the entire industrial sector from 54 percent in 2006 to59.4 percent in 2014.

Specifically, mechanicsconstitutes 19 percent, electronics-information technology 4.1 percent,chemical-plastics-rubber 19.2 percent and garments and textiles 17.9percent of total industrial production, according to statistics from thecity’s Industry and Trade Department.

Manyexperts noted a marked shift in the structure of the city’s economy inrecent years, with high-tech manufacturing projects replacinglabour-intensive projects.

Regarding the city’seconomic restructuring project for 2013-2020, the department recommendedthat the city focus on core industrial sectors and especially on thequality of growth and the competitiveness of products.

Besides the four key industries, the city should invest in support, clean and energy-saving industries, it said.

In addition to providing prompt assistance in administrativeprocedures, legal issues, capital and technology, the city needs toencourage enterprises to take advantage of local resources such asworkforces, technology, materials and equipment to reduce the importsurplus.

Huynh Van Minh, President of the HCMCity Union of Business Associations ( HUBA ), said the city also needsto improve the enforcement of mechanisms and polices and ensure that newregulations suit the actual production and business conditions.

HCM City is currently operating 15 processing and industrial zonesand intends to add nine others by 2020, bringing the total area to 6,156hectares.-VNA