Export orders move up, tax refunds, land procedures remain stagnant

At the meeting on the socio -economic situation in the first 9 months of the year; key tasks and solutions for the fourth quarter of 2023 on the morning of September 28, organized by the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee, Mr. Nguyen Ngoc Hoa, Chairman of the Ho Chi Minh City Business Association (Huba), said that some sectors such as textiles, foodstuffs, and essential goods have begun to receive orders.

Along with that, inventory levels in some importing countries have decreased, and partners in your country have had a need to import goods again.

However, Huba representative said, these are usually short-term orders, not long-term orders.

For example, at this time last year, businesses had orders until the second quarter of next year, but current orders are mainly short-term, serving the peak shopping season at the end of the year or Christmas. Meanwhile, long-term consumer goods such as wood, furniture, etc. still have no orders.

Most businesses believe that the business environment in Ho Chi Minh City is slowly improving, with no clear changes compared to previous quarters.

Businesses complain about slow tax refunds and no changes in land procedures.

Many businesses in Ho Chi Minh City are showing a tendency to be "afraid" of investing. (Photo: Nguyen Hue ).

Regarding credit demand, recently, banks have reduced interest rates to lower than before but capital still cannot be absorbed. There is excess money.

Huba and the bank contacted businesses, most of the answers were that they did not know what to borrow money for, how to expand production? They did not have the need, were not bold enough to invest to expand production and business - according to Mr. Hoa.

Regarding local revenue sources, Director of the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Finance, Mr. Le Duy Minh, assessed that recently, revenue from personal income has decreased, especially revenue from transfers in the real estate sector has decreased sharply.

In addition, personal income from securities activities also decreased sharply. Revenue from trading activities on the stock market is only about 10,000 billion VND/day, equal to 1/3 compared to 2022.

In the first 9 months of 2023, Ho Chi Minh City's budget revenue was VND 326,194 billion, reaching only 69.5% of the plan. Up to this point, the city is one of the localities with the lowest budget revenue compared to the national average.

Director of the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Finance, Mr. Le Duy Minh, said that he will cut off the source of funds for units that disburse public investment slowly. (Photo: TTBC)

Regarding solutions to support businesses, the Director of the Department of Information said that since the beginning of the year, the city has exempted and extended taxes worth about VND18,000 billion. It is expected that in the last 4 months of the year, an additional VND4,000 billion in taxes will be exempted, reduced and extended. From there, businesses will have more resources to resume production and business activities.

Regarding public investment, for the expenditures managed by the Department of Finance, in the first 9 months, some units spent less than the same period, these units spent 50% below the city's average. For example, expenditures on science and technology reached 48.42%; expenditures on health care reached 34.62%; expenditures on agriculture, forestry and irrigation were only 39.82%...

Therefore, units need to quickly disburse public investment expenditures, helping the industry develop, contributing to GRDP growth, aiming to achieve the city's target of 95% public investment disbursement for the whole year.

“The National Assembly's Finance and Budget Committee and the Ministry of Finance Inspectorate have worked with Ho Chi Minh City. The spending tasks of some units are low and the disbursement rate is slow. The Department of Finance has the right to cut the spending of slow units to focus on other activities, such as serving investment and development of the city,” Mr. Minh noted.

According to the report of the City People's Committee, GRDP in the third quarter of 2023 is estimated to increase by 6.71%, and in the first 9 months it is estimated to increase by 4.57% over the same period. In addition, the industrial production index (IIP) in the area increased by 3.2%; the number of newly established enterprises increased by 13% (37,224 enterprises).

'HCMC is a good place to test green economic development policies' "With its urban characteristics, population size, and economic dynamism, HCMC will be a very good place to test policies to promote green economy, circular economy, and green growth," Deputy Prime Minister Le Minh Khai affirmed.

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