Photo for illustration (Source: tapchitaichinh.vn)

The information was released by the municipal Statistics Office.

The office said the index in traditional industries fell 9.8 percent compared to the same period last year.

Some saw a sharp plunge between January and February, including medicine production, water drainage and wastewater treatment, motorised vehicle production, and paper and paper product manufacturing.

Several key industries, meanwhile, enjoyed a year-on-year increase in their production index, such as electronics manufacturing (32.4 percent), electrical device production (28 percent), the manufacture of products from metallic minerals (22.4 percent), chemical and chemical product manufacturing (10.8 percent), and food production and processing (9.8 percent).

The Statistics Office added that last month the inventory index of the processing - manufacturing industry increased 12.3 percent year-on-year. Industries with an index higher than the sector’s average included leather and related products (up 155.4 percent), chemicals and chemical products (60.8 percent), and electrical devices (45.2 percent).

The sales index of processing - manufacturing was down 25.4 percent month-on-month in February and 9 percent year-on-year.

Industrial enterprises in HCM City said Vietnam is still coping with the latest outbreak of COVID-19 while countries that are important partners are also struggling with the pandemic. This has led to shortages of material supplies for production as well as poor sales in both domestic and foreign markets.

In talking about market contractions, which have affected local production and business activities, Nguyen Phuong Dong, Deputy Director of the city’s Department of Industry and Trade, said authorities are working to devise new and breakthrough policies, especially those helping firms capitalise on the opportunities generated by the recently-adopted EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA) and EU-Vietnam Investment Protection Agreement (EVIPA).

He also recommended enterprises keep a close watch on the pandemic’s developments and proactively seek new export and import markets./.

BTA