Report of Department of Service Economy – Ministry of Planning and Investment in March 24th 2012.
I. GENERAL SITUATION
1. World situation
In March and the first three months of 2012, the world economy faces many challenges when Greece was on the verge of collapse, yields of Italy and Spain are in decline, even Germany and the United Kingdom is also slow. Beside the direct economic costs of these policies, the "austerity" is not able to quickly narrow the budget deficit. Although the global economy has started showing signs of stabilizing, but public debt situation of some developing countries and the phenomenon of rising oil prices remain concerned risks. Meanwhile, the continued strong dollar against the euro is bad news for commodity markets, make commodity prices decline, except gold and energy.
2. Domestic situation
In March, the financial market has shown signs of recovery through lower interest rates of commercial banks. Meanwhile, gasoline retail price has been adjusted to increase due to the effect of high world oil price to the prices of goods and services in the country. The diseases of cattle, poultry happened complicated on a large scale, unhygienic food is a concern of consumers which affects the prices and supply sources of the manufacturera.
II. PERFORMANCE EVALUATION OF MARCH AND THE FIRST QUARTER OF 2012
1. Development of services
1.1. General situation.
In the first three months of 2012, despite the significant impact of the high prices of some essential commodities as inputs for production, trading such as, oil, gas, etc. Vietnamese service sector has continued to grow, the service focused to promote business development, ensuring supply-demand balance for goods, stabilizing market, ensuring the travel needs of the people; commercial enterprises have actively prepared good source, to satisfy the demand, especially essential goods for consumption before, during and after the Chinese New Year. The tourist activities is strong, the number of international tourists and the total retail sales of goods and services revenue increased strongly compared to the same period last year.
Growth rate of the service sector in the quarter I/2012 was estimated at over 7% compared to the same period in 2011, in which a number of service sector had an increase in growth rate as: trade service, wholesale, retail, financial service, banking, shipping service, tourist service. The structure of the service sector in Quarter I/2012 was estimated reaching 38.8 - 39%.
Quarter I/2012 was estimated at US$ 2.5 billion, increased over 12% compared to the same period in 2011, in which a number of valuable services for export such as: tourism, telecommunications, transport, banking, ...
(Estimates of the Department of Service Economy)
However, in the end of March 2012, the sudden increase in price of petrol, oil, gas in the context of unstable macro-economy: the price on the domestic and world market tended to increase, particularly prices of transport services; damage caused by traffic accidents increased significantly affecting the development of the service sector, especially the tourism sector.
1.2. The development of some service sectors.
a. Tourism:
In the first quarter of 2012, there were a lot of tours to festivals, especially the major festivals in the North. This year, according to travel companies in Hanoi, festival tourism has sudden growth even“out of tour” situation in a number of companies..
To explain the above problem, the travel companies in Hanoi, said that when social and economic life is gradually improved, the mental, belief activities increase accordingly. Besides, the festival organising is deployed on a better way, partly meet the needs of visitors. Also, with the professionalization of the organization of tourist companies, people also change their habits to book a tour instead of going themselves. Therefore, the number of tourists booking festival tours in recent years have dramatically changed. Surveys showed that the booking of tour companies have increased greatly such as: Ha Noi Vietravel Company up 20% over the same period last year. Also in GoldenTour Travel Center, from the Lunar New Year so far has served about 3,000 visitors, and this increase is considered a sudden change over the previous year. However, the festival season usually ends in late March so festival visitors booking through travel companies continues to increase.
With this type of tourism, tours are usually designed to last a day, a few 2 day matching against time and the spending of travelers. Therefore, visitors can choose the places and the departure time with 450 thousand to over 1 million dong; combining with sightseeing. Popular tour is the Perfume Pagoda (1 day), Tran Temple – Giay Palace (1 day), Yen Tu (1 day), Yen Tu - Ha Long - Cua Ong (2 days), Bai Dinh – Trang An (1 day), Tay Thien (1 day), Lang Son – Mau Temple (1 day).
Hanoi Red Tour Joint-stock Company has deployed series of spring tour combining the pagoda visiting in the East - North West, enabling visitors to discover the beauty the northern mountains. Some tours of Hanoi Red Tour attracting tourists are Ha Giang - Rocky Highland, Mai Chau - Moc Chau, Bac Can - Cao Bang - Lang Son, Sa Pa ...
After years of decline, cruise tourism is gradually stabilizing and promising growth in 2012. Only in February, many ships of international tourists to Vietnam included: cruise ship AIDA DIVA (Italian citizens) from Brunei bring 2,038 tourists and 596 crew, staff landing at SITV Phu My port (Tan Thanh District), Columbus international cruise liner (Germany) with 550 tourists and crews mostly German nationality arriving to Vietnam via the route Danang - Hai Phong, cruise liners Costa Classica and SuperStar with more than 4,000 tourists and crews on voyages of one-day Halong visit... Also, Costa Classica will continue to visit Ha Long on days of Feb 13, 17, 21 and 29 and SuperStar Aquarius of luxury ship fleet owned by Star Cruises, has 07 trips coming to Chan May port (Thua Thien-Hue Province) and Tien Sa (Da Nang), during the period from 14/2 to 5/3.
International visitors to Vietnam in Quarter I was estimated at 1.9 million arrivals, increasing 29% over the same period last year. Almost of tourist markets had increase over the same period of last year. International tourists to Vietnam in the first quarter of 2011 were in some main markets such as: China, Korea, Japan, United State…
In terms of transportation, the number of international tourists to Vietnam in the first quarter of 2011 were mainly by air, up 20%; by road, up 10%; by sea, up 40% over the same period of previous year.
In terms of purposes of the trips, in the first three months of the year the number of tourists coming for the purpose of visiting relatives increased 23% compared to the same period last year as it was Lunar New Year, therefore there were quite a lot of overseas Vietnamese going home for Tet; followed by tourists coming for the purpose of traveling increased about 30%; for the purposes of work increased about 20%, and for other purposes increased 30% which was relatively high compared to the same period.
(Estimates of the Department of Service Economy)
b.Post and Telecommunications.
New telephone subscribers in the first two months of this year was estimated at 1.94 million, up 34.1% compared to the same period in 2011, including: 4.9 thousand desk telephone subscribers, equaling 24.6% over the same period and over 1.93 million mobile phone subscribers, up 35.6%. The number of telephone subscribers over the country as of end of February 2012 was estimated to reach 134.2 million, up 3.6% compared to the same period last year, including 15.3 million desk telephone subscribers, down 1,4% and 119 million mobile phone subscribers, up 4.3%.
The number of internet subscribers over the country as of end of February 2012 was estimated at 4.3 million, up 18.2% compared to the same period last year. The number of internet users as of end of February 2012 was estimated at 32.6 million, up 18.4% compared to the same period in 2011. Total net revenue of postal and telecommunication in the first 2 months of this year was estimated reaching 22.1 trillion dong, increased 21.4% compared to the same period in 2011.
c. Transportation:
Cargo carriage was expected to reach 154.66 million tons, equaling 108% and about 35,249 million tons-kilometers, equaling 107.5% over the same period in 2011; passenger carriage was expected to reach 578.17 million participants, eqiuvalent to 108.5% and 24,416 64 million passengers-kilometers, equivalent to 108% over the same period in 2011.
2. Export and import of goods
a. Export
Export in March 2012 was estimated to reach US$ 9.15 billion, increased 10.2% over the previous month; in which export of foreign-invested enterprises (excluding crude oil) was estimated at US$5,15 billion.
In the first 3 months of 2012, total export turnover was estimated reaching over US$ 24.5 billion, rose 23.6% over the same period last year; in which, export of foreign-invested enterprises (excluding oil crude) was estimated to obtain US$13.8 billion, up 48.8% over the same period last year.
Export of some major items in the first 3 months of 2012 over the same period last year was as follows: crude oil was estimated at 1,763 thousand tons, down 8.6% in volume and 9% in turnover; coal was estimated to reach 2,999 thousand tons, up 29.5% in volume and 4% in turnover; textile reached over US$3.2 billion, up 15.4%; footwear reached nearly US$1.5 billion, up 14%; rubber 223 thousand tons, increased 37.7% in volume and 8% in turnover; timber and wood products US$966 million, up 18.2%; electronic components US$1,622 million, up 98%; aquatic products US$1,265 million, increased 11.7%; rice 1,104 thousand tons, down 42.6% in volume and 42.5% in turnover; coffee 514 thousand tons, down 10.1% in volume and 11.8% in turnover; cassava and cassava products 1,179 thousand tons, rose 2.9% in volume and 8% in turnover ...
Prices of many exports virtually unchanged against as the same period in 2011, a number of exports had a sharp decrease in prices such as: coal price fell by 20%, rubber by 33%, cassava and cassava products by 10.3%. The price decrease of these items seperately reduced export turnover of US$119 million.
As for export market, export into US market was estimated to account for 17.6%; export into EU accounted for 18.2%; export into ASEAN accounted for 13.8%; export into Japan accounted for 12.1%; export into China had proportion of nearly 9.3%.
2. Import
Import turnover in March 2012 was estimated at US$9.3 billion, up 8.4% from the previous month; in which, import of foreign-invested enterprises was estimated reaching US$4.9 billion.
In the first 3 months of 2012, total import turnover was estimated to reach US$ 24.7 billion, increased 6.9% over the same period last year; in which, import turnover of foreign-invested enterprises reached more than US$13 billion, up 30.3%.
Import volume and turnover of some major items in the first 3 months of 2012 compared to the same period last year are as follow: gasoline was 2,020 thousand tons, down 32.1% in volume and 19.7% in turnover; iron and steel of all kinds were 1,791 thousand tons, increased 7.5% in volume and 8% in turnover; fertilizer 618 thousand tons, down 27.4% in volume and 13.3% in turnover; paper of all kinds were 279 thousand tons, up 10.7% in volume and 9.8% in turnover; plastic materials were 617 thousand tons, rose 3.2% in volume and approximate in turnover; machinery and equipments reached nearly US$3.4 billion, down 1.4%; computers and spare parts gained US$2,662 million, up 103.4%; fabrics of all kinds were US$1,304 million, down 11.1%; textile materials obtained 654 million, up 2.5 % ...
The average import price of most items declined over the same period. However, the price of some imports mainly increased over the same period of last year such as: fertilizer price increased by 19.1%, oil and gas by 18.2%, bloom by 6.2%, automobiles by 5.5%. The price increase factor of these items seperately makes import turnover increase US$179 million.
Trade deficit in the first 3 months of 2012 was estimated to reach US$251 million, capturing over 1% in export turnover. In which, foreign invested enterprises (excluding crude oil) made trade surplus of US$801 million.
3. Development of the domestic market
3.1. Total turnover of retail goods and revenue of consumer services
According to the General Statistics Office, the total turnover of retail goods and consumer service revenues (referred to as total retail sales) in March 2012 was estimated at about US$189,055 billion, increased 1.18% compared to February 2012 and up 21.8% compared to the same period in 2011.
In all economic sectors participating in the market, individual economic sector still accounts for the largest share with 48.6%, followed by the private and the state economic sectors with the proportion of 35.6 % and 11.6%, respectively. Contribution value of foreign investment sector reached 3%, meanwhile the collective sector accounted for 1.2%.
3.2. The consumer price index
According to the Department of Service Economy, the consumer price index (CPI) in March 2012 increased by 0.16% compared to February 2012. The groups with a high price rate was expected to be: housing and construction materials; electricity, water, and gas; traffic. Meanwhile the group of food and catering services had a slight decline. Commodity groups increased mainly due to the adjustment of energy prices, increasing input costs.
3.3. Supply and demand situation, prices of some essential commodities
a) Gasoline
Crude oil price in the world market remained high. WTI oil price was average of US$ 106.42 per barrel, increased by 5.04% over the same period. Brent oil reached US$ 124.45 per barrel, up US$ 12.15, equaling 10.82%.
Finished gasoline price in the Singapore market in the beginning of March also increased. RON 92 petroleum was average of US$ 133.98 per ton and reach the peak with 6.39% over the same period. Kerosene, DO, FO also increased from 2.91% to 4.3%.
Crude oil for delivery in May rose US$105.75/barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Monthly Brent Oil up to US$ 123.43/barrel on ICE Futures Europe.
Due to high world prices, domestic oil and gas could also be adjusted. Starting from 16 p.m on March 07, the retail price of petrol A92 increased 2.100 dong/liter, reaching 22,900. The items of kerosene, diesel, mazut also appreciated 600-2000 dong/liter.
According to preliminary data of the General Department of Customs, the amount of imported oil in March 2012 was estimated at 720 thousand tons, worth US$ 730 million; decreased 1.2% compared to February 2012. For the whole quarter, there was 2,020 tons of gas and oil imported, equivalent to 68% over the same period.
b) Iron and steel
As the real estate market has not showed signs of recovery, policy of reduction in public investment will be a challenge for construction material manufacturers in general as well as sthe steel industry in particular. Steel consumption in March of the country was expected tobe better, however, the fluctuation would not be too large, so the price of steel has possibly no considearble fluctuation over the current price…
According to preliminary statistics from the General Department of Customs, the yard of all kinds of imported steel in March 2012 reached 600 thousand tons, worth US$ 490 million; decreased by 14% compared to February 2012; in which imported bloom obtained 50 thousand tons, worth US$ 34 million, up 35% from the last month.
c) Cement
The output of cement production In February was estimated at 2.72 million tons, reaching to 4.92 million tons in the first 2 months, equaling 8.9% of the yearly plan, 2 months’ consumption was estimated reaching 4.64 million tons , equivalent to 8.4% of the yearly plan. The estimation of import in February reached 40 thousand tons of clinker and about 200 thousand tons of cement and clinker for export.
In March, the output of the whole cement sector predictably gained 3 million tons, up 10% against February, consumption is estimated at 2.9 million tonnes, rose slightly from the last month.
According to the Ministry of Construction, cement production is gradually over domestic demand, requiring the cement industry to enhance searching and expanding markets, including international market. To promote the export of cement, enterprises has strengthen to search overseas markets, rationalizing transportation, overcoming the limitations of handling or logistics operations in order to increase exports of cement products. As of end of February 2012, the cement industry has exported 226,000 tons of cement and clinker, increased 326% compared to the same period in 2011.
In 2011, the whole industry exported more than 5.5 million tons of cement products (mainly Clinker) to markets such as China, Bangladesh, Indonesia, a number of African countries and in the ASEAN region.
d) Fertilizers
Currently, the supply of fertilizers on the market are abundant, meanwhile the consumption of fertilizers tend to decrease, due to many provinces in the Mekong Delta has entered the 2011-2012 winter-spring rice harvest. Price of many kinds of fertilizer was forecasted to decline in the comming time. In the North the winter-spring crop has come, but demand for fertilizer has still been little, meanwhile the winter-spring rice harvest was occurring in the South. Because of the low demand of fertilizer in the domestic market, buying and selling of this good across the border with China was very slow, the domestic fertilizer businesses now mainly consume their inventory to gain capital. In the coming time, fertilizer demand of the domestic market was expected to be negligible and the prices of fertilizers in general still tend to decline.
Prices of types of fertilizers: DAP, Urea, NPK ... additionaly reduced by 15,000-20,000 VND/ 50kg. Thus, in the past three months, prices of Urea and DAP prices have dropped by a total of about 100,000-150,000/50kg.
Fertilizer import in March 2012 was estimated at 240 thousand tons with a value of US$ 108 million; in which urea was 25 thousand tons and worth US$ 10 million.
II. PROPOSED SOLUTIONS TO IMPROVE PERFORMANCE OF PLAN EXECUTION IN 2012
1. Development of tourism industry
a) To complete and implement the Action Plan to conduct The Overall Strategy to Develop Service Sector in Vietnam till 2020 with the main contents: review of the Government's action program in service development in period of 2009-2011; guidance for related units to implement action programme of Overall Strategy to Develop Vietnam's Service Area by 2020;
b) To raise awareness of the service sector: building and submiting Raising awareness of the service sector to the Prime Minister and initialy implementing (including media campaigns, social mobilization, activities to raise awareness among relevant agencies, localities and branch associations);
c) To improve the legal framework, policy to develop the service sector:
- To review the legal document system relating to the service in order to ensure to be consistent with international agreements on services and avoid overlapping;
- To establish and adopt or adjust the Strategy, development master plan of important services;
- To establish and apply system of classification criteria and service standards.
d) To enhance the role of the state in service development management at the same time with the state management about service to meet the practical needs in the coming time.
e) To develop human resources to meet the requirements of dynamic and modern service sector
- To form and organize effectively labor market; solving problem of using labor in terms of conception, regime, interests ...;
- To develop wide network of education and training services with the participation of the private sector in providing these services;
- To raise measures, policies, ensuring information to promote the training of basic skills in the creation, management and operation of the service activities, communication skills, foreign language ...;
- To promote, encourage regular training because of the dynamic and unstable nature of the service sector.
- To raise FDI atracting policy in the field of training, quality and skilled improvement for manpower in the country.
f) To improve productivity, promote competition and keep opening service sector
- To continue equitization and restructuring of state-owned enterprises which do not work in naturaly monopolistic markets or fields related to national defense, security or plain public services;
- To bring businesses and other units owned by State into regulated provisions of the public procurement for services;
- To implement policies to rather purchase business support services and others through competitive bidding than relying on government business priority. This will create more opportunities for the private service businesses to expand their business;
- To develop a schedule in order to gradually eliminate legal barriers to the service area, consistent to trend of the modern market economy and the increasingly level of regionalization and globalization.
g) To promote export of services and enhance international integration of services through:
- To provide services for foreign tourists travelling to Vietnam;
- To provide services to foreign vehicles transiting temporarily through Vietnam;
- To promote the provision of business support services for both export and import through the development of air transport and waterway; to enhance insurance and finance capacity for trade;
- To promote the provision of services to foreign investors in Vietnam;
- To boost the supply of electronic services of Vietnam to foreign customers; spontenously with the provision of temporary labor service in Vietnam to foreign customers;
- To encourage greater overseas investment in the service sector; to promote the service provision to foreign customers via overseas Vietnamese companies (in order to support service export of companies operating in construction, transportation, architecture, entertainmenr, restaurants, etc.).
h) Solution for resources:
- Government uses state budget to support the development of the service sector, in which focusing on services prioritized or identified as key as above, being able to implement through National Target Programme and (or) targeted investing support.
- To prioritize using ODA in order to develop regional infrastructure system for service sector;
- To establish policies to mobilize the resources of the private sector, expanding indirect investment attraction through capital markets for the development of services;
- To continuously complete regulations on foreign direct investment (FDI) in the service sector in order to attract, promote efficiency of this capital, at the same time, building new models along with the direction specifically aimed at attracting more foreign direct investment in key service areas, encouraged development fields, ensuring efficiency and benefit from invetors, the state and the users of service;
- To implement Public Private Partnership (PPP) model in the provision of services, especially public services.
2. Monitoring of export-import
a. Export enhancement
To maintain export growth rate achieved in 2011, striving to achieve a turnover of US$ 109.5 billion, it needs to be proposed to focus on the following measures:
- To focus on improving quality in order to increase the value of traditional production (especially agriculture, forestry, fishery) which does not have condition to increase in volume; To expand production scale, innovate equipment and technology, boost production and export of commodities with large turnover, high growth capacity, important contributions to export plan, resolve employment, stablize society.
- To improve the quality of trade promotion, market expansion, boosting production and export of commidity group unlimited in production capacity, using mainly local materials; To increase funding for national trade promotion program;
- To exploit in-depth, width of traditional market along with the joint bordering markets; To promote the information and forecasts for the foreign market, early detect and create measures to overcome technical barriers;
- To supply preferently credit, to ensure sufficient capital for farmers and businesses to purchase raw materials for the production of exported goods; To encourage businesses to diversify foreign exchange in transactions; To raise regulations for commercial banks to ensure interest rates for production and export enterprises to borrow, without additional costs;
- Poor quality of export support services such as transportation, insurance, logistics in Vietnam is currently limiting the promotion of export. These issues need to be focused to improve in the short term.
b. Control deficit
- To continue implementing a series of measures to stabilize the market, ensuring the balance between supply and demand of essential commodities on the basis of improving the quality of forecasting, warning the market situation. To coordinate with Association, Ministries, sectors to assess demand for imported goods and the ability of domestic production to meet demand, then raising specific restrictions for each item;
- Ministry of Industry and Trade shall check, urge Economic Groups, Corporations, State Companies in the implementation of import to ensure production, not over needs and apply measures to prevent imports for speculation and hoarding of goods.
- The Ministries, branches and localities to continue implementation of Directive No.494/CT-TTg dated April 20th 2010 of the Prime Minister on the use of materials, domestic goods in the bidding of state-funded projects.
- The Ministry of Industry and Trade shall develop policies to encourage investment in production to replace imports, develop auxilary industry, increase the usage of domestic machinery, supplies, manufacturing equipments production under the direction of the Government.
- To identify priority level for accession to foreign currency for the group goods such as being non-essential, discourage to import, manufacturable domestic products, to give the regulations, principles of import loans.
- Tax measures: In the short term, as for commodity groups of discouraged imports, it’s needed to research and add more items which should be increased in tax; To consider additional options to items which can be able to applys quotas for tighter control of imports;
- As for cross-border economic: to develop specific mechanisms and policies to not only promote export activities in Vietnam, but also control imported goods from neighboring countries, in which emphasizing on technical standards, sanitary and safety for consumers;
- To strengthen post-inspection for quality, safety and hygiene for imported products and circulation in accordance with the standards and regulations; to implement technical measures to protect consumers and create technical barriers to limit imports, control the import of raw materials for export processing ...;
- To review the signed Bilateral and Multilateral Trade Agreement and being cautious in promoting the negotiation of new agreements. International trade agreements on one hand create an opportunity to promote export of Vietnam, on the other hand raise a risk of trade deficit if negotiations weren’t closely;
- To continue emphasizing information and communication measure groups, especially the policy "Vietnamese give priority to Vietnamese goods", considering it an indirect channel to increase the using proportion of Vietnamese goods, thereby reduce that of imports.
3. Domestic market development
3.1. General solution
a. Measures to ensure the supply and demand of goods
- To catch up with the evolution of the market, forecast correctly and early the possible situations to have timely and effective measures;
- The provinces and cities continue to implement measures to ensure supply and stabilize prices for the beginning of 2012.
- To tighten the market management and inspectation, handle timely and strictly violations in commercial activities;
- To implement the market regulation, ensure fair distribution of goods between regions, avoiding commodity shortages occur locally in some places, especially essential goods such as food, oil and gas, iron and steel...;
- To continue to bring goods to rural, regional and remote areas to expand the market and improve the domestic market share;
- To continue to best exploit production capacity and domestic market demand, boosting to export;
- To speed up the completion of projects for development of essential goods production to put into operation, creating the supply to meet the needs of the market;
- To timely submit plan on supply of food and the reserved means of searching and rescue to the localities, especially the Central regions to help remedy the consequences of natural disasters, guarantee social security.
b. The measures to stabilize prices include:
- To continue implementing seriously and drastically the Government's direction in Resolution 11/NQ-CP on 06 groups of measures to curb inflation, stabilize macro-economy and ensure social security in the last months of 2011;
- To continue conducting programs of stabilizing prices, especially in two major cities of Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh, which have the greatest weights in the whole country in calculating price index so their stabilization would contribute determinatively to price stabilization within the country;
- To continue expanding in the large cities, especially Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, promotion and discount programs proven effective in recent periods in order to stimulate consumption and create motivations for domestic producers and distributors;
- To keep close control of information dissemination to detect and strictly handle cases launching false rumors, causing panic in people, creating bad price fluctuations, affecting target of Government of macroeconomic stabilization;
- To calculate the route of increasing the prices of commodities being inputs of the manufacturing industries such as petroleum, electricity and coal at the appropriate time following the market signals without causing pressure on prices for other goods;
- Ministry of Industry and Trade to coordinate with the related ministries, sectors and localities to direct drastically the state enterprises, to ensure no price increase; to check and urge regularly to detect and immediately resolve the violations;
- Ministry of Finance to coordinate with related ministries, sectors to research, adjust tax policy efficiently and promptly in order to stabilize prices, reduce trade deficit;
- To control the price registration, publicity of price, declaration of information about price; examine compliance of state laws on prices;
- To continue implementing measures to support enterprises in capital, market expand, administrative procedures ... to help businesses reserving goods, preparing enough goods for demands of the holidays;
- The line ministries to direct the corporations and enterprises to implement measures to reduce costs, improve productivity, decline cost norms which helps lower products’ prices;
- To continue promoting implementation of the campaign "Vietnamese prioritize Vietnamese products" by encouraging and supporting businesses to actively take their goods to the rural, remote areas in order to expand and establish solid market for locally-made goods.
3.2. Solutions for key commodities
a) With regard to petrol
- Ministry of Industry and Trade to coordinate with the related units to inspect and supervise, ensure balance of petroleum supply-demand with stable prices;
- To inspect, supervise the quality of gasoline supplied in the market, ensuring the safety of used vehicles;
b) Regarding iron and steel
- To promote the export of steel;
- To develop technical barriers to limit the cheap and poor quality steel penetrating the domestic market;
c) As regards fertilizer
- To encourage enterprises actively preparing to ensure satisfying demand, preventing price hike, especially when entering the peak season;
- To strengthen transport capacity, ensuring the smooth supply for fertilizer between regions;
- To closely monitor fertilizer prices to take measures to regulate the import and production line, avoiding the lack of a local fertilizer causes fever on prices, affecting agricultural production;
- Strengthening the customs at the border, especially in the north to reduce smuggling of fertilizer over-quota.
d) As for cement
- To promote the export in markets of China, Bangladesh, Indonesia, a number of African countries and in the ASEAN region and continue to seek to expand the market to other countries. /.
Ministry of Planning and Investment