HCM City targets 15-16% Q4 industrial growth to secure double-digit expansion

This outcome shows major local businesses’ efforts to upgrade technology and product quality, alongside support from local authorities, helping the city advance toward its double-digit economic growth target for the year. To achieve this, the industrial sector aims for a 15-16% increase in the fourth quarter through corporate technology upgrades, supply chain connectivity, and foreign direct investment (FDI) integration.

Technology upgrades meet strict market standards

Lap Phuc Company in Phu Thuan Ward (former District 7) specializes in high-precision mechanical molds, exporting 95% of its supporting industry products to the US. The firm supplies components for major automotive and appliance brands, including Tesla, Toyota, BMW, Toshiba, and Whirlpool.

Over the past nine months, the company's exports grew 30% year-on-year, with orders secured through the end of the year. As US buyers increasingly shift orders from China to Vietnam, Lap Phuc has continuously updated its technology to handle complex, high-difficulty manufacturing.

Director of Lap Phuc Company Nguyen Van Tri notes that while clients demand rigorous US and European standards alongside competitive pricing, Vietnamese technical capabilities are well-regarded. "Most of our equipment is computer-controlled, requiring constant software updates. To compete globally, we must continuously invest and innovate," Tri shares.

Alongside corporate efforts, the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Industry and Trade has promoted key industries, connected domestic firms with supply chains, and implemented interest rate support policies to stimulate investment.

Through September, the department organized 43 trade promotion programs and specialized training courses involving 20 leading domestic and FDI enterprises, such as Toyota Vietnam, Panasonic Vietnam, and Schindler. These initiatives successfully matched over 300 components with 110 capable domestic supporting industry suppliers.

Rising production costs challenge businesses

Despite positive momentum, industrial enterprises face growing cost pressures. Surging prices for raw materials, fuel, logistics, and bank loans have compressed profit margins.

Minh Duc Rubber Company, which maintains export orders to Japan and the Republic of Korea (RoK) through year-end, reported that input material and logistics costs rose 10-20%, while selling prices increased by only 5%, leaving negligible profit.

Nguyen Quoc Anh, Director of Minh Duc Rubber Company and Chairman of the Ho Chi Minh City Rubber-Plastic Association, urged state intervention: "We ask the State to curb bank lending rates, which have climbed above 10%, down below 10% to ensure business survival. Value-added tax should be kept at 8%, and the city must cut logistics and compliance costs to help firms navigate this difficult period."

Fourth-quarter push for targets

For 2026, Ho Chi Minh City targets a 12.2% increase in overall industrial production, with manufacturing projected to rise 12.6%. To reach these benchmarks, the fourth-quarter IIP must accelerate by 15-16%.

The Department of Industry and Trade will focus on removing bottlenecks related to raw materials, capital, labor, administrative procedures, logistics, and energy.

The Department of Industry and Trade will focus on removing bottlenecks related to raw materials, capital, labor, administrative procedures, logistics, and energy. Key measures include linking enterprises with specialized logistics providers to optimize supply chains, expanding consumer markets, promoting supply-demand matching, and connecting with FDI enterprises.

Ho Chi Minh City seeks high-quality FDI inflows

Ho Chi Minh City is expanding its development space, forming new growth poles and attracting investment into technology- and knowledge-intensive sectors.

Ho Chi Minh City helps businesses effectively leverage FTAs

Ho Chi Minh City is developing an ecosystem to effectively and comprehensively leverage free trade agreements (FTAs), with the State playing a facilitating and coordinating role while encouraging greater participation by departments, local authorities, business and industry associations, business support organisations.