HCM City’s economy saw a variety of bright spots in the opening month of 2021 despite the ongoing complex developments of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Total retail sales of goods and revenue from consumer services in January are estimated at VND479.9 trillion (nearly US$20.77 billion), up 3.7% month-on-month and 6.4% year-on-year, according to the General Statistics Office (GSO).

Deeper integration into the global value chain while developing an increasingly independent and self-controlled economy are both a requirement and a solution to help Vietnam overcome the challenges to realise its goal of rapid and sustainable development, according to Party Central Committee and Minister of Industry and Trade Tran Tuan Anh.

Hanoi will carry out an array of industry and trade development measures with a view to building the capital city into an international trade hub in the region and the country, as well as concretising the resolution adopted at the municipal Party Organisation's 17th congress.

Vietnam’s total revenue from retail trade and services reached over VND5 quadrillion (US$219.5 billion) in 2020, representing a modest yearly rise of 2.6%, according to the General Statistics Office (GSO).

Ho Chi Minh City’s gross regional domestic product (GRDP) hit VND1.37 quadrillion (US$59.4 billion at current exchange rate) in 2020, a year-on-year increase of 1.39%.

Online shopping traffic in Vietnam so far this year rocketed over 150% against a year earlier, with daily visits to e-commerce sites growing to 3.5 million, Nguyen Ngoc Dung, Deputy Chairman of the Vietnam e-Commerce Association (VECOM), told a workshop recently.