Promoting Growth in the Trade and Services Sector

On August 14, Provincial Party Committee Member and Vice Chairwoman of the Provincial People’s Committee Phung Thi Kim Nga chaired a thematic conference on promoting trade and service activities and ensuring growth in the services sector during the final months of 2026. The conference was attended by representatives of provincial departments, agencies and units, businesses operating in the services and logistics sectors, as well as training and research institutions across the province.

Vice Chairwoman of the Provincial People’s Committee Phung Thi Kim Nga delivers the concluding remarks at the conference.

According to a report by the Department of Industry and Trade, during the first seven months of 2026, the province’s trade and services sector maintained relatively strong growth. The supply of goods was ensured, the market remained basically stable, and there were no shortages, supply disruptions or abnormal price fluctuations. Trade, tourism, transportation, finance and banking, education, healthcare, science and technology all made positive contributions to economic growth.

Total retail sales of goods and consumer service revenue in the first seven months reached more than VND91.227 trillion, up 15.3%; transportation revenue exceeded VND13.399 trillion, up 18.1%; tourism continued to grow; and credit remained stable, meeting the economy’s capital needs. Efforts to attract investment in trade and services and promote digital transformation also continued to receive attention.

Director of the Department of Industry and Trade Tran Quang Tuan reports at the conference.

However, the services sector still faces a number of bottlenecks, as market size and purchasing power remain uneven; commercial, logistics and tourism infrastructure is not yet fully synchronized; and the progress of some projects remains slow. Difficulties related to land, planning, site clearance and investment procedures have not yet been resolved as required. In addition, the competitiveness of small businesses, cooperatives and household businesses remains limited; tourists’ length of stay and spending remain low; and digital transformation and the exploitation of e-commerce have yet to match the sector’s potential.

At the conference, representatives of departments, agencies, units and businesses discussed and analyzed existing limitations, identified specific objectives and solutions for each sector, and proposed coordination mechanisms among agencies and units to ensure the overall targets are achieved.

Leader of the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism speaks at the conference.

In her concluding remarks, Vice Chairwoman of the Provincial People’s Committee Phung Thi Kim Nga acknowledged and highly appreciated the efforts of departments, agencies, local authorities and the business community in implementing trade and service development tasks during the first months of the year.

Vice Chairwoman Phung Thi Kim Nga emphasized that under the adjusted growth scenario, the services sector must achieve growth of approximately 10.3% in the final six months of 2026, with many industries facing particularly high growth requirements. This is a challenging task that requires departments, sectors and localities to take more decisive action in leadership, management and implementation. She stressed the need to shift strongly from a task-based approach toward management based on growth targets; place businesses and the market at the center; make removing bottlenecks a breakthrough priority; and use actual results as the benchmark for performance evaluation.

An overview of the conference.

The Vice Chairwoman asked departments, sectors and localities to review and concretize growth targets and implementation responsibilities, clearly defining tasks, responsible individuals, timelines and expected results. Priorities include developing trade, stimulating consumer demand and expanding markets; creating visible breakthroughs in tourism development; and accelerating the development of transportation, logistics and service infrastructure.

She also requested that departments and local authorities promptly identify difficulties and obstacles and propose practical solutions to support businesses; improve access to capital and strengthen business support; accelerate the application of science and technology and digital transformation; improve the quality of human resources serving the services sector; and enhance the quality of healthcare, education and social services to meet people’s needs and contribute to growth in the services sector.

Le Hoang