Exchange rate, interest rate, lack of capital... "surround" businesses
While the paper industry is lacking capital to invest in production lines, the garment industry is worried about the sharp increase in world import material prices, plus pressure from exchange rate changes...
At the online meeting of the Ministry of Industry and Trade, a representative of the textile industry said: Textile and garment export is one of the key economic sectors. Currently, there are about 18,000 workers in the textile and garment industry nationwide, mainly concentrated in the Central region.
The textile and garment labor situation this year is quite stable in terms of quantity. This is shown by the fact that after Tet, the number of workers returned to the factory to work, there were no strikes or quitting like many years ago due to the improvement in the salary regime.
The textile industry is facing many difficulties. Illustrative photo
But besides the advantage of labor, the textile industry from the end of 2010 to 2011 has faced challenges in input material prices due to unstable world raw material prices.
The imported cotton price increased from 3.18 USD/kg to 4.8 USD/kg, with the highest increase at 5.2 USD/kg of cotton. In addition, the strong fluctuation in exchange rates caused businesses to face risks and suffer great losses when the unit price of the product export contract signed with customers did not increase.
On the other hand, the electricity supply to suburban areas or rural areas, where many factories and enterprises are concentrated, is erratic. Electricity for production is not maintained and stable like in urban areas, so businesses such as textile and garment face many difficulties and it is forecasted that it will be difficult to maintain a growth rate of 20%.
Not only textiles, the paper industry is also under pressure from exchange rates and bank interest rates, while the source of loans is unstable. Regarding this issue, the leader of the Paper Corporation said: The paper factory in Long An is under installation and construction, and will be completed by May 2011 and the factory will start operating in September, but there is a serious lack of investment capital for the production line.
Therefore, the Paper Corporation has proposed that the Government help designate a Bank to borrow capital to invest in the production line, and at the same time borrow capital to plant forests, ensuring available raw materials...
At the meeting, a number of other businesses also raised many difficulties due to pressure from exchange rates and high bank interest rates, causing pressure on capital and foreign currency for businesses.
Taking note of the opinions of businesses, Minister Vu Huy Hoang said that the Ministry has proposed to the Government measures to stabilize the USD exchange rate in the market to create conditions for businesses to more easily use foreign currency.
In addition, under the direction of the Government, the Ministry of Industry and Trade will try to distribute electricity so that suburban and rural areas have electricity for daily use during peak season, creating conditions for factories and enterprises located in rural areas to have enough electricity for production activities.
Regarding the paper industry, Minister Vu Huy Hoang promised to soon provide loan support to meet the needs of the paper industry in provinces such as Kon Tum, Dong Nai, Tuyen Quang, etc.
According to Dan Tri
