Of the total, the retail sales of goods were estimated at 781.8 trillion VND, up 10.1% year-on-year, of which the revenue from garment and textile rose by 18.4%, food and food stuff 12.5%, and home appliances 4%.
Meanwhile, a decrease of 3.7% was seen in the group of cultural and educational products, the GSO said.
In the period, the revenue from lodging and catering services reached 109.1 trillion VND, a year-on-year rise 31.6%. Notably, tourism raked in 4.7 trillion VND, a 2.2-fold increase compared to the same period of last year, as various activities to welcome the spring were organised across the nation.
The turnover from other services was valued at 98.6 trillion VND, up 16.2% year-on-year. Director of the Ministry of Industry and Trade’s Domestic Market Department Tran Duy Dong said that the ministry is striving for an 8-9% increase in total retail sales of goods and services this year./.