Boost from provincial market

Vi Hoa Binh Supermarket (Hoa Binh city) - where the "heat" of consumption remains in the first quarter of 2025.

Service flow after Tet season

After the Lunar New Year, the Hoa Binh market did not fall into a "slow" state as usual. On the contrary, consumption in the province seemed to maintain its "heat" for a long time. "In each group of goods, the warmth of the market is clearly shown: food and foodstuffs consumed nearly 2,000 billion VND, up 21.9%; household appliances increased by more than 18%; wood and construction materials increased by 25.87%. In particular, gasoline - an indicator of movement and production increased by more than 42%" - said Mr. Duong Quoc Thang, Deputy Director of the Department of Industry and Trade.

On national highways, transportation services also recorded double-digit growth. Revenue in the first quarter reached VND627 billion, of which passenger transport increased by 29.2% and freight transport increased by 17.9%. Food and accommodation services - two indicators often sensitive to tourism developments, also "revived". In the first quarter, revenue from accommodation services reached VND113 billion, up nearly 20%; food and beverage services reached VND896 billion, up nearly 24%. These figures come not only from a few large hotels in the center, but also from restaurants, cheap eateries, and motels - "small cells" that are contributing to creating a large lifeline for the province's service industry.

Only the "other services" group decreased by more than 15%, mainly due to the slowdown of the real estate market after the information about the province's merger, causing brokerage activities and land-related services to be clearly affected. However, if put in the overall picture, this is only a temporary downturn - not enough to weaken the overall resilience of the entire industry.

When the internal market force is awakened

"A full Tet season is the first catalyst. The Lunar New Year 2025, which lasts nearly ten days, with favorable weather and a bustling flow of people, has created a strong lever for a series of industries that had stagnated in previous years. The festive atmosphere is spread throughout the localities: from the Muong Bi Khai Ha Festival in Tan Lac to the Tien Pagoda Festival in Lac Thuy, then the newly opened cable car connecting Tien Pagoda - Huong Pagoda, all of which are like a combination that makes food, accommodation, transportation, and tourism services "get into gear" early" - the Deputy Director of the Department of Industry and Trade shared.

But that wave of consumption is not just a temporary seasonal effect. Behind the surge in purchasing power is the openness from flexible financial and monetary management policies. Gasoline prices continuously decreased in March, causing the consumer price index in the first quarter to increase by only 1.21% - a low and stable increase. Operating costs decreased, prices did not fluctuate much, creating a secure shopping psychology for both people and businesses.

At the same time, the local banking system has pumped more than VND44,000 billion in credit into the market, of which nearly VND20,000 billion is short-term credit, serving capital rotation needs in production and trade. Bad debt in the whole province is still kept below 2%, showing that the monetary market is stable, creating conditions for services to recover without being held back by financial pressure.

According to the Deputy Director of the Department of Industry and Trade, another key factor is "internal resilience". Hoa Binh does not have a grand commercial center or a large-scale tourist city, but it has a sustainable domestic consumer market - where restaurants, grocery stores, rest stops, small motels, motorbike dealerships and construction material stores still stand firm, even growing in difficult times. It is these small links, connected together through the practical needs of the people, that have formed a flexible economic network that adapts well to fluctuations.

The market does not need dramatic breakthroughs, but needs steady and steady growth. In the first three months of the year, trade and services in Hoa Binh have done just that: not exploding, but steady; not creating big waves, but sustaining the flow of growth.

And perhaps, it is this stability and persistence that is the important foundation for the economic growth figure of 12.76% - a figure that comes not only from investment or production, but also from each small consumption, each morning market, each quiet journey of goods extending through the mountainous roads.

Minh Vu

Source: https://baohoabinh.com.vn/12/200035/Cu-huych-tu-thi-truong-tr111ng-tinh.htm