2017 economic growth exceeds set target

General Director of the General Statistics Office (GSO) Nguyen Bich Lam revealed the information at a press conference in Hanoi on December 27 to announce socio-economic indexes in 2017.

The country’s GDP grew quarterly, with 5.15% in Q1, 6.28% in Q2, 7.46% in Q3, and 7.65% in Q4.

The agro-forestry-fishery sector is expected to increase by 2.9%, contributing 0.4 percentage points to the 6.81% GDP growth level. The industrial and construction sector posted an 8% growth rate, contributing 2.77 percentage points whilst the service industry climbed by 7.44%, contributing 2.87 percentage points.

Lam said Vietnam’s socio-economic affairs 2017 took place in the context of steady recovery and growth of major economies such as China, the US, Japan, the Republic of Korea (RoK) and the European Union (EU).

The World Bank has forecast the global GDP would stand at 3%, while the International Monetary Fund (IMF) anticipated a growth of 3.6% this year, he noted.

Global trade activities also witnessed improvements. In September 2017, the World Trade Organisation (WTO) increased its forecast for global trade in 2017 to 3.6%, higher than the previous level of 2.4% and much higher than the growth of 1.3% in 2016.

They are active factors for domestic production since Vietnam has been integrating more extensively and intensively into the world’s economy, Lam explained.

He noted that inflation was curbed below the set target of the National Assembly. The country recorded high credit growth, abundant remittances and foreign direct investment (FDI), stable exchange rate, and increasing foreign exchange reserves.

Vietnam continued focusing on economic restructuring to increase competitiveness, improve the business environment, and promote start-up movements.

However, the country faced certain difficulties such as a strong reduction in farm produce and food prices, which had negative impacts on livestock breeding, while natural disasters and diseases wrecked havoc in many localities.

According to the GSO, the economy in 2017 was worth VND5 quadrillion (equivalent to US$223 billion); the average GDP per capita is estimated at VND53.5 million (US$2,385), up US$170 compared to the 2016 rate. Goods and service exports increased by 16.74% while imports of goods and service rose by 17.5%.