Vietnam's economy is estimated to have risen 3.1 per cent in the first quarter to VND311.136 trillion (US$18.410 billion), much lower than 7.4 per cent in Q1 of 2008, the government's General Statistics Office said on March 27.
Three pillars of Vietnam's GDP in the period, the industrial and construction, services and agro, forestry and fisheries sectors both see a slight growth amid the global downturn, Nguyen Duc Hoa, head of the GSO said.
In the first quarter, the industrial production and construction value is estimated to have soared 1.5 per cent to VND131.593 trillion (US$7.79 billion), contributing 42.3 per cent of the GDP pie, the services sector is projected to have climbed 5.4 per cent to VND133.282 trillion (US$7.89 billion), making up 42.3 per cent of GDP value, the GSO said.
The agro, forestry and fisheries sectors are estimated to have surged only 0.4 per cent to VND46.261 trillion (US$2.74 billion), the GSO said.
Retailing sales of goods and services are estimated to have hit VND270 trillion, up 21.9 per cent on year, the GSO said.
In the first three months, the Southeast Asian country is estimated to have exported US$13.5 billion, up 2.4 per cent on year while imported US$11.8 billion, down 45 per cent on year, resulting in a trade surplus of US$1.7 billion.
It is estimated to have invested VND116.3 trillion in the first quarter, up 9 per cent on year, of which state-invested capital accounted for VND57.4 trillion and private sector VND39.6 trillion and FDI VND19.3 trillion.
Vietnam is estimated to have welcomed 992,200 international tourist arrivals, down 16.1 per cent on year.
Inflation in March softened to 0.17 per cent on month and 11.25 per cent on year.
In the face of the global economic downturn, the GSO also forecast GDP growth of 4.8 per cent to 5.6 per cent this year, industrial production growth of 4.6 per cent to 6.1 per cent, the growth rate of 15 per cent to 18 per cent of retailing sales of goods and services, exports of US$56 billion to US$58 billion, imports of US$63 billion to US$65 billion. (GSO March 2009)
Vietnamese
