Vietnam Looks to Double Per Capita GDP by 2010

Vietnam Looks to Double Per Capita GDP by 2010

Vietnam Prime Minister Phan Van Khai has said Vietnam will make an effort to double its per capita gross domestic product (GDP) in the next five years.

GDP is forecast to reach US$600 per capita this year and the country with a population of 82 million will take measures to ensure the figure will rise to US$1,000 by 2010, he told international donors at a recent conference in Hanoi.

Vietnam with total population of 82.1 million by the end of last year posted per capita GDP of US$550, compared to US$480 calculated by the World Bank in 2003.

Khai said with a poor and under-developed background, Vietnam has achieved successes only by putting all domestic and foreign financial resources to full use.

The country’s major achievements include average annual economic growth of 6.9 per cent in the 1996-2000 period despite the regional economic and financial crisis from mid-1997; the rate is expected to reach 7.5 per cent on average in the first half of this decade, the government leader said.

He said investment is likely to make up 37 per cent of GDP in 2005 from 34 per cent in 2001, with the private sector contributing 26 per cent.

He also said foreign donors have made commitments of US$14.7 billion in official development aid (ODA) to Vietnam in the 2001-05 period, of which US$8.7 billion was disbursed.

These capital resources have contributed to a great change for the better for the entire nation, from cities to countryside, said the Prime Minister.

Khai called on international donors to take part in the combined program for sustainable growth and poverty reduction in Vietnam over the next five years. Programs should focus on various measures such as directly financing the State budget to support poor farmers and rural and agricultural development, especially in mountainous and ethnic minority group-populated areas.

International assistance will contribute an important part to Vietnam's targets for an average GDP growth of 7.5 per cent in the next five years, an estimated eight million more jobs, and reducing the poverty rate to between 15-18 per cent, Khai concluded.

Saigon Times Daily, VNA