Vietnam Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung has called on state agencies at all level to strive for a GDP growth rate of 8.4 per cent in the fourth quarter, which is expected to ensure the rate of 8.2 per cent for the whole year, state media reported.
Dung made the call at the government’s monthly regular meeting yesterday October 2.
To achieve this target, PM Dung urged ministries, state agencies and localities to keep close watch of the real situation to timely cope with obstacles and difficulties in production while preventing outbreaks of epidemics, especially bird flu and natural disasters.
According to the Ministry of Planning and Investment's report, the GDP growth rate in the first nine months was estimated at 7.84 per cent, with the industrial and construction sector recording a yearly increase of 9.85 per cent and accounted for 41.50 per cent of the GDP, and the service sector worth VND259.253 trillion, up 8.03 per cent on year, and accounted for 38.42 per cent of GDP. The export turnover soared 24.2 per cent.
The gross value of the agricultural sector in the first nine months was VND135.501 trillion, up 3.32 per cent on year, and accounted for 20.08 per cent of GDP in the period.
Total investment in the country likely rose 27 per cent on year to VND287.8 trillion in the nine months, and domestic sales increased 20.4 per cent on year to VND418.456 trillion.
Notably, the surge of the GDP rose to the level of 8.67 per cent in the third quarter from 7.18 per cent in the first quarter and 7.54 per cent in the second quarter.
“Efforts should be focused on promoting production and trade of those products that are enjoying advantages in the markets,” the PM said at the meeting, asking them to work out concrete plans to speed up production and business activities in the remaining three months of this year, the first year of the 2006-2010 plan.
At the meeting, the Cabinet members also discussed and passed a report on a bill on individual income tax to be presented to the National Assembly's coming session. They also gave opinions and passed another report on a draft ordinance on democracy at the grassroots.
Vietnam has been stricken by dry spells and storms since the beginning of this year, which have devastated large areas of commodity crops in the country's agricultural regions along with the outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease and higher prices of petroleum, fertilizer and other key imports also hurt the economy, GSO statistics said.
The World Bank forecasts Vietnam's GDP growth for 2006 at 8 per cent and the Asian Development Bank predicts 7.8 per cent.
(Local Sources)
Vietnamese
