Vietnam's economy is estimated to grow 8.4 percent this year, but inflation is expected to rise even faster, with prices shooting up 12.6 percent in the same period, state media quoted the government as saying yesterday.
The economic growth estimate sets a new record for the nation, Vietnamese Planning and Investment Minister Vo Hong Phuc told a Cabinet meeting on Sunday, according to the Sai Gon Giai Phong (Liberated Saigon) newspaper.
Export revenues -- mainly from oil, textiles and footwear, electronics, seafood, rice and coffee -- reached US$48.3 billion, but the trade deficit hit a new peak of US$12.4 billion, doubling last year's gap, it said.
The newspaper report said the US had now replaced the EU as Vietnam's top export market, accounting for 22 and 19 percent of its export revenues respectively.
GDP for this year is estimated to rise 8.44 percent, representing per capita GDP of US$833 for the year, the minister said, although he warned that the gap between the rich and poor was growing.
Foreign investment pledges in Vietnam have surged by nearly 70 percent so far this year thanks to the country's admission to the WTO, said Nguyen Viet Cuong, an official with the Ministry of Planning and Investment.
As of Dec. 22, foreign investors have agreed to invest US$20.25 billion, up 68.7 percent from the same period last year, the official said.
Last year, Vietnam attracted US$12 billion in foreign direct investment, a record since the country began accepting foreign investment in 1998.
"This year we had expected to attract only US$13.5 billion, but this is beyond our expectation," Nguyen said.
Since the beginning of the year, 1,406 new projects have been licensed worth US$17.6 billion. Investment in 361 existing projects has increased by US$2.65 billion.
Major deals include Trustee Suisse's project to invest in a tourism complex in Phu Quoc, in the southern Kien Giang Province, and the Vung Ro oil refinery being built by Britain's Technostar Management Ltd and the Russian Tettoi Oil and Gas Co.
"The admission to the WTO has definitely made Vietnam more attractive to foreign investors," said Le Dang Doanh, an economist.
In exchange for joining the WTO, Vietnam was required to slash tariffs and open previously closed sectors of its economy to foreign investors.
Amid the rapid economic growth, strong capital inflows and higher world oil prices, the consumer price index shot up to a decade-high of 12.6 percent, hurting the poor especially through higher food and fuel prices.
The cost of goods and services is set to spiral up another 1.8 percent next month ahead of the traditional Tet Lunar New Year celebrations in February, the country's main holiday, said Trade and Industry Minister Vu Huy Hoang.
In tourism, Vietnam received more than 4 million foreign visitors, up 16.4 percent year-on-year, the report said.
STILL COMMITTED: The US opposes any forced change to the ‘status quo’ in the Strait, but also does not seek conflict, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said US President Donald Trump’s administration released US$5.3 billion in previously frozen foreign aid, including US$870 million in security exemptions for programs in Taiwan, a list of exemptions reviewed by Reuters showed. Trump ordered a 90-day pause on foreign aid shortly after taking office on Jan. 20, halting funding for everything from programs that fight starvation and deadly diseases to providing shelters for millions of displaced people across the globe. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who has said that all foreign assistance must align with Trump’s “America First” priorities, issued waivers late last month on military aid to Israel and Egypt, the
France’s nuclear-powered aircraft carrier and accompanying warships were in the Philippines yesterday after holding combat drills with Philippine forces in the disputed South China Sea in a show of firepower that would likely antagonize China. The Charles de Gaulle on Friday docked at Subic Bay, a former US naval base northwest of Manila, for a break after more than two months of deployment in the Indo-Pacific region. The French carrier engaged with security allies for contingency readiness and to promote regional security, including with Philippine forces, navy ships and fighter jets. They held anti-submarine warfare drills and aerial combat training on Friday in
COMBAT READINESS: The military is reviewing weaponry, personnel resources, and mobilization and recovery forces to adjust defense strategies, the defense minister said The military has released a photograph of Minister of National Defense Wellington Koo (顧立雄) appearing to sit beside a US general during the annual Han Kuang military exercises on Friday last week in a historic first. In the photo, Koo, who was presiding over the drills with high-level officers, appears to be sitting next to US Marine Corps Major General Jay Bargeron, the director of strategic planning and policy of the US Indo-Pacific Command, although only Bargeron’s name tag is visible in the seat as “J5 Maj General.” It is the first time the military has released a photo of an active
CHANGE OF MIND: The Chinese crew at first showed a willingness to cooperate, but later regretted that when the ship arrived at the port and refused to enter Togolese Republic-registered Chinese freighter Hong Tai (宏泰號) and its crew have been detained on suspicion of deliberately damaging a submarine cable connecting Taiwan proper and Penghu County, the Coast Guard Administration said in a statement yesterday. The case would be subject to a “national security-level investigation” by the Tainan District Prosecutors’ Office, it added. The administration said that it had been monitoring the ship since 7:10pm on Saturday when it appeared to be loitering in waters about 6 nautical miles (11km) northwest of Tainan’s Chiang Chun Fishing Port, adding that the ship’s location was about 0.5 nautical miles north of the No.
RSS