Hanoi (VNA) –Vietnam’s gross domestic product (GDP) of the first quarter increased by 4.48 percent, attributable to the effective implementation of the dual goal of epidemic prevention and economic development.

Vietnam’s GDP in the first quarter of 2021 is estimated to rise 4.48 percent, higher than 3.68 percent recorded in the same period last year, the General Statistics Office (GSO) General Director Nguyen Thi Huong announced at a press conference on March 29.

Huong said, in the context that the COVID-19 epidemic remains complicated in the world with new variants of SARS-CoV-2, the Vietnamese economy continues to achieve positive results. In the first quarter of 2021, the economy achieved a growth rate of 4.48%, which is a quite good growth rate compared to other countries in the region and the world, with the macro-economy being stable and inflation being controlled.

The statistics shows that the complicated development of the COVID-19 epidemic in some localities from January to March has negatively affected the whole socio-economy. However, the first quarter growth shows the drastic and timely direction and management of the Government and the Prime Minister as well as efforts of people and businesses in implementing the dual goal of epidemic prevention and economic development.

The GSO leader said that the agro-forestry-fishery sector grew 3.16 percent, contributing 8.34 percent to the overall GDP growth, while industry and construction expanded 6.3 percent, and service sector grew 3.34 percent, contributing 55.96 and 35.7 percent to the total growth, respectively.

Huong attributed the result to the drastic and timely direction of the Government, the Prime Minister and efforts of ministries, sectors, people and businesses to continue implementing the dual targets of preventing the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic and developing the economy at the same time.

She said that in the first quarter of this year, the agro-forestry-fishery sector saw strong growth thanks to high rice and fruit production, controlled African swine flu and expanded markets for wood and forestry products.

Despite a 6.5 percent rise, higher than the figure of 5.1 percent in the first quarter of 2020, the growth of the industry and construction sector was still much lower than that in the first quarter of 2018 and 2019.

ꦍ Meanwhile, processing and manufacturing continued to be the driving force for the growth of the economy with an expansion of 9.45 percent. The mining sector suffered negative growth of 8.24 percent.

Thanks to the good control of the COVID-19 pandemic and the optimization of free trade agreements, the service sector enjoyed positive signs. The growth of wholesale and retail was 6.45 percent, while that of the finance-banking and insurance sector was 7.35 percent. However, the transportation and warehouse sector and accommodation-catering services still saw decreases of 2.17 percent and 4.49 percent, respectively. In terms of economic structure, in the first quarter, contribution from the agro-forestry-fishery sector was 11.71 percent, while that of industry-construction was 36.45 percent; services, 42.2 percent; and product taxes less subsidies on production, 9.64 percent. Exports of goods and services rose 17.01 percent, while imports increased 16.38 percent. According to Huong, in order to make full use of advantages to attract investment, Vietnam needs to actively evaluate the trend of shifting FDI flows into the country in order to make appropriate policy adjustments in attracting quality and environment-friendly FDI projects, contributing to national growth and economic development. Among measures to push for greater economic growth, the agency called for speedy implementation of vaccination program against Covid-19, while providing the business community with better access to government support programs and accelerating disbursement rate of public investment./.