Vietnam saw positive developments in many socio-economic aspects in the first quarter of 2019, with a GDP growth of 6.79 percent and stable macro-economy, said Minister-Chairman of the Government Office Mai Tien Dung.
Hanoi (VNA) – Vietnamsaw positive developments in many socio-economic aspects in the first quarterof 2019, with a GDP growth of 6.79 percent and stable macro-economy, saidMinister-Chairman of the Government Office Mai Tien Dung.
Briefing the media on theoutcomes of the Government’s regular March meeting on April 2, Dung said that theconsumer price index (CPI) in March dropped 0.21 percent, resulting in anaverage CPI rise of 2.63 in the first quarter of 2019.
At the same time, total retailand service revenue in the period increased 12 percent, while trade surplus inMarch hit 1.56 billion USD.
The number of newly-establishedfirms was 28,451, up 6.2 percent,and the number of companies resuming their operation was over 15,000.
However, at the meeting, PrimeMinister Nguyen Xuan Phuc pointed out that the Vietnamese economy is stillfacing many challenges. African swine fever, foot-and-mouth disease,unfavourable weather, and unstable farm produce prices are threatening the agriculturesector, he noted.
The PM said that the disbursementof development investment in the state-owned sector has been low, while statebudget disbursement has reached only 14.7 percent of the yearly target. Meanwhile,the centrally-managed capital’s disbursement fell 30.5 percent year-on-year.The growth of the industry and service sectors has slowed down, while creditgrowth has been low.
Dung said that during theGovernment’s meeting, the PM asked ministries and sectors to focus on creatingbreakthrough steps to ensure that this year’s growth is higher than that of2018.
The Government leader askedministries to explain causes behind the slow capital disbursement and offer upsolutions.
Although the ProvincialCompetitiveness Index (PCI) Report 2018 showed progress in some aspects of the businessenvironments compared to 2017, the PM still stressed the need to continueimproving integrity and transparency. Ministries, sectors, and localitiesshould enhance the quality of supporting services for businesses, giving themmore favourable conditions in administrative procedures, especially thoserelated to land use, tax, and customs, said the PM. –VNA
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Overview of the meeting (Photo: VNA) 
