Posted on 08 Jan 2008
Economy grows 8.5% in 2007
Vietnam's
economy grew by nearly 8.5% in 2007, the fastest rate in 11 years, after the
country joined the World Trade Organisation, the communist government said
Monday December 31. The gross domestic product growth rate of 8.48%, compared
to 8.2% in 2006, was one of the highest in Asia but was topped by neighbouring
China, said the government Statistics Office.
Industry and construction made up 42% of the developing
country's economy, followed by the services sector with 38%, and agriculture,
forestry and fisheries with 20%, said the GSO.
Vietnam,
which launched market reforms two decades ago and joined the WTO in January,
attracted a record 20.3 billion dollars in investment pledges after promising
to further open its doors to foreign business under WTO rules.
South Korea
topped the list of foreign investors with US$4.4 billion pledged, followed by
the Virgin Islands, Singapore
and Taiwan.
Total foreign investment in 2006 reached US$12 billion.
Releasing its final economic estimates for the year, the GSO
also said Vietnam
was battling an annual inflation rate of 8.3%, driven in part by a 15% jump in
food prices and higher fuel costs.
The trade deficit reached a record US$12.4 billion as a
21.5% rise in export revenues to US$48.4 billion was outpaced by a 35.5% jump
in the cost of imports to US$60.8 billion.
The surge in import revenues was in part due to a sharp
increase in machinery and equipment imports, up 56.5% to 10.4 billion dollars,
and a 25.7% rise in the cost of refined oil products to US$7.5 billion.
On the export side, Vietnam-which has fast offshore oil and
gas reserves in the South China Sea but no operating refineries yet-earned
US$8.5 billion from crude oil sales, up 2.6% on 2006.
Export revenues from garments and textiles made in the
low-wage country rose 33% to US$7.8 billion. Footwear exports rose 10% to US$4
billion and fisheries exports 13% to US$3.8 billion.
The United
States was the top export market with US$10
billion in revenue, followed by the European Union with US$8.7 billion, and the
10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations with US$8 billion.
Exports to Japan
reached US$5.5 billion followed by China with US$3.2 billion, said the
GSO.
In the tourism sector, Vietnam received 4.2 million foreign
visitors, up 18% on 2006. Chinese topped the list, with about 575,000 arrivals
or 13.6% of the total, followed by South Korea,
Japan and the United States.
The Vietnamese government-which said economic growth in 2007
was hampered by a series of typhoons, floods and disease outbreaks-is targeting
economic growth of 9% next year.
