Specifically, the report of Vietnam Institute for Economic and Policy Research (VEPR) for the second quarter of 2017 indicates that Vietnam's economy has signs of positive recovery with a growth of 6.17% (yoy), higher than that of the same period last year.
The economic growth of the first half of this year was 5.73% (yoy), slightly higher than that of the same period of 2016. Specifically, in the last quarter, the growth rate of service and agriculture sectors was considered the main driver of economic recovery.
Vietnam economic growth - GDP growth (blue line), Overall trend of GDP growth (purple line).
Service sector's growth rate recorded highest level in recent five years, at 6.85% in the first two quarters. Notably, the number of international tourists to Vietnam in the mentioned period rose 30.2%, mainly from China (up 56.7%), Russia (up 53.4%) and South Korea (up 43.9%).
The agricultural, forestry and fishery sector also witnessed a recovery after one year of decline due to external factors. The growth rate in the first half of the year was 2.65%, even higher than that of 2015, at 2.22%. In particular, the fishery sector grew strongly due to both favorable weather and price ( up 5.08%). The agriculture sector still faces many difficulties, up 2.01% in the first half of 2017.
Economic growth in first half of 2017 in terms of economic sectors.Meanwhile, the growth of industry and construction continued to decline over the same period two years ago (2015: 9.36%, 2016: 7.36%, 2017: 5.81%). However, unlike the first quarter, the industry's decline in the second quarter came only from the mining sector (down 8.2% yoy).
Specifically, the manufacturing industry has regained its growth in the second quarter, reaching 10.5% yoy, equivalent to the same period in 2016. In addition, the figure for construction industry has remained stable, up 8.5% yoy in the first half of the 2017.
According to Dr. Nguyen Duc Thanh, Director of the VEPR, the Viet Nam Economic Performance Index (VEPI) has shown the recovery of the economy. However, the VEPI improved slightly more than economic growth as there was no significant decline in QI.
Economic growth GDP (blue line). VEPI (red line)Specifically, VEPI reached 6.0% in the second quarter, higher than that of the previous quarter and the same period in 2016, at 5.77% and 5.35% respectively. This is a result of strong growth in trade and credit.
Prior to the difficulties, the Prime Minister issued Directive No. 24/CT -TTg to implement drastic, synchronous and timely solutions to promote the growth of industries and achieve the target growth.
However, according to Dr. Thanh, imposing target for each ministry may have some negative impacts on the economy, as it does not create incentives for the development of economic sectors.
