Economy shows positive signs in Q1

The total newly-registered and additional Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) reached US$3.334 billion in the first quarter of 2014, equal to 50.3% of the same period in 2013.

As of March 20, Viet Nam licensed 252 FDI projects, totaling US$2.046 billion and allowed 82 others on operation to increase a total capital of US$1.287 billion.

The processing and manufacturing sector ranked first in attracting FDI with US$2.332 billion for 141 projects, accounting for 69.9%, followed by the real estate sector with US$288.3 million, accounting for 8.6% and the construction sector with US$226.7 million.

Southern Binh Duong Province led other localities in FDI attraction with US$788.8 million, accounting for 23.66%, followed by Ho Chi Minh City and Dong Nai Province.

The nation has disbursed US$2.85 billion in FDI in the recent three months, a year-on-year increase of 5.6%.

GDP up 4.96%

GDP increased by 4.96% in the first quarter of this year, higher than the comparable period for the past two years (4.76% in 2013 and 4.75% in 2012).

The three sectors experiencing higher growth included services (up 5.95%), industry and construction (up 4.69%) and agro-forestry and fisheries (up 2.37%).

The services sector, the engine driving the country’s growth, broke down into retail and wholesale services (up 5.61%), hotel, food and drink services (up 7.58%) and financial, banking and insurance services (up 5.91%).

The Index of Industrial Production (IIP) increased by 5.2% while the manufacturing and processing industry surged by 7.3%.

The employment rate rose by 4.1% in the industry sector, 3.8% in non-State owned enterprises, 6.4% in the foreign direct investment (FDI) sector, and 1.7% in State-owned enterprises.

Exports up 14.1%

Three-month export earnings rose 14.1% to US$33.3 billion. Products attaining high export growth include telephone handsets and components, means of transport, tools, footwear and seafood.

Imports were estimated at US$32.3 billion, a year-on-year increase of 12.4%. The high import value, mostly for industrial production, shows the economy is continuing its upward trend reinforced in the previous quarter.

Despite the high import growth, Viet Nam still enjoyed a trade surplus of US$1 billion in Q1, or 3% of the country’s total export value.

The foreign direct investment sector made an impressive performance in the reviewed period, with US$3.9 billion recorded in its trade surplus.

4,622 businesses resume operation

Approximately 4,622 businesses resumed operations in the first quarter, an increase of 48.9% against the same period last year.

Q1 also saw 18,358 newly-registered businesses with a combined capitalization of VND97,983 billion, up 16.9% in number and 23.4% in capital.

Around 16,745 businesses ceased operations or were dissolved, up 9.6%.

CPI up 4.38% in Q1

The consumer price index (CPI) in March decreased by 0.44% from the previous month, the lowest in the March period over the past 11 years. 

The figure, however, rose 4.39% compared to the same period last year.

Accordingly, the country's CPI in the first quarter increased 4.38%.

The gold price in March rose 3.31% compared to February and a year-on-year decrease of 17.97% and down 21.77% over the past three months.

Int’l arrivals up nearly 30% in first quarter

International guests in Viet Nam numbered 2.327 million in the first quarter of the year, a year-on-year increase of 29.3%.

The figure included over 700,000 foreigners who arrived in March, representing a month-on-month increase of 20.83%.

Over 1.4 million of foreign guests came to Viet Nam for tourism, up 27.14% against 2013; 391,508 for business (up 28.76%); 403,829 for visiting relatives (up 35.62%) and 128,819 for other purposes.

In the January-March period, all of the country's tourist markets recorded growth, of which Hong Kong surged by 325%; followed by Germany 248.79%; Russia 55.22%; China 48.94% and Cambodia 33.81%.

In the reviewed period, domestic guests touched 13.7 million, a year-on-year rise of 6.85%.

The tourism industry earned over VND 70 trillion (US$ 3.3 billion) in revenue./.

By Thuy Dung