Vietnam’s economic situation in may and 5 months of 2006

1. Output of agriculture, forestry and fishery

Agriculture:

In May, provinces in the South concentrated on harvesting winter-spring paddy; productivity was estimated at 5,810 kg/ha, decreasing by 120 kg/ha over last winter-spring crop. Of which, provinces in the Mekong River Delta completed their harvest with an average productivity of 6,000 kg/ha, falling by 140 kg/ha against same period last year; mainly due to severe effects of pestilent insect and salted water sources, and a yield of 9 million tons, falling by 77 thousand tons. Planted areas, productivity and yield of provinces in South Central Coast, Central Coast and South East were higher than last year due to good weather and sufficient water-supply sources. Winter-spring rice areas in the North decreased by 5.6 thousand ha over last year, of which the Red River Delta fell by 7.7 thousand ha because of the drought leading to the shortage of water, some localities change to grow vegetables and raise fishery. As of 15^th May, along with this harvest, the provinces in the South sowed rice seed for 1,236.2 thousand ha of summer-autumn crops, rising by 14.8% against same period last year, of which 1,147.9 thousand ha were in the Mekong River Delta, rising by 17.1%.  In the whole country, there were 608.2 thousand ha of maize, rising by 8.5%; 191.7 thousand ha of cassava, by 26.4%; 206.9 thousand ha of peanut, by 12.7%, etc.

The most concerns in feeding animals were the foot-and-mouth disease in the livestock in many localities in the whole countries. As of 22^nd May 2006, this pandemic happened in 383 communes of 126 districts under 33 provinces with nearly 35 thousand livestock. Six task forces were founded to concentrate on protecting the livestock from the pandemic and making plan for vaccination in order to block the outbreak of the epidemic.

Forestry:

Generally, for 5 months, the area of concentrated forestation was 67.9 thousand ha, increasing by 0.1% over same period of 2005; the number of dispersed plants was 105.3 million, rising by 0.1%; wood cut production was 594,100 cubic meters, equaling the rate of last year; the destroyed forest area was 328.4 ha.

Fishery:

Gross fishing output for the five beginning months was 1,399.4 thousand tons, increasing by 6% over same period last year, of which raising was 482.7 thousand tons, increasing by 13%; 916.7 thousand tons of catching, increasing by 2.6%.

2. Industrial output

The industrial output value for five months of 2006 increased by 15.9%, of which the state sector increased by 8.9%; the none-state sector by 20.5% and the FDI sector by 18.1%.

Among the main items of mining and quarrying, crude oil decreased by 3.7%; natural gas by 0.2%; pure coal increased by 23.7% because coal was well consumed in domestic market and export. Some manufacturing items still maintained high increasing speed   : processed seafood increased by 14.2%; silk finished products by 20.5%; hosiery  by 18%; ready-made cloth by 27%; medical ampoule of all kinds by 20.6%; cement by 16.5%; steel by 16.3%… However, some items was lower than the rate of 5 months of 2005: sugar and sugar syrup were equaling 92.5%, cigarettes: 87.8%; medical tablets of all kinds: 93.6%; machine tools: 76.5%; transfers: 67.6%; completed bikes: 74.3%…over same period last year.

3. Investment

Generally, performance of capital construction investment under the state budget in the five months was estimated at 20.8 trillion VND, accounting for 37.1% of the year plan. Central units achieved 6.5 trillion VND, accounting for 37.5%; of which Ministry of Transportation was nearly 3 trillion VND, equaling 44.2%; Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development: 888 billion VND, equaling 44.5%; Ministry of Construction: 502 billion VND, equaling 30.3% of the year plan.

Foreign direct investment: From the beginning of the year to 20/5/2006 there were 281 licensed projects with total registered capital 2.02 billion USD, increasing by 8.5% in number of projects and 19.5% in registered capital over same period last year. Beside that, in five months 144 projects were funded with more capital. The additional amount was 394 million USD that made the total capital rise up to 2.4 billion USD. FDI in 5 months was estimated at 1.49 billion USD, in creasing by 21% over same period of 2005.

4. Trade, prices and services

Total retail sales of consumer goods and services at current prices for the five beginning months were estimated at VND 217.4 trillion, increasing by 19.6% against same period last year. Of which the state sector increased by 7.7%; the collective sector by 20.6%; the individual sector by 20.4%; the private sector by 24.8% and the FDI sector by 22%.

Consumer prices indexes in May 2006 increased by 0.6% against last month, by 3.6% over last December and by 7.5% against same period last year. As compared with last month, the prices of 10 commodity groups both rose but at different levels, of which means of transport and communication had the highest rate of 2.9% due to the effect of the increasing in the petroleum prices; the prices of housing, construction materials, culture, sport and entertainment both rose by 0.9%

Gold prices in May rose rapidly by 17.6% over last month, 37.6% against last December and 57.7% over same period last year. USD prices in May increased by 0.8% over last month, this is the highest rate in 5 beginning months that led to the rising of 0.9% over last December and 1.4% over same period last year.

Total trade turnovers for the five months were estimated at 31.1 billion USD, increasing by 14.9% over same period last year, of which export was 15.08 billion USD, rising by 24.2%; import was 16.01 billion USD, rising by 7.3%. Trade deficit for five months was 930 million USD; equaling 6.2% of export value, (the respective rate of same period last year was 22.9%). This rate was relatively low as the export turnovers of these months continuously increased higher than the import growth.

Export in 5 months only achieved 40% of the year plan; on average export turnover per month was 3.02 billion USD, lower than the average rate of 3.15 billion USD of the 2006-year plan. In order to achieve the year plan’s target, the average export of the following months needs to achieve 3.23 billion USD.

Import turnovers in five beginning months achieved US$ 16 billion, increasing by 7.3% over same period last year and accounting for 37.7% of 2006-year plan. The domestic economic sector achieved US$ 9.9 billion, accounting for 68% of the import value. However, its growth was low (+1.8%) over same period, contributed 16.4% to the general growth rate. The FDI sector was 6.1 billion USD, accounting for 38%, increasing by 17.6% and contributing 83.6% to the general growth rate.

Transportation

Passenger carriage in 5 months 2006 was estimated at 537.8 million people and 22.45 billion passengers-kilometers, increasing by 8% in passengers and 8.7% in passengers-kilometers against same period last year. Of which, the passenger carriage of central management units was nearly 10 million  people and 7 billion passengers-kilometers, falling by 0.7% in passengers but rising by 9.6% in passengers-kilometers.

Cargo transport was at 140.1 million tons and 34.3 billion tons-kilometers, increasing by 7.9% in tons and 8.1% in tons-kilometers versus same period last year. Cargo transport by management level, by geographical range of transport and by types of transport both increased over same period last year but rail cargo transport only achieved approximately the rate of 5 months of 2005.

International visitors to Vietnam

In the five early months, international visitors to Vietnam were estimated at 1.58 million, increasing by 12% over same period last year, of which arrivals for tourist purpose were 927.3 thousand, increasing by 9.2%; for business purpose 229.7 thousand, by 29.1%; for visiting relatives 230.6 thousand, by 9.5%.

Tags: Vietnam economic 2006, Vietnam economic statistics, Vietnam's economy situation