Vietnam’s economy, 10 months of 2007

Output of agriculture, forestry and fishery

Agriculture:

According to report, the Typhoon Number 5 (Lekima typhoon) wreaked serious havoc on Central Coastal provinces: 48,000 ha of winter rice flooded, of which about 11,000 ha seem to have destroyed completely and the rest was affected leading to decrease in productivity; 94.8 thousand ha of  new-planted winter crops (mainly maize and soy-bean) were flown away or collapsed.

Winter-rice harvest: As of mid October 2007, provinces in the North reaped 763.2 thousand hectares of winter-rice, accounting for 65.7% of the cultivated area and equaling 92.2% of last year same period.

Summer-autumn rice harvest: Provinces in the South were quickly finishing reaping late summer-winter rice and crops stage 3. As of 15/10, localities harvested 1,776.4 thousand ha, accounting for 93.6% of the cultivated area, of which provinces in Mekong River Delta drew 1,542.5 thousand ha, equaling 93.2%.

Winter crops cultivation: As of mid October, winter-crops area under cultivation gained 339.5 thousand ha, equaling 82.1% of same period last year, of which maize was 178 thousand ha, equaling 98.6%; sweet potato: 39.3 thousand ha, equaling 64.4%; soy-bean: 54.3 thousand ha, equaling 81.7%; beans and vegetables: 61.5 thousand ha, equaling 64.3%.

Forestry:

Generally for 10 months, the area of concentrated forestation in the country was estimated at 163.3 thousand ha, equaling 100.4% over same period last year, the number of dispersed plants at 172.5 million, equaling 98.3%; wood cut production was 2,641.8 thousand m3, equaling 101.8%.

Fishery:

Production of fishery for 10 months of 2007 was estimated at 3,382.4 thousand tons, increasing by 9.5 % as compared with last year same period, of which farmed products were 1650 thousand tons, increasing by 18.5%, caught products: 1,732.4 thousand tons, increasing by 2%.

Industrial output

The industrial production value for 10 months of 2007 was estimated increasing by 17% against same period last year, of which the state sector rose by 10.3%(central management by 13.3%, local management by 3.7%); the non-state sector by 20.8%; the FDI sector by 18.2%  (petroleum  and gas decreased by 6.7%, others rose by 23.4%).

Main items with higher growth rates than the general rate of the industry: tool machines rose by 83.9%; air-conditioner by 61.5%; assembled automobiles by 60.5%; assembled motorbikes by 28.1%; electronic motor by 25.1%; washing machine by 22%; transformer by 19.9%. Beside that, some items important for economy and affected on export, import and people’s consumption still maintained growth rate of over 10% like: pure coal rising by 12.2%; processed seafood by 14.1%; finished silk fabric by 10.8%; ready-made garments by 16.7%; paper and paper board by 14.9%; chemical fertilizer by 11.8%; rolled steel by 10.3% and generated power by 12.9%

Investment

Capital construction investment under the concentrated State budget in 10 months estimated at VND 76.90 trillion, equaling 80.6% of the year plan. Of which central management was VND 27.42 trillion, equaling 77.5%; local management was VND 49.48 trillion, equaling 82.4%.

Foreign direct investment: from 1st January to 20 October, there have been 1,144 granted license projects with a total capital registered USD 9.75 billion, USD 8.5 million per licensed project on average. In addition, there were 300 projects funded with more capital of 1.51 billion USD; making the total capital in 10 months to 11.26 billion USD, (new and additional funds both), rising by 36.4% against same period last year. Realized foreign direct investment in 10 months of 2007 was estimated at 3.71 billion USD, rising by 18.7% over same period of 2006.

Government revenues and expenditures

As estimated, total revenues in 10 months of 2007 rose by 18.2% against same period of 2006 and equaling 81.4% of the year estimate. Of which, 82.2% were from domestic revenues; 72.9% from crude oil; 88.9% from trade activities; 103.7% from aids. Among domestic revenues, 74.8% were from the state economic sector; 71.8% from FDI sector (excluding crude oil); 87.8% from taxes on economic activities in non-state sector; 76.9% from petroleum fees; and 92.8% from other fees.

Total expenditures in 10 months increased by 15.6% against same period of 2006 and accounted for 78.5% of the year estimate. Of which, development & investment expenditures were 69.4% (capital construction investment 68.6%). Spending for administrative & public sector, national defense and security, party and public organizations were 84.3% (for education, training and vocational training: 84%; for health service: 82.6%; for pension and social welfare: 84.4%; for state enterprises: 88.6%; for state management, party and public organizations: 83.5% …).  Salary reform was 75.2% and payments to debts and aids 88.8%.

Trade, prices and services

Total retail sales of consumer goods and services

Total retail sales of consumer goods and services for 10 months of 2007 were at VND 583.8 trillion at current market prices, increasing by 22.7% against same period last year. Of which the state sector gained nearly VND 62 trillion, decreasing by 4%; the collective  sector VND 5.7 trillion and rising by 22.7%; the individual sector VND 333.4 trillion and 23.8%; the private sector VND 167.5 trillion and 34.1% and the FDI sector VND 15.2 trillion and 23.9% respectively. By business activity, commerce accounted for 80.4% of the total and increased by 21.7% over same period last year; hotel and restaurant for 12.1% and by 22.9%; tourism for 1% and by 31.6%; service for 6.5% and by 34.4% respectively.

Consumer prices in October rose by 0.74% against last month, of which prices of housing and construction materials (including houses, electricity, water, fuel and construction materials) rose by 1.51%; prices of food and eating services rose by 1.09% (foodstuff by 1.19% and food by 1.11%). Consumer prices in 10 months grew by 8.12% over December of 2006, of which foodstuff rose by 13.52%; housing and construction materials by 11.32%; food by 9.15%; medicament and health by 6.06%; the others increased commonly by 5% or lower. On average, consumer prices in 10 months rose by 7.71% against the average rate of 10 months of 2006, of which food grew by 15.01%; housing and construction materials by 10.13%; foodstuff by 8.49% and the others increased from 3% to 6%.

Gold prices in October increased by 6.04% against last month, by 14.51% against December 2006 and by 20.24% against same period last year. US dollar prices fell by 0.6% against September due to plentiful domestic supply and foreign capital continuously investing to Viet Nam.

Export and import commodity

The export value in 10 months gained 39.1 billion USD, equaling 83.5% of the 2007-year plan and rising by 18.6% over same period last year. Of which the domestic economic sector gained 16.9 billion USD, increasing by 22.4%; the FDI sector (including crude oil) 22.2 billion USD and rising by 16.5%. As the end of October, there were 14 exported items gaining turnovers of at least 500 million USD for each, of which 9 items achieving export turnovers more than 1 billion USD.

As estimated, import turnovers in 10 months were at 48 billion USD, rising by 30.5% against 10 months last year. Of which, the domestic economic sector achieved 30.7 billion USD, rising by 31.5%; the FDI sector 17.3 billion USD, rising by 28.6%. Generally, import value of almost commodities had higher growth rate than the rate of 10 months of 2006.

Total trade turnovers in 10 months 2007 gained over 87 billion USD, increasing by 24.9% against same period last year. Trade deficit in 10 months was 8.9 billion USD, equaling 22.8% export value and 2.3 times as much as the rate of same period 2006.

International visitors to Viet Nam for the 10 months 2007 were at 3.5 million, increasing by 17.8% over last year same period. Contributing to the general growth was mainly increase in arrivals for tourism with more than 2.1 million, accounting for 61.5% and increasing by 27.2%; 539.5 thousand for business, accounting for 15.5% and rising by 14.9%; but arrivals for visiting relatives and other purposes rose lowly or decreased.

Transportation

Passenger carriage in 10 months was estimated at 1,266 million and 55.6 billion passengers-kilometers, increasing by 8.5% in passengers and 9.1% in passengers-kilometers against same period last year. Volume of cargos carried in 10 months was estimated at 310.1 million tons and 77.7 billion tons-kilometers, increasing by 8% in tons and 7.3% in tons-kilometers against same period last year. Of which, central management gained 43.1 million tons, increasing by 6.9% and 50.9 billion tons-kilometers, rising by 7%; local management: 267 million tons, rising by 8.2% and 26.7 billion tons-kilometers, rising by 7.9%.

Generally, for 9 months of 2007, there had over 11 thousand cases of traffic accidents, killing 9.9 thousand persons and injuring nearly 8.4 thousand persons. As compared with same period last year, number of accidents decreased by 0.64%, the death fell by 5.26% and the injured by 1.77%. Even though traffic accident decreased as compared with same period last year but still was at high level, on average a day in 9 months, there occurred 41 accidents, killed 35 and wounded 31.

Tags: Vietnam economic 2007, Vietnam economic statistics, Vietnam's economy situation