(VOVworld) – Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung reiterated the government’s resolve to achieve socio-economic targets set for this year at the Government’s monthly meeting for June. He said the government will focus resources to handle pending problems aiming to obtain a yearly GDP growth rate of 5.8%.

Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung and the cabinet members at the government monthly meeting for June, 2014. (photo: Nhat Bac/VGP)

In the first half of the year, besides the common global difficulties, Vietnam had to resolve many other issues, including China’s illegal placement of oil rig Haiyang 981 in Vietnam’s exclusive economic zone and continental shelf.

The economy has rebounded in the first half of the year

Minister of Planning and Investment Bui Quang Vinh said GDP in the first 6 months of the year increases an estimated 5.18%, higher than last year’s 4.9%. The agro-forestry and fishery sectors recorded high growth rates. Inflation was at 1.38%, the lowest rate in the last 13 years. Exports maintained high growth and Vietnam enjoyed a trade surplus of 1.32 billion USD. The Index of Industrial Production saw rapid growth in the processing and manufacturing industries. Nguyen Van Nen, Minister and Head of the Government Office, told a press conference following the meeting. “The positive results show that the government’s measures and enterprises’ efforts have paid off. The macro indexes have been stable. So far, the balance of payments, exports and imports, revenues and expenditures have been better than our set targets. Agriculture and services have been performing well.”

Implementing corporate economic measures in the rest of the year

Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung says that during the economic restructuring the government has applied many measures to expand the export market, boosted negotiations of bilateral free trade agreements, and improved policies relating to the bidding and importing of input materials to avoid dependence on one market. Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Do Thang Hai told the media. “The government, ministries, and sectors have diversified export and import markets. The Ministry of Industry and Trade has stepped up negotiations for market expansion. We signed 8 free trade agreements and are pushing ahead to complete negotiations of the Trans-Pacific Partnership, the Customs Union of Russia- Kazakhstan-Belarus, and the Vietnam-EU Agreement. We expect to complete the EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement and the Customs Union of Russia-Kazakhstan-Belarus late this year.”

Besides trade promotions, ministries and sectors were urged to promote the program “Vietnamese people prioritize Vietnamese goods”.

Deputy Minister of Finance Tran Van Hieu said Vietnam has obtained initial results in the public investment reform program. “In the rest of the year, we will offer incentives for project disbursement using state budget and government bonds. We will focus on attracting social resources for development investment to create conditions for economic sectors and upgrading infrastructure.”

In order to effectively disburse credit to the market, State Bank Deputy Governor Nguyen Dong Tien said coordinated mechanisms are needed for loan and asset management. Dealing with bad debts is another important mission. The government’s thorough measures should ensure a reasonable growth rate and other socio-economic targets this year.