Vietnam’s GDP growth in 2011 is 5.89 percent compared with the 6.78 percent last year. According to the General Statistics Office (GSO), the rate is relatively high and reasonable given national and global difficulties. GSO said agriculture, forestry, aquaculture, construction industry and services saw even growth, while such sectors as industrial production, retails, passenger transportation, post and telecommunications and tourism performed well. Do Thuc, Head of the General Statistics Office told a media conference in Hanoi on Thursday that 2011 was one of the most difficult year for the Vietnamese economy over the past decade, but the there were promising signs, including import surplus below 10 percent: “This year Vietnam increased exports. There were 14 staple items that earned more than 2 billion USD compared with 10 items last year.  Import decreased sharply and was equivalent to 9.9 percent of exports, the lowest rate in the past decade. This was a prominent achievement of this year”.  

However, Vietnamese economy was hit by high inflation. The average Consumer Price Index increased 19 percent against last year and much higher than the set target of 7 percent.