The Prime Minister chaired the regular Government meeting in October 2018.

Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc. Photo: VGP

The October 2018 meeting took place in 1 day, focusing on reviewing the Socio-Economic Report for October and the first 10 months of 2018 and the implementation of Resolution 01/NQ-CP; Mid-term assessment report on the implementation of the National Target Program in 2019...

According to the report of the Ministry of Planning and Investment, the socio-economic situation in October and the past 10 months continued to be positive. The agricultural, forestry and fishery sectors all developed quite well, affirming that the restructuring of the agricultural sector is showing positive results.

The processing and manufacturing industry continued to grow, with the IIP in the first 10 months of 2018 increasing by 10.4%, higher than the same period last year (9.6%). The industrial production index in the first 10 months of 2018 of 63 provinces and centrally run cities all increased compared to the same period last year.

Total retail sales of goods and consumer services revenue increased by 11.4%, excluding price factors, it increased by 9.31%, higher than the same period (8.79%). International visitors reached over 12.8 million, up 22.4%.

The consumer price index (CPI) continues to be tightly controlled. The CPI in October 2018 increased by 0.33% compared to September. The average CPI in the first 10 months of 2018 increased by 3.6%; the CPI in October 2018 increased by 3.54% compared to December 2017 and increased by 3.89% compared to the same period in 2017.

Export turnover is estimated at over 200 billion USD, up 14.2%. In 10 months, the trade surplus was 6.4 billion USD.

The country has nearly 110,000 newly registered enterprises with a total registered capital of 1,116 trillion VND, an increase of 4.3% in the number of enterprises and 9.2% in capital. There are also nearly 28,000 enterprises returning to operation, an increase of 22.7% over the same period.

Besides the positive aspects, the situation in October and the first 10 months also revealed a number of existing problems and limitations that Government members will focus on discussing and analyzing to come up with solutions to overcome.