Prime Minister: I deeply understand the shortcomings pointed out by National Assembly delegates.

"Economic growth in 2016 did not meet the set growth target. In the first quarter of 2017, there were two factors that negatively affected growth. These are objective factors, but of course, there are many shortcomings as the delegates have mentioned, I am very aware of them. I believe that everything will be better" - Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc said.

Commenting on the socio-economic situation at the discussion session on the afternoon of May 25, in Can Tho, National Assembly Chairwoman Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan expressed concern about the slow economic growth. The National Assembly Chairwoman cited that all comments said that Vietnam's economy was recovering but the indicators were decreasing. GDP growth in 2016 was not equal to that of 2015. And the first quarter of 2017 was not equal to that of the first quarter of 2016.

“This first quarter is full of enthusiasm, the situation is much more favorable than last year, there are no natural disasters or droughts, and the Formosa incident has been basically resolved... With favorable weather, favorable terrain, and favorable people, why is economic growth still low, why hasn't GDP increased accordingly?” - The National Assembly Chairman asked and said that this is an issue that was also raised during the discussion in the National Assembly Standing Committee.

Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc is a National Assembly delegate from Hai Phong City.

Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc is a National Assembly delegate from Hai Phong City.

At the Hai Phong delegation, Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc explained that in 2016, the country’s economy did not meet the growth target. The reason was partly due to difficulties and unusual incidents such as drought and salinity in the South, the destruction of the marine environment in the Central region by Formosa, etc. These factors caused the country’s economy to lose 1% of growth.

According to the Prime Minister, talking about those objective and unavoidable factors also shows that there are many issues in the direction and operation that need to be learned from.

“In 2017, I believe everything will be better,” the Prime Minister said, analyzing that the Resolution of the 12th National Party Congress set an average growth target of 6.5-7% for the entire term, and as Party members and officials, we must fulfill our duties. Accordingly, the GDP growth rate in 2017 must be high and cannot be lowered, so we must maintain the growth target of 6.7% this year.

However, the Prime Minister also said that the management work is facing two unexpected problems that need to be resolved. Firstly, oil and gas production has decreased by 3 million tons, due to low world oil prices, so exploitation is not effective.

In addition, the recall of Galaxy Note 7 phones by Samsung - the leading exporter in Vietnam - has caused the economy to lose another 1 billion USD, equivalent to about 0.5% of GDP.

These are two factors that negatively affected growth in the first quarter. According to the Prime Minister, it is necessary to carefully analyze these objective causes.

"Of course, besides that, there are many shortcomings that exist as you have mentioned, I am very aware of them, such as the slow disbursement of public investment capital" - the Prime Minister shared.

The head of the Government affirmed that ministries and branches have conducted thorough analysis to come up with more accurate growth scenarios.

“To ensure the achievement of the 2017 GDP growth target as planned by the National Assembly of 6.7%, ministries and sectors have calculated the target of each component, such as export, agriculture, tourism, industry, etc., to increase by how much. The economic situation in April and May was actually better than the first quarter. Barring force majeure, there is hope that this year's growth will reach the target assigned by the National Assembly,” the Prime Minister stated the Government's determination.

The Prime Minister said that, chairing the recent extended meeting after working hours, he listened to the opinions of ministries, branches, and research agencies to come up with an accurate scenario to carry out the assigned tasks. Accordingly, the Government members will calculate specifically each item, each factor, and each growth component to better promote production and business activities.

According to Vietnamnet