Hanoi (VNA) – Keeping up the momentum from the previous year, the Vietnameseeconomy got off to a good start in 2019 with many robust macroeconomic indicesin the first month.

According to the GeneralStatistics Office (GSO), the index of industrial production (IIP) in Januaryscored an expansion of 7.9 percent.

Thegrowth, though much lower than 22.1 percent recorded in the same time last year,is rather strong in the context that production had been accelerated inDecember 2018 to serve consumption demand during Lunar New Year 2019 whichfalls in the beginning of February, the department said.
 
Another positive indicator is the increase in foreign direct investment (FDI)inflow.  Foreign investors registered 805million USD in new FDI projects in the country, representing a climb of 81.9percent year on year, according to statistics of the Ministry of Planning andInvestment’s Foreign Investment Agency. In addition, 72 existing projects raisedtheir capital by a total 340.3 million USD, resulting in 1.14 billion USD inthe total FDI in the month, 27.3 percent higher than the same time in 2018.

Foreigninvestors also contributed capital to or bought shares of domestic firms wortha total 761.9 million USD in the month, up 114 percent year on year.

FDI disbursement was also impressive with a 9.2 percent increase to 1.55billion USD.

Furthermore, retail and services sales rose 9.4 percent compared to 7.7 percentin January 2018. Strong purchasing power in the domestic market reflects thehealth of the economy, and is expected to stimulate the IIP in the comingmonths.

However, there are several challenges that should not beignored.

Noticeable drops in the export earnings of several key commodities such as phonesand spare parts, electronics, computers, coffee, cashew, rice and pepper, resultedin a trade deficit of 800 million USD in the month.

The Ministry of Industry and Trade said Vietnam is likely to see trade deficitreturn in 2019. A stable growth forecast for Vietnamese exports along withincreasing FDI projects will mean rising import of materials, machines andequipment. Besides, the rising trend of trade protectionism in the world is expectedto have damaging impacts on Vietnamese export revenue.

Another concern is the reduction of new firms established in January (10,079 ascompared to some 11,000 one year ago). Meanwhile, the number of enterprisesceasing operation rose 25.3 percent to 10,804, and more than 1,800 firmscompleted dissolution procedures, up 16 percent from the same time lastyear.-VNA