Vietnam's economy grows 7.4 percent in first half
HANOI - Vietnam's economy recorded 7.4 percent growth year-on-year in the first half of 2006, driven by the booming industrial sector but slowed by weaker agricultural output, according to preliminary figures.
The industrial sector expanded at an estimated 9.5 percent in the first six months while the construction sector expanded 8.3 percent compared with a year earlier, according to the General Statistics Office.
The overall figure was slightly lower than Vietnam's gross domestic product (GDP) growth of 7.63 percent in the first six months of 2005.
"The lower growth was mainly due to higher world crude oil prices and the serious consequences of Typhoon Chanchu," which hit the fishing and shrimp farming industries in May, said an official with the statistics office.
The service sector expanded 7.7 percent, driven by strong growth of 9.9 percent in transport and communications.
The agricultural sector, however, grew just 2.5 percent, also reflecting the impact of foot-and-mouth disease across more than half of Vietnam.
Highly-contagious foot-and-mouth disease affects cattle, pigs, sheep and other cloven-hoofed livestock. It is not usually fatal but causes losses in the production of meat and milk.
The diseases has hit the farm sector just as Vietnam has contained the H5N1 virus after vaccinating millions of poultry livestock, temporarily closing live chicken and duck markets and culling more than 50 million birds.
The communist government, led by new Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung since last week, has set a growth target of eight percent for this year.
New Finance Minister Vu Van Ninh, appointed in last week's reshuffle, reaffirmed Vietnam's commitment to achieve economic growth of 7.5 to 8 percent a year for the 2006-2010 period.
Vietnam hopes to join the World Trade Organisation later this year, boosting trade and investment in the emerging economy.
Typhoon Chanchu, which hit the South China Sea in May, sank or damaged scores of Vietnamese fishing boats and killed more than 240 Vietnamese sailors. Most bodies were never recovered.
Agence France Presse - July 3, 2006
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