Vietnam’s economy is forecast to maintain strong growth at 8.2 percent in 2008, underpinned by high investment growth with the expansion in industrial and service sectors.

However, a United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) survey warned that inflationary pressure will be a key concern for Vietnam this year.

At the launch of the economic and social survey of Asia and the Pacific 2008 in Hanoi on March 27, Dr. Pham Lan Huong, Deputy Director of the Department for Trade Policy and International Integration Studies under the Central Institute for Economic Management said the country’s inflation rate was 12.6 percent in 2007, higher than most countries in Southeast Asia.

According to ESCAP Economic Affairs Officer Dr Amarakoon Bandara, Vietnam should continue to tighten its monetary policy in combination with a prudent fiscal policy and a more flexible exchange rate to curb inflation.

In its survey entitled “Sustaining Growth and Sharing Prosperity”, ESCAP said agriculture in Vietnam has made important contributions to the country’s poverty reduction. But while productivity has increased over the year “there is still room for an increase in agricultural productivity and thereby reducing poverty at a faster rate”.

Slow technology adaptation, slow progress in farm produce processing industries, natural disasters and unfavourable international prices of agricultural products are some of the constraints for the sector’s growth, according to ESCAP.

Source: VNA