Vietnam will  focus on boosting growth, maintaining macroeconomic stability, controlling inflation, and ensuring key balances of the economy in 2024, stated Minister-Chairman of the Government Office Tran Van Son while chairing a regular government press conference in Hanoi on January 5.

Noting that 2024 continues to be a challenging year for Vietnam, Son said in addition to bolstering traditional growth drivers like investment, exports, and consumption, there is a need to promote new ones like regional linkages, science and technology, innovation, digital transformation, green transformation, semiconductors, and hydrogen. Notably, the government is determined to cut state budget expenditures by 5% and increase budget revenue by at least 5%, he added.

Moreover, ministries and localities will continue to streamline administrative procedures and business regulations, Son said, adding that the goal for 2024 is to reduce administrative compliance costs by at least 10%. Efforts are set to be intensified in resources management and environmental protection, with resources allocation for disaster prevention and climate change response prioritised. Foreign relations and international integration will also be further strengthened.

The official stressed the country’s 2023 encouraging results, with economy expanding quarter-on-quarter to reach 5.05%, placing Vietnam among the high-growth countries regionally and globally and raising the size of the economy to around 430 billion USD.

The stability of the monetary and foreign exchange markets was maintained, with interest rates decreasing by approximately 2 percentage points compared to the end of 2022. The agricultural sector remained resilient, registering a growth of 3.83% – the highest in the past decade. The service sector grew by 6.82%, and the total retail sales of goods and consumer service revenue by 9.6%. The industrial sector rebounded quickly each quarter, logging a 3.02% annual growth.

The state budget revenue exceeded the estimate by around 8.12%, enabling the allocation of approximately 560 trillion VND (22.97 billion USD) for salary reform over the next three years (2024-2026).

Foreign direct investment (FDI) attraction, meanwhile, reached nearly 36.6 billion USD, up 32.1% year-on-year, in the context of global trade and investment contraction. Actual FDI disbursement was close to 23.2 billion USD, the highest ever recorded, indicating that Vietnam remained an attractive destination for foreign investors. The digital economy's contribution to GDP hit about 16.5%, making Vietnam the fastest-growing digital economy in Southeast Asia for the two consecutive years.

At the event, Deputy Governor of the State Bank of Vietnam Dao Minh Tu announced that the credit growth target for 2024 is expected to be 15%, with the figure for 2023 standing at 13.71%./.