The increase contributed 2.02 percentage points to the growth ofthe economy’s added value, the MoIT told its regular press conference in Hanoi onMarch 29.
Inparticular, processing and manufacturing served as a major driver of economicgrowth, climbing up 6.98% and contributing 1.73 percentage points. Electricity productionand distribution rose 11.97% and contributed 0.45 percentage point. Water supplyalong with waste and wastewater management and treatment grew 4.99% and contributed0.03 percentage point.
However, the mining industry contracted 5.84%, with the coal exploitationvolume down 0.3% and crude oil down 3.2%, reducing the general growth by 0.2%percentage point, statistics show.
Theindex of industrial production (IIP) went up in 54 of the 63 provinces andcentrally-run cities during the period. Some localities recorded a double- orthree-digit IIP growth rate thanks to surges in processing - manufacturing orelectricity production and distribution, the MoIT noted.
Meanwhile, total revenue of goods retail and consumer services inQ1 was estimated at nearly 1.54 quadrillion VND (61.5 billion USD), up 8.2%from a year earlier. The sum includes 1.19 quadrillion VND of goods retail revenue, accounting for77.4% of the total and increasing by 7% (by 4.5% if price hikes are excluded).
MoIT Deputy Minister Nguyen Sinh Nhat Tan attributed thoseresults to the Government’s support measures and the Prime Minister’s strongdirections for promoting public investment disbursement and key industrial projects,together with FDI attraction and disbursement effects that have also helpedimprove domestic production capacity.
He also mentioned the global market recovery as seen in the reboundof export orders and efforts to diversify markets, the upgrade of Vietnam’srelations with large trading partners that has enhanced investors’ trust, anddomestic businesses’ better capacity.
Theofficial viewed the signs of economic recovery during the first three months asa driver of domestic consumption./.