VietNamNet Bridge - Unsatisfactory farm produce exports, low inflation rate, and low effects of foreign direct investment (FDI) to the national economy and slow state-owned equitization have been cited as the most serious problems facing the national economy in the second half of the year.

The sharp fall in farm exports in recent months topped the list of the problems cited by Le Dinh An, a renowned economist, former director of the National Information and Socio-Economic Forecasting Center. 

“The government launched demand stimulus packages and offered preferential lending interest rates to the agriculture sector, but these still cannot help,” he noted, adding that Vietnam, though the second largest rice exporter in the world, cannot earn much money from rice exports due to low export prices.

Mot The Gioi quoted the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD) as saying that Vietnam exported $16.93 billion worth of farm and seafood produce in the first seven months of the year, a decrease of 3.6 percent in comparison with the same period of 2014. 

Exports of coffee, rice, rubber and seafood, the major export items of Vietnam, all have seen decreases.

The second big concern is low inflation. “The GDP grew by more than 6 percent while the inflation rate increased by one percent. I think there is something problematic here,” An noted.

However, Dr. Nguyen Bich Lam, general director of the General Statistics Office (GSO), said he does not think the low inflation rate is ‘worrying’ and that the low consumer price index (CPI) increase should not be attributed to low demand. 

Dr. Nguyen Dinh Cung, head of the Central Institute for Economics Management (CIEM), said there was no need to be too worried about the low CPI increase.

“The inflation rate is low, but the GDP grows year after year. Therefore, this is not worrying,” Cung said.

Regarding concern about the FDI, An said Thailand has good infrastructure conditions and developed support industries, therefore, FDI into the country can help develop the domestic economy. Meanwhile, this has not been happening in Vietnam.

The Vietnam News Agency quoted a Ministry of Planning and Investment’s (MPI) report as saying that $7.4 billion worth of FDI capital was disbursed in the first seven months of 2015, an increase of 8.8 percent over the same period of the last year. 

However, the registered FDI capital during the same time was only $8.8 billion, just equal to 92.4 percent of the same period of 2014.

The fourth concern, according to An, is SOE enterprise equitization. Vietnam once proceeded quickly with the equitization process 2-3 years ago. However, An noted that both the “speed” and the “quality” of the current equitization process has been unsatisfactory.

Kim Chi