Workers assemble a car at a factory in northern Vietnam

It is possible thatthe revision will increase Vietnam’s GDP and per capita GDP, with the latterhaving an impact on household spending as Vietnam approaches the upper-middleincome level.

The bureau, however,played down the effect a revision may have on GDP targets and the country’ssocio-economic development.

“The revision of GDPcalculation is a regular task for any statistics office,” said GSO’s chiefNguyen Bich Lam. “This revision looks at all economic activities consideredlegal under the country’s current laws and regulations. The underground economyand illegal activities will not be included.”

Lam said the GSO’srevision would bring Vietnam’s GDP calculation more in line with internationalstandards. The bureau has been working closely with experts from theInternational Monetary Fund and the United Nations.

In addition, therapid growth of the country’s private sector in recent years has not beenadequately documented and reported by relevant agencies. With the results of anumber of national surveys and censuses becoming available, the GSO believesthis is the right time to review the country’s GDP, which is also a norm among theinternational community.

According to the GSO,GDP remains one of the key figures in the Government’s evaluation of the scaleand capacity of the economy. It is important that GDP calculation must beaccurate, inclusive and can be compared to other countries. This is especiallyrelevant as Vietnam is building its 10-year-strategy for socio-economicdevelopment for 2021-31.

This is the secondtime the GSO has conducted a review of GDP calculation. In 2013, the bureaurevised Vietnam’s GDP for 2008-12 in which it re-evaluated economic activitiesof banking and finance, insurance and real estate sectors.-VNA