Vietnam's economy to signal recovery in Q1

Vietnamese economy is expected to signal recovery with a Gross Domestic Production (GDP) growth of 4. 96 percent in the first quarter of 2014, said a Vietnamese official on Tuesday. Bui Ha, director of National Economy Department under Vietnam' s Ministry of Planning and Investment (MPI) made the remarks at an MPI-held monthly briefing on production and business activities in capital Hanoi on Tuesday. The figure is relatively high compared to 4.76 percent and 4.75 percent of GDP increases in the same period over 2013 and 2012, Bao Dau Tu (Vietnam Investment Review), an online newspaper of MPI quoted Ha as saying on Tuesday. According to MPI statistics, in the first three months of 2014, gro-forestry-fishery sector is forecast to rise 2.37 percent while the industrial, construction sector is likely to go up 4.69 percent and service sector up 5.95 percent. Among these three sectors, index of industrial production (IIP) is witnessing the clearest recovery sign. The estimated IIP hike of 5.2 percent in the first quarter of 2014 stays higher than that of 4.9 percent in the same period in 2013, said the MPI. Of the IIP in the first quarter, processing, manufacturing went up 7.3 percent, electricity production and distribution rose 9.2 percent while those of water supply, waste water treatment and mining increased 5.7 percent and 2.9 percent respectively.