Cabinet convenes February meeting

PM Nguyen Xuan Phuc presides over the regular monthly cabinet meeting for February 2019

At the meeting, the Government reviews the country’s socio-economic performance in February and the first two months of 2019 and the implementation of Resolution No. 01/NQ-CP, while reporting on the allocation plans of reserve capital sources of the central budget for the 2016-2020 medium-term public investment plan.

The Government also reports on the allocation of road maintenance funding to localities in 2018, and the implementation of tasks and inspection results in February 2019 of the working group of the Prime Minister, and discusses some other contents.

As reported by the Ministry of Planning and Investment, generally the socio-economic situation in February continued to be stable with positive developments across almost all sectors.

The consumer price index (CPI) in February rose by 0.8% over the previous month. The industrial production index increased by 9.2% over the same period in 2018, with the processing and manufacturing industry increasing by 11.5%.

Total retail sales of consumer goods and services increased by 12.2% year on year. Meanwhile, the export revenues were up 5.9% annually, of which the export value of the domestic economic sector surged by 9.9%, while that of the foreign direct investment (FDI) sector (including crude oil) rose by 4.3%.

Nearly 16,000 new businesses were established nationwide last month, down 14.6% compared to the same period of 2018, which was mainly attributed to the nine-day Lunar New Year (Tet) holiday. However, the newly registered capital increased by 25.4% annually. Over 10,000 enterprises resumed operations, up 48.2% year on year.

Viet Nam posted a total FDI capital of approximately US$8.47 billion, including new and additional pledges, capital contribution and share purchase, in the first two months of the year, 2.5 times higher than the same period in 2018. During the period, roughly US$2.58 billion was disbursed, up 9.8% year-on-year, the highest level in the past three years.

International tourist arrivals to Viet Nam in the January-February period were estimated at 3.15 million, a year-on-year increase of 10.12%.

By Vien Nhu