Vietnamese Prime Minister Mr. Nguyen Xuan Phuc welcomed Ms. Halinda Amin from Bloomberg Television at the Government office in Hanoi on May 27^th 2017. Despite a weak expansion last quarter, Prime Minister expressed his confidence of this year economic growth, which is expected to reach 6.7% without adding to inflation.

“Main economic indicators in May are all very good with a strong pickup in exports, foreign investment and agriculture production, laying ground for faster growth in the third and fourth quarters” – said Prime Minister.

Government must balance pro-growth initiatives with inflation control mechanisms, which is targeted not to exceed 4 percent in 2017.

According to Mr. Adam McCarty, chief economist with Mekong Economics in Hanoi, the prime minister’s 2017 economic assessment is realistic.

Tourism is expected to grow 30 percent this year, agricultural exports will beat the $32 billion shipped last year, and electronics exports are going to surge.

The benchmark VN Index has risen 12.4 percent this year in Ho Chi Minh City, outpacing the 6.6 percent gain in the Bloomberg Asia Pacific Airlines Index.

Mr. Nguyen Xuan Phuc mentioned two reasons of a first quarter slow growth which were: big drop in Vietnamese crude oil and electronic industry – loss of about $1 billion worth of exports from Galaxy Note 7” when Samsung recalled its faulty smartphone last year.

Vietnam, which has completed about 16 free trade agreements, began tethering itself to global trade after introducing market-oriented “doi moi” reforms in the 1980s. Exports rose to a record $177 billion last year.

The government is also speeding up the restructuring of its banking sector with stronger reforms in under-performing lenders.

The interview can be found here.