By Prensa Latina
Hanoi : Economic reform in Vietnam did not bring inequalities in the distribution of wealth, experts said on Wednesday when analyzing last year’s results.
The country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) grew 8.5 percent and the poverty rate dropped from 18 to 14.7 percent in 2007.
During that period, Vietnam benefited from record direct foreign investments of 20.3 billion dollars, structural changes were made, and the GDP increased 10.6 percent in the industrial sector and 8.7 percent in the service sector.
Agriculture continued to be leading Vietnam’s economy, sharing 19.8 percent of the GDP, despite predictions of possible risks due to the sector’s transformation, official sources said.
At the same time, agricultural products accounted for 25 percent of exports, according to the Ministry of Agriculture.
Economists pointed out that Vietnam recently celebrated the first anniversary of its membership in the World Trade Organization (WTO), as part of the package of economic reforms known as Domoi, which began 20 years ago.
The national director of the Asian Development Bank (ADB), Ayumi Konishi, said results have not been accompanied by the inequality that has affected other countries embarked in market planning.
According to Konishi, Vietnam could report average revenues by 2009 and fulfill its industrialization program by 2020, two goals that also imply greater opening, even beyond the country’s commitments to the WTO.