Private sector increases investment

Ha Noi, June 4 (VNA) -- The private sector invested almost VND 19,000 billion (USD 1.26 billion) in business during the first five months of this year, according to the Ministry of Planning and Investment.

The figure has brought the total private sector investment capital to VND 60,000 billion (USD 4 billion) since the implementation of the Enterprise Law in 2000. This investment has been poured mainly into industrial production and the processing of goods for export.

The sector has made valuable contributions to the country's economic growth. The proportion of its industrial production in GDP increased from 10.9 percent in 1999 to 18.3 percent in 2000, 20.3 percent in 2001 and 23 percent in the first quarter of this year. Meanwhile, its import-export value increased from 11 percent of the total in 1997 to 31 percent in the first quarter of this year.

Experts from the World Bank have forecasted that Vietnamese private enterprises will double their investment rate in GDP over the next ten years to attain their long-term development target.--Enditem