There were signs of economic growth slowdown, said Mr. Lam at a press conference on GDP, Labor, and Employment in Q1, 2016 which took place on March 25 in Hanoi.
Strong export competition
According to Mr. Lam, in Q1, the domestic economy encountered with numerous challenges due to complicated economic development, unpredictable oil prices and monetary and financial situations in the global market.
Market competition in terms of output and input production costs among countries with similar production capacities became hotter, said the Director General.
In addition, the record cold weather in the North, serious droughts in the Central and Central Highland Regions, saltwater intrusion in the Mekong Delta Region also influenced business production, especially agriculture, industry, and export in early 2016.
Accordingly, the agro-forestry and fishery sector only expanded by 98.77% against the same period last year, the record low over the past years.
Impressive growth of construction
In Q1, industry and construction grew 6.72% against the same period last year, but lower than the rate of 8.74% in 2015.
Meanwhile, the mining sector experienced a sharp drop, with a level equivalent to 98.8% of the same period of last year. Manufacturing and processing grew 7.9%, lower than the rate of 9.7% in Q1, 2015.
Noticeably, construction made an impressive growth of 9.94%, the record high since 2010. Especially, the non-state sector expanded over 23%.