Director of the General Statistics Office Nguyen Thi Huong speaks at the press conference on the morning of April 6.

“This is a positive growth rate, demonstrating the high determination, great efforts, drastic, timely and effective actions of the entire political system in directing, operating and implementing socio-economic development tasks in the face of rapid and unusual fluctuations in the region and the world,” emphasized Director Nguyen Thi Huong.

Specifically, gross domestic product (GDP) in the first quarter of 2025 is estimated to increase by 6.93% over the same period last year, reaching the highest increase compared to the first quarter of the years in the period 2020 - 2025.

This growth result exceeded the target set for the first quarter of 2025 in Resolution No. 01/NQ-CP but did not reach the higher target in Resolution No. 25/NQ-CP dated February 5, 2025 due to the rapid changes in the world and many instabilities affecting Vietnam's socio-economy. The agriculture, forestry and fishery sector increased by 3.74%, contributing 6.09% to the total added value of the entire economy; the industry and construction sector increased by 7.42%, contributing 40.17%; the service sector increased by 7.70%, contributing 53.74%.

The added value of the agricultural sector in the first quarter of 2025 increased by 3.53% over the same period last year, contributing 0.32 percentage points to the total added value growth of the entire economy; the forestry sector increased by 6.67% but due to its low proportion, it only contributed 0.03 percentage points; the fishery sector increased by 3.98%, contributing 0.09 percentage points.

In the industrial and construction sector, industrial production continued to flourish. The added value of the entire industry in the first quarter of 2025 increased by 7.32% over the same period last year (the same period last year increased by 6.71%), contributing 2.39 percentage points to the total added value growth of the entire economy...

Referring to Vietnam's economic growth, UOB experts said that Vietnam's economy is expected to continue to grow steadily in 2025 in the context of the global "trade war".

In 2025, the world economy is expected to face many uncertainties due to unpredictable policies of US President Donald Trump. The tariff war under the Trump 2.0 administration is likely to raise tensions and disrupt global trade, affecting countries with high levels of trade openness such as Vietnam.

However, according to UOB, with the Government's strong commitment to promoting economic growth, along with strong drivers from continuously increasing FDI inflows, expanding public investment, and opportunities from the semiconductor industry, Vietnam's economy is still forecast to grow positively in 2025.

According to Mr. Le Thanh Hung, Investment Director of UOB Asset Management Vietnam, Vietnam's economy is expected to continue to grow strongly in 2025 thanks to domestic economic stimulus factors through public investment and credit growth, as well as expectations for recovery in domestic consumption and the real estate sector.

“The Government submitted to the National Assembly for approval a public investment plan in 2025 of about VND875,000 billion (equivalent to about USD36 billion), a sharp increase compared to the actual disbursement in 2024 of VND568,000 billion, which has been creating momentum to promote public sector investment, increasing confidence in other economic sectors towards development,” said Mr. Le Thanh Hung.

However, Mr. Le Thanh Hung also raised the issue of the impact on Vietnam's economy during President Donald Trump's second term with two main concerns. That is, Vietnam's export revenue may be negatively affected if the US imposes tariffs on goods from Vietnam; pressure on the USD/VND exchange rate when the USD continues to increase sharply. This concern stems from the fact that the US is Vietnam's second largest trading partner (after China), Vietnam's largest export market (accounting for 30% of total exports) and has the largest trade deficit with Vietnam.

To boost economic growth to meet the Government's target, UOB representative said that Vietnam needs to increase imports from the US such as liquefied natural gas, aircraft, agricultural products... to reduce the trade surplus with the US. At the same time, Vietnam needs to promote internal growth drivers such as increasing public investment in transport and energy infrastructure projects, increasing domestic consumption, and promoting credit growth to increase capital sources for the economy.

Besides, Vietnam also needs to expand multilateral relations, upgrade comprehensive strategic partnerships with other countries to expand export markets, attract investment capital, and reduce dependence on the US market.

According to baotintuc.vn