VietNamNet Bridge – The capital city of Hanoi will strive to achieve a GDP growth rate of between 7.5-8 percent in the six remaining months of 2009 to raise its yearly GDP rate to 5.5-6 percent.

The city will raise its export growth rate to 10 percent to make up for a minus 9.9 percent rate in the first six months and try to reduce the number of poor households by 1.4 percent at the end of the year.

The targets were proposed by the municipal administration at the 18^th session of the Municipal People’s Council on July 14.

Due to the global economic slowdown, the city saw a record low GDP growth rate of 4.1 percent in the past six months. The economic crisis took a heavy toll on the export sector, which fell by 9.9 percent from a year ago. The value of agricultural production also dropped by 3.5 percent as a consequence of heavy flooding late last year.

On the other hand, the city saw encouraging results in trade, services, education, culture, health care, job generation, urban management, environmental protection and administrative reform.

The municipal administration said that in the second half of this year, it will continue to implement solutions to prevent stagnation and decline, maintain steady economic growth and ensure social welfare.

Addressing the session, Vice Chairwoman of the National Assembly Tong Thi Phong asked Hanoi to speed up administrative reforms to create a more attractive investment and business environment.

She also asked the Municipal People’s Council to increase the efficiency of its oversight role in dealing with issues related to its socio-economic development tasks.

The council will spend much of the four-day session evaluating the city’s achievements in the first six months and setting tasks for the remaining months of the year.

(Source:VietnamNet)