Prime Minister chairs Gov’t regular meeting

The Cabinet also discussed the implementation of the socio-economic recovery program and the three national target programs and reviewed the need for adjustment of the central budget capital investment plan in 2023 among ministries, central agencies and localities.

Addressing the opening ceremony, Pham said that the nation is facing unprecedented challenges such as weak consumption demand, increasing protective barriers, high inflation rate and tight monetary policy in the world.

There are some new risks and challenges in global food security as Russia and India have banned exports of rice to ensure their domestic food security, which affect the world's rice supply, noted the PM.

Crude oil supply continues to shrink, pushing oil prices to the highest level since April 2023 while climate change, extreme weather conditions, prolonged droughts on a large scale, storms and floods, natural disasters occur in many countries, Pham added.

He stated that Viet Nam's has gained remarkable achievements in the socio-economic situation in July and over the last seven months of the year, however, both external and internal challenges persist.

As of July 20, Viet Nam lured US$16.24 billion in foreign direct investment (FDI), up 4.5 per cent year-on-year.

Of the figure, US$7.94 billion was poured into more than 1,627 new projects, up 75.5 per cent for the number of projects but down 38.6 per cent in terms of capital.

Foreign investors pledged to add up to US$4.16 billion to 736 existing projects, down 42.5 percent in terms of capital, but up 27.1 per cent in the terms of the number of projects.

During January-July, foreign firms invested US$4.14 billion in the Southeast Asian nation through capital contributions and share purchases, representing a yearly rise of 60.7 percent.

The seven-month FDI disbursement reached an estimated US$11.58 billion, surging 0.8 percent over the same period last year.

The nation gained a trade surplus of US$15.23 billion in the first seven months of the year.

Total trade turnover was estimated at US$ 57.21 billion in July, representing a month-on-month increase of 2.5 percent and a year-on-year decline of 6.7 percent.

In the first seven months, total trade volume was valued at US$ 374.23 billion, down 13.9 percent against the same period last year in which export revenue dropped by 10.6 percent and import turnover declined by 17.1 percent.

During the reviewed period, Viet Nam welcomed nearly 6.6 million foreign arrivals, equal to 83 percent of the target set for the whole year (8 million).

In July alone, more than 1.038 million foreign visitors travelled to the Southeast Asian nation, up 6.5 percent against the previous year and marking the first month in 2023 the number of foreign arrivals to the country exceeding 1 million.

Total retail sales of consumer goods and services increased 10.4 percent year on year to almost VND3.53 quadrillion (US$149 billion) in the first seven months of 2023./.