This year Hanoi will likely see the lowest GDP growth rate among the five centrally-governed cities of Vietnam, according to Hanoi’s Chairman Nguyen The Thao.

The Hanoi People’s Committee Chairman Nguyen The Thao.

In the first half of 2009, Hanoi’s gross domestic product (GDP) was 4.12 percent, equivalent to one-third of the corresponding period of 2008 (11.8 percent). This rate is lower than the other centrally-governed cities: Can Tho (7.8 percent), Da Nang (5.1 percent), HCM City (4.6 percent) and Hai Phong (5.8 percent).

At the recent Hanoi People’s Council meeting, deputies said that the figure 4.12 percent is a “sad number” and they worried that Hanoi cannot achieve the targeted GDP growth rate of 6 percent for the entire 2009.

Hanoi’s Chairman Nguyen The Thao explained that the city’s GDP growth rate was low because of the impacts of the historic flood in late 2008, which resulted in the sharp fall of agricultural output in the winter crop (harvesting in early 2009). The city’s agricultural value in the first half of 2009 dropped by six percent compared to the same period of 2008.

Thao said if agricultural value increases by 6 percent in the second half of 2009, the city’s agricultural growth in 2009 will be zero compared to 2008.

He said if the winter crop 2008 had been equal to that of 2007, Hanoi’s GDP growth rate in 2009 would have been 4.58 percent in the first half of 2009, equivalent to that of HCM City.

However, he admitted that the local government failed to timely implement measures to prevent economic meltdown, resulting in the low GDP growth rate.

Thao said he would explain to the Hanoi People’s Council about the low growth rate of the capital in the first six months of 2009.

VietNamNet/Dan Tri