Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh has asked ministries, agencies, and localities to focus on promoting three growth drivers - investment, exports, and consumption - to boost socio-economic development over the remaining months of the year.

Addressing the regular government meeting in Hanoi on September 9, Prime Minister Chinh emphasized the need to continue strengthening and boosting agriculture, services, and industry, especially manufacturing and processing, and take measures to tackle market difficulties and restore supply chains.

The meeting was held to review socio-economic performance in August and the first eight months of the year.

The government leader asked ministries, agencies, and localities to exert more effort to mobilize and optimize every domestic and external resource, promote administrative reform and improvements to the business climate, and further listen to people and enterprises to take drastic action to remove the obstacles they face.

Inflation remained under control and continued to decline in the first eight months of this year, standing at 3.1 per cent; much lower than the annual target of 4.5 per cent.

FDI inflows rose 8.2 per cent year-on-year to nearly $18.15 billion in the period.

Exports totaled $227.7 billion, resulting in Vietnam posting a trade surplus of $20.2 billion.