Hanoi (VNA) – Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc hosted a New Year banquet inHanoi on January 23, with the participation of foreign ministry officials and representativesfrom foreign embassies in Vietnam.

Addressingthe ceremony, the Prime Minister noted the socio-economic progress Vietnam madelast year.

Accordingto PM Phuc, in 2016, the country began implementing its socio-development planfor 2016-2020.

Despitedifficulties, including damage from natural disasters, the economy grew 6.21percent, compared to global average growth of 3 percent. As many as 1.6 millionnew jobs were also created.

Vietnamalso kept inflation under five percent and total export revenue hit 176 billionUSD, up nearly 9 percent annually.

More than110,000 companies were established, with total registered capital of almost 900billion VND (39.6 million USD), the highest figure ever recorded. Vietnamattracted 15.9 billion USD in foreign direct investment, a year-on-yearincrease of 9 percent.

Vietnam alsowelcomed 24 head of States and 10 million international tourists.

In hisspeech, Phuc thanked Vietnam’s partner countries, international sponsors andfriends for supporting the country.

He said theWorld Economic Forum 2017 forecast that this year would see a global recoverywith opportunities offered by the fourth industrial revolution and challengesfrom protectionism, terrorism and climate change.

Allcountries must join hands to sustain peace, stability and cooperation in linewith the UN charter and international law, he stressed.

The PrimeMinister noted that Vietnam is committed to working closely with ASEAN memberstates to build a strong and dynamic community, adding that ASEAN will celebrateits 50th founding anniversary in 2017.

As host of APECYear 2017 Vietnam welcomes the participation of international friends forincreased economic connectivity in the region, he said.

On behalfof participating diplomatic corps, Venezuelan Ambassador to Vietnam JorgeRondon Uzcategui thanked the Vietnamese Government for the banquet.

Vietnamrecorded significant achievements last year and proved its commitments to globalpeace and integration, the diplomat said.

He said thediplomatic corps want to strengthen cooperation with Vietnam in bilateral andmultilateral diplomatic policies.-VNA