Vietnam has taken a big step towards achieving its economic growth target of 6.7 percent for 2017 after GDP grew by 7.46 percent for the third quarter, the government said on Tuesday.

The robust economic performance during the third quarter has sent the nine-month GDP growth figure to 6.41 percent, Minister Mai Tien Dung, chairman of the Government Office told reporters in Hanoi.

The government announced the results for the third quarter at a regular conference that took place earlier the same day.

Vietnam will now meet its full-year GDP growth target of 6.7 percent if the economy expands by 7.31 percent in the last quarter, according to the minister.

The Government Office chairman said that the third quarter result was not due to growth in mining or credit, but in the agricultural and industrial sectors.

“The agriculture sector grew by 2.78 percent in the nine-month period, and industrials, 7.17 percent,” he elaborated.

In the third quarter alone, Samsung Vietnam posted 25 percent growth, while Formosa, the steel mill in the north-central province of Ha Tinh that has recommenced operations this year following its 2016 pollution scandal, is expected to produce 1.5 million metric tons of steel.

The government also reported several other positive economic signals, including international arrivals in the Jan-Sep period rising by 28 percent year on year and exports topping $154 billion for the same period.

Speaking at the government conference, Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc reminded those present that while positive results had been achieved to date, the relevant ministries and agencies should bear in mind that many things still need to be done to achieve the end of year target.

The head of government also said that besides healthy growth, there are still dark sides to the economy, including the fact that 8,700 businesses were dissolved, and that only 55 percent of the capital approved for public infrastructure projects had been distributed during the Jan-Sep period.

“Achieving GDP growth of 7.4 or 7.5 percent in the last quarter of the year is not an easy task,” the premier said.

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