VIENTIANE, Jan. 3 (Xinhua) -- Authorities of Lao capital Vientiane are aiming to expand the city's economy by 11 percent in 2017 and expect that Gross Domestic Product (GDP) will increase by 41.6 trillion Lao kip (nearly 5.1 billion U.S. dollars).
It is also anticipated that the capital's residents will have an annual average per capita income of 5,000 U.S. dollars, state-run Vientiane Times on Tuesday cited figures by Vientiane Planning and Investment Department.
Accordingly, the city's agriculture and forestry sector should grow by 7 percent and represent 17 percent of GDP while 16 percent growth is projected for the industry sector, which should represent 47 percent of GDP.
Growth of 11 percent is being targeted for the services sector, which should represent 36 percent of GDP, according to the department.
To reach the target, Vientiane must invest 14.9 trillion Lao kip (over 1.8 billion U.S. dollars) in socio-economic development, of which 103 billion Lao kip (over 12.6 million U.S. dollars) is from the state budget, representing nearly 0.7 percent of the total.
In the agriculture sector, Vientiane will try to produce rice for domestic consumption and export on 76,000 hectares of land with yield of 355,800 tons. Municipal authorities are promoting the cultivation of vegetables and other cash crops on 11,200 hectares of land to yield 115,500 tons of produce.
In the industry sector, Vientiane will try to expand the processing industry and handicrafts at 12 percent.
The target set for goods destined for export is 18 percent of total production, and the city will try to develop commercial industry by attracting more investors.
Last year, Vientiane's economy grew by 10.92 percent, a reduction of 0.8 percent, while GDP reached 37.4 trillion Lao kip (nearly 4.58 billion U.S. dollars) or an average of almost 4,784 U.S. dollars per capita. Enditem
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