Hanoi - Vietnam's economic growth rate dropped to an annualized 3.1 per cent in the first three months of 2009, but local experts said Thursday that they were happy with the figure.

The new gross domestic product (GDP) figures released by Vietnam's government Wednesday were much lower than the 7.4-per-cent growth recorded in the same quarter in 2008.

But Nguyen Dinh Cung, director of the Department for Macroeconomic Policy in the Central Institute for Economic Management, said many countries had registered negative growth in the first quarter this year.

"This is a good figure in this context," the official said.

"I am not pessimistic about this figure," said professor Do Duc Dinh, director of Vietnam's Centre for Economic and Social Research.

Dinh said Vietnam could raise its growth figures by shifting away from its traditional export markets in the United States, Europe and Japan and focusing more on Africa and the Middle East.

According to government statistics, Vietnam attracted foreign direct investment of 6 billion dollars in the first quarter, down 40 per cent year-on-year.

The country spent 11.8 billion dollars on imports, down 45 per cent from the same period last year, while earning 13.5 billion dollars from exports, a slight increase of 2.4 per cent.

Dinh said the figures meant Vietnam's official government growth target of 6.5 per cent for 2009 was unrealistic.

"Vietnam's economy may experience more difficulty in the future, so reaching GDP growth of 6.5 per cent is impossible," Dinh said. (dpa)