The southern city of Can Tho posted the highest economic growth rate among centrally-run cities in the first half of this year.

Director of the municipal Statistics Department Le Ngoc Bay said the city's growth was estimated at about 9.2 percent, up 8.26 percent annually, as compared to the national rate of 6.28 percent, Hanoi's 7.8 percent, Hai Phong's 9.12 percent, and Da Nang's 8.15 percent, as well as HCM City's 8.55 percent.

Can Tho's exemplary economic performance is credited to fewer bureaucratic procedures and stable market prices.

During the period, Can Tho also attracted nine new projects worth 29 million USD to its processing and industrial zones.

The city's total goods sales and services value topped 76.35 trillion VND (3.63 billion USD), marking a yearly rise of 14 percent, more than 42.2 trillion VND (2 billion USD) of which was from the retail and service sectors.

Export earnings from farm produce, garment and handicrafts were also growing, ranging from 11.5 to 25 percent.

On the tourism front, the city welcomed about one million visitors, including more than 103,500 foreigners, and raked in 970 billion VND (46.1 million USD), up 85 percent.

It contributed more than 8.8 trillion VND (419 million USD) to the State budget, up 50 percent from the same period last year.-VNA