The total revenue from retail trading and the service sector during the first six months of this years is estimated at 1.27 trillion VND (60.6 million USD), a surge of 11.94 percent year-on-year.

Figures released by the General Statistics Office (GSO) show that retail sales this month were 212.2 billion VND (10.1 million US), a slight fall of 0.25 percent over the previous month.

The industrial sector accounted for the largest amount of the increase in this period, recording 77 percent, followed by hotels, restaurants and services.

Cooperatives posted the highest decrease of 0.46 percent, following by foreign invested and private firms with 0.38 and 0.35 percent respectively.

The tourism sector saw the biggest decrease of 1.02 percent.-VNA