Vietnam recorded 6.2 per cent expansion in 2008, the lowest level in almost a decade and a sharp drop from 8.5 per cent in 2007.

'All the indicators in February were much better and we hope that by the end of the year - that is, more than a year after the difficult period - the Vietnam economy will have new momentum for growth,' Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Sinh Hung said.

In his opening address to a conference of local and foreign business people, as well as Vietnamese officials, he said that 'by the end of this 2009 and from the beginning of 2010, the situation will improve. The quality of the economy will be better by 2011.' Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung was quoted last month as saying communist Vietnam's economic slowdown would end by May.

The two-day conference is organised by the firm which publishes The Economist magazine.

Ahead of the meeting the firm's research and advisory wing, the Economist Intelligence Unit, forecast that Vietnam's economy would grow at 0.3 per cent this year, well below the government's 6.5 per cent target.

Despite the forecast near-zero growth, Vietnam is one of just four Asian countries expected to expand in 2009 along with China, India and Indonesia, Justin Wood, a South-east Asia expert with the unit, told reporters.

The world is battling what analysts in many markets say has become the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression of the 1930s.

Mr Wood blamed the low Vietnam growth forecast on a slump in demand from key export markets the United States, Europe and Japan, saying this year's shipments are set to fall in value by 31 percent.

The International Monetary Fund has predicted Vietnam could grow 5.0 per cent this year. -- AFP