Vietnam has targeted service export earnings of 5.9 billion U.S. dollars in 2006, up 5.4 percent against 2005, according to a local trade and service department on Thursday.

To this end, Vietnam will intensify investment in the local service industry, and further tap its key labor export markets, including China's Taiwan, Malaysia and South Korea, said the Service and Trade Department under the Ministry of Planning and Investment.

Vietnam plans to increase investment in the service industry to 780-840 trillion Vietnamese dong (VND) (49.4-53.2 billion dollars), or 42-43 percent of its total investment, between 2006 and 2010, the department said.

The respective figures for the 2001-2005 period were 220 trillion VND (13.9 billion dollars) and 22.5 percent. A large amount of the money was spent on aviation, posts and telecommunications, shipping, banking, finance and tourism services.

Vietnam has targeted to send 75,000 local employees abroad this year, up from over 70,600 last year, the department said.

The country, which earned 5.6 billion dollars from service export last year, has eyed service export revenues of 8 billion dollars in 2010.

Source: Xinhua