French President Francois Hollande at Hanoi's ancient quarters (Source: VNA)
Hanoi (VNA) – Vietnam is one of the fastest growing economies in Asia, said the French news website Capital.fr on the occasion of French President Francois Hollande’s recent visit to Vietnam.
The article cited statistics of the Organisation of Economic Cooperation Development (OECD) as saying that Vietnam is experiencing a sustainable economic growth of over 6 percent per year since 2014, which should continue in the coming years, while inflation was maintained below three percent.
It highlighted Vietnam’s large, skilled and cheap workforce, with 90 million people, 56 percent of whom under 30. The literacy rate exceeds 93 percent, but the level of salary was relatively low.
In addition, Vietnam has been a member of the WTO since 2007 and recently participated in several regional and bilateral free trade agreements, the article said.
It also underlined Vietnam’s privileged geographical location on one of the major trade routes in the word leading to the Chinese market. The geographical advantages have facilitated the country’s international trade.
Vietnam has strong agricultural potential. It is a leading global producer of rice, seafood, coffee, and its tourism is also growing rapidly, the article added.
France is only the 17th supplier of Vietnam, mainly in aircraft, weapons and equipment, accounting for only 0.8 percent of the Southeast Asian country’s imports, while three percent of Vietnam's exports go to the French market, mostly phones, textiles and foodstuffs.
There remains room in the Vietnamese market for French companies to explore, the article said.
However, it quoted journalist Dominique Baillard as saying that weak infrastructure is a major obstacle to Vietnam’s economic growth.-VNA
