Vietnam has potential to reshape Southeast Asia’s economic rankings: Foreign media

Recently, foreign media have shared positive sentiment on Vietnam’s economic prospects, praising the country’s impressive growth as it moves toward becoming a top economy in Southeast Asia.

Ho Chi Minh City is striving to grow into a leading urban and financial hub in Southeast Asia. (Photo: VNA)
Ho Chi Minh City is striving to grow into a leading urban and financial hub in Southeast Asia. (Photo: VNA)

Hanoi (VNA) - Recently, foreign media have shared positive sentiment on Vietnam’s economic prospects, praising the country’s impressive growth as it moves toward becoming a top economy in Southeast Asia.

Reuters reported that Vietnam’s economy expanded by 8% in 2025, accelerating from the previous year. The country is a key link in global supply chains for electronics, textiles, footwear and a wide range of other products. Last year’s growth was underpinned by robust domestic consumption and increased government spending on infrastructure, as Vietnam seeks to rebalance its growth model and reduce excessive reliance on exports.

Bloomberg commented that Vietnam has maintained its position as one of the world’s fastest-growing economies, supported by strong lending policies, state backing, a weaker currency, and a boom in the tourism sector.

Meanwhile, AFP noted that Vietnam has long been regarded as a success story among Asian economies. The country’s economy has demonstrated resilience on the back of robust domestic consumption, rising business investment and public spending. Growth in 2025, the agency said, reflects the nation’s solid economic fundamentals and the Government’s continued pro-private sector orientation.

Free Malaysia Today pointed out that Asian economists have paid particular attention to Vietnam’s announcement of 8% economic growth in 2025. Its experience has become a useful benchmark and an important lesson for other countries.

According to the newspaper, the country’s strong performance in 2025 reflects four “interlocking dynamics”. Exports continued to serve as the main pillar of growth, while the country further consolidated its position as a global manufacturing hub. At the same time, rising domestic demand, especially household consumption and investment, provided a significant boost to overall economic momentum. In addition, strategic adaptability in trade and investment policies enabled Vietnam to effectively withstand external shocks, with tariff pressures accelerating diversification into new markets and sectors.

It also assessed that Vietnam’s growth accomplishment was “not a miracle, but the result of methodical economic positioning that transformed vulnerabilities into engines of expansion”.

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Loading containers onto a 200,000 DWT vessel at Gemalink International Terminal in Ho Chi Minh City. (Photo: VNA)

The McGill International Review (MIR) of Canada has published an analysis noting that despite structural challenges, Vietnam’s current economic strategy has delivered genuinely impressive growth momentum, positioning the country as a strong contender for the title of an “Asian tiger cub.” According to the article, Vietnam is entering the 7-10% growth range once achieved by the Asian tigers at the height of their industrialisation, underscoring the country’s rising stature in the regional and global economic landscape.

China Daily praised the country’s ongoing reforms and transformation, noting its impressive growth on the road to becoming a top economy in Southeast Asia with an expanding global presence, despite tariff challenges. The paper called its 2025 growth of over 8% a milestone, making the nation a standout amid ongoing global uncertainty.

According to the newspaper, the country is expected to surpass Thailand as ASEAN's third-largest economy by 2026 or 2027. By 2030, its economic position will likely be shaped by its shift toward a high-middle-income status./.

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Industrial production surges in the first two months of 2026. (Photo: VNA)

Industrial production posts strong growth in first two months

According to the National Statistics Office (NSO) under the Ministry of Finance, the index of industrial production (IIP) in February was estimated to decrease 18.4% from the previous month but increase 1% year on year. Overall, in the January–February period, the IIP rose 10.4% compared with the same period last year.

A delegation from the Nghe An provincial People’s Committee inspects production and business activities at the VSIP Nghe An Industrial, Urban and Service Park. (Photo:nhandan.vn)

Nghe An steps up reforms to attract FDI

In 2025, the provincial People’s Committee licensed 25 new FDI projects and approved capital adjustments for 20 others, bringing the total newly registered and additional investment to more than 1 billion USD. Many large-scale projects in the Southeast Nghe An Economic Zone have already become operational, contributing to export growth, state budget revenues and job creation.

Nearly 35,500 enterprises are newly registered nationwide, with total registered capital reaching nearly 313.7 trillion VND and more than 167,500 registered workers. (Photo: VNA)

Nearly 35,500 new businesses set up in first two months

The enterprises registered combined capital of about 313.7 trillion VND and more than 167,500 employees. Compared with the same period last year, the number of new businesses surged by 70.7%, while registered capital rose by 36.1% and registered labour increased by 19.1%.

The yarn factory of Unitex Textile and Dyeing Company Limited applies new technology to optimise operations using an automated model. (Photo: VNA)

Resolution 68: International lessons for private sector development

A common feature in many successful economies is a fundamental shift in the perception of private enterprises. In countries such as Singapore, Germany, Republic of Korea (RoK) and China, private firms are viewed not mainly as entities requiring strict control but as development partners and key forces generating growth, jobs and innovation.

The production line of Regza Electronics Vietnam Co., Ltd. located in Dong Nai province. (Photo: VNA)

Vietnam’s overseas investment rises 2.3-fold in first two months

During the period, 36 new overseas projects were granted investment certificates with total registered capital from Vietnamese investors reaching 532.4 million USD, up 2.3 times compared to the same period last year. In addition, three projects adjusted their capital with an additional 7.8 million USD, 1.5 times higher than a year earlier.

Workers of PTSC Thanh Hoa check the system for crude oil imports. Vietnam saw strong increase in fuel imports in the first two months of this year. (Photo" VNA)

Vietnam records strong increase in fuel imports in two months

Statistics of Vietnam Customs showed that Vietnam spent more than 1.44 billion USD importing 2.18 million tonnes of petroleum products in the first two months of this year, representing a sharp increase of 31.4% and 43%, respectively, over the same period last year.

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh visits a macadamia cultivation model in Huoi Tao B village, Pu Nhi commune, Dien Bien province on March 8. (Photo: VNA)

PM requests boosting agricultural development in Northwestern region

PM Chinh encouraged local residents to explore additional crops and livestock suitable for intercropping in order to maximise land use efficiency. Farmers were also urged to strengthen cooperation with one another and with businesses by joining cooperatives, consolidating land resources and working together to expand production and improve incomes.

Farmers in the Mekong Delta province of An Giang harvest rice grown under the project 'Sustainable Development of One Million Hectares of High-Quality, Low-Emission Rice Associated with Green Growth in the Mekong Delta by 2030.' (Photo: VNA)

Promoting high-quality rice exports amid mounting challenges

According to the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment (MAE), an estimated 600,000 tonnes of rice worth 370 million USD was exported in January, up 12.4% in volume and 16.9% in value year-on-year. The average export price reached 616.6 USD per tonne, up 4%.