Loading and unloading rice for export at Saigon port. (Source: VNA) Chou said in his statement issued on September 8 that theeconomy remained resilient in the first half of 2021, posting GDP growth of 5.6percent, despite being negatively affected by two new waves of the virus.
The statement said the key driver in Vietnam's economicperformance for the first six months was manufacturing, which expanded by 8.4percent on-year. This was reflected in robust trade numbers, in which exportsincreased by 28.5 percent to 158 billion USD and imports increased by 36.3percent to 159 billion USD. Increased imports supported production and much ofthe surge came from inventory restocking. The resulting trade deficit was 1.5billion USD and is widely expected to be reversed in the second half of 2021.
According to VEIL, the Vietnamese stock market was among thetop performing indices in the world in the first half of 2021 and hit anall-time record high of above 1,400 points in June 2021.
Against such backdrop, VEIL rose strongly by 42.1 percent inthe period and is ahead of its reference index, VN-Index, by 13.3 percent.
Chou stated VEIL believes that in the long-term, Vietnamstill offers one of the strongest structural growth outlooks among developingmarkets, led by industrialisation and urbanisation./.
VNA
