Vietnam has posted record rice export volume and value recently. (Photo: VNA) Back to 1975, Vietnam,torn by two major wars, was a backward economy dependent on agriculture and foreignassistance. Foreign loans and aid accounted for over 63% of its budget.
During 1976 - 1980,the gross domestic product (GDP) grew by just 1.4% and even contracted 1% in1980, when the country imported up to 1.57 million tonnes of food.
The implementation ofthe five-year economic plan 1976 - 1980 encountered difficulties. Meanwhile,assistance from other socialist countries fell sharply, and China completelyceased support for Vietnam from 1977.
The wars along the southernand northern borders in 1979 added a further complication as they led to a dramaticincrease in defence expenses amid suspended assistance from external sources.
Facing that fact, theParty and State initiated some changes to economic policies in 1979. In Septemberthat year, the 4th Party Central Committee held its 6th session, during whichit released Resolution No. 20-NQ/TW, which allowedcombining the planning mechanism with the market one and reusing the privateeconomy, including private capital, under the State’s management. This wasconsidered the first breakthrough in terms of mindset and economic viewpoint.
At its 9th session held in December 1980, the 4th Party Central Committeedecided to expand and complete piecework in agriculture. On January 13, 1981,the Party Central Committee’s Secretariat issued Directive 100-CT/TW on improving the use of piecework and expandingthis form of work to labourers and groups of labourers in agriculturalcooperatives. This directive, also called Piecework 100, permitted theapplication of piecework to the entire agriculture nationwide
From1981, the Vietnamese economy began flourishing, with food production surging, industrialproduction value growing relatively well, and trade deficit reducing considerably.
However, inlate 1985 and 1986, the plan on price - salary - money reforms failed to achievethe desired results due to the patchy combination of reforms and old models,leading to serious consequences. This crisis made the Party and State realisethat reforms must be carried out thoroughly.
InDecember 1986, the 6th National Party Congress issued a historicreform policy – switching from a centrally planned economy with subsidies to amulti-component commodity economy that operates in line with the market mechanismand is managed by the State and oriented towards socialism.
Workers at a factory of the Japanese-invested Sankoh Vietnam Co. Ltd in Hoa Binh province (Photo: VNA) Since2001, Vietnam has recorded strong economic development and integration into theworld. The GDP in 2009 increased 12.5-fold from 2001 while the annual GDPgrowth rate during 2001 - 2010 stood at 7.26%.
Since 2008, itemerged from a low-income country to a lower-middle-income one. Per capita GDPreached 2,715 USD in 2019, soaring 15-fold from 1990. The poverty rate, as calculatedby the World Bank, dropped to 6.7% in 2018 from 28.9% in 2002.
In 2019, Vietnamranked eighth worldwide and second in ASEAN in terms of GDP growth. It was oneof the 30 countries with the fastest foreign trade expansion and alsoestablished itself as the 22nd largest exporting country around the globe.
Data releasedby the General Statistics Office in 2023 showed that GDP, as calculated atcurrent prices, topped 10.221 quadrillion VND (430 billion USD). With thisresult, the size of the Vietnamese economy stood at the 34th placeon last year’s rankings by the UK-based Centre for Economics and Business Research (CEBR).
TheInternational Monetary Fund (IMF) noted that in 2023, Vietnam ranked third inSoutheast Asia with its GDP based on purchasing power parity (PPP) estimated at1.438 trillion USD, following Indonesia (4.391 trillion USD) and Thailand(1.563 trillion USD), and 25th in the world.
By2026, its GDP (PPP) is predicted to hit some 1.833 trillion USD to rank secondin Southeast Asia, after Indonesia. The figure is forecast to reach 2.343trillion USD to secure the 20th position globally for the economy by2029./.
VNA
