Vietnam's economy shows bright spots amid global difficulties. Illustrative image (Photo: VNA) Hanoi (VNA) – Inthe context of the global economic downturn and the lingering impact of challengeson the recovery process, many international organisations continue to highlightVietnam’s positive economic outlook in 2023 thanks to the government's concerted efforts in boosting socio-economic recovery.
The International MonetaryFund (IMF) forecast that Vietnam's economic growth will recover in the secondhalf of 2023, reaching about 4.7% for the whole year, thanks to the rebound ofexports and easing domestic policies. Inflation is expected to be controlledbelow the State Bank of Vietnam's 4.5% target.
According to PauloMedas, head of the IMF's Article IV Mission, in the medium term, Vietnam can potentiallyregain high growth when structural reforms are effectively implemented.
Processing fruits for export (Photo: VNA) The projected growth may be lower than that of2022, but Vietnam's economy still performs well, he said.
Experts of the missionhave highly valued the resilience of Vietnam's economy and called for betterpolicy coordination to stabilise the macroeconomic situation in the currentcontext.
Regarding Vietnam’seconomic outlook, Singapore-based Maybank Research Pte Ltd said in a recentreport that Vietnam’s GDP growth is likely to expand by 5% in the secondquarter, and 4% in 2023 before reaching 6% in 2024.
Experts from Maybank predicted that the drop in exports will continue in thesecond half of 2023 due to slowing global growth, while domestic consumption is likely todecline in the next months amid a weak labour market.
Addressing the Ministerial Council Meeting (MCM) of the Organisation forEconomic Co-operation and Development (OECD) in Paris in June, Secretary-General of OECD Mathias Cormann expressed his impression of Vietnam’ssocio-economic development achievements in recent times.
He affirmed that the OECD will continue to accompany Vietnam on its path towards greenand sustainable economic development.
In a dialogue among member nations of the United Nations in New York lastmonth, representatives of the UN Development Program (UNDP) and countrieshighly valued Vietnam’s post-pandemic economic recovery and its efforts to ensuresocial security and responding to climate change through appropriate and timelypolicies.
According to the portfolio-adviser.com of the UK, Vietnam is one of the fastest growing economies in Asia. Illustrative image (Photo: VNA) Meanwhile, participants at the 14th Annual Meeting of the New Champions of the World EconomicForum (WEF) in Tianjin, China, acknowledged Vietnam as one of thebright spots in the region’s economic recovery, a successful model in pandemic fight, and a pioneer in growth model transformation and energy transition.
Representatives from many enterprises, impressed by theVietnamese Government’s strong commitment and support for the businesscommunity, said Vietnam is among the most suitable choices for long-terminvestment and cooperation.
They spoke highly of the country’s participation in the meeting, affirming that they will come toVietnam to continue discussions with its ministries, sectors and localities onhow to realise cooperation plans.
According to the portfolio-adviser.comof the UK, Vietnam is one of the fastest growing economies in Asia.
In its article, the site said many years ofconsistently high GDP growth have been thanks to a highly attractive combinationof political stability with sound pro-market execution from the Vietnamese Government,which has managed to slash poverty from 17% to less than 5% in the last decade.
The best-known growth driver for Vietnam is itsstep-change in foreign direct investment (FDI), benefiting from an increase inexports, it said, adding that Vietnam is now moving more towards manufacturinghigher value products, more in electronics rather than textiles.
One of Vietnam’s most critical FDI sources is technologygiant Samsung Electronics of the Republic of Korea, which employs tens ofthousands of Vietnamese workers. The firm is the largest investor in thecountry with 50% of its handsets being produced there.
The Vietnam stock market overall now meets the size andliquidity requirements to be included, with a four-fold surge in retailparticipation during the past 2-3 years, driven by digital account technology, itnoted.
According to the Business Times of Singapore, fordecades, Vietnam has been the home of low-cost manufacturing facilities and cheaplabour. However, in recent years, the government and the private sector havemade a big push to bring in the best talent in an ongoing effort to become aregional technology manufacturing hub.
This has attracted the attention of numerousglobal tech giants, many of whom have beefed up their investments in Vietnam’shigh-tech sectors.
In the first half of 2023, some big names announcedplans to increase their presence in Vietnam. Chinese display manufacturer BOE Technology GroupCo., Ltd. – a supplier for both Apple and Samsung – has plans to build two factorieswith a total investment capital of 400 million USD in Vietnam. Meanwhile,
US semiconductor producer Marvell Technology will establish aworld-class design centre in Ho Chi Minh City.
Meanwhile, The Nation newspaper of Thailand quoted Phusit Ratanakul Sereroengrit, GeneralDirector of the Department of International Trade Promotion (DITP) under the ThaiMinistry of Commerce, as saying that Thai businessmen should study thepossibility of exploiting Vietnam's steadily growing retail market, which islikely to reach 350 billion USD by 2025./.
