WB: Vietnam’s economy to grow 5.5 percent in 2014

The Vietnamese economy isexpected to grow at a moderate rate of around 5.5 percent this year,according to the East Asia Pacific Economic Update report released bythe World Bank (WB) at a press conference in Hanoi on April 7.

Addressingthe event, Axel van Trotsenburg, WB East Asia and Pacific RegionalVice President, said East Asia and the Pacific has served as theworld’s main growth engine since the global financial crisis.
He added that stronger global growth this year will help the regionexpand at a relatively steady pace while adjusting to tighter globalfinancial conditions.

In its report, the WB forecasts that developing countries in the East Asia and Pacific region will see stableeconomic growth this year, thanks to a recovery in high-income economiesand the market’s modest response to the Federal Reserve’s tapering ofits quantitative easing.

The report said developing East Asiawill grow by 7.1 percent this year, largely unchanged from 2013, addingthat with this growth, it will remain the fastest growing region in theworld, despite a slowdown from the average growth rate of 8.0 percentfrom 2009 to 2013.

Bert Hofman, Chief Economist of the WB’s EastAsia and Pacific Region, said that over the longer term, to keepgrowth high, developing East Asia should redouble efforts to pursuestructural reforms to increase their underlying growth potential andenhance market confidence.

According to the report,the regional countries could also benefit from structural reforms,such as facilitating international trade and promoting foreign directinvestment, especially in the services sector. In this context, theestablishment of the ASEAN Economic Community in 2015 could boostintra-regional investment and exports and provide an important source ofgrowth.-VNA