Vietnam – Roar of a new Asian Tiger: Business Times

The article outlined that the Vietnamese economy is now booming, with the World Bank describing it as one of the most dynamic and emerging economies in East Asia. 

Vietnam recorded a 2.6% increase in gross domestic product (GDP) in 2021, and its economic recovery from the pandemic is expected to accelerate this year.

DBS Group Research also forecast that the country’s GDP growth is likely to reach 8% this year, boosted by an accommodative monetary policy.

Meanwhile, the International Monetary Fund predicted that Vietnam would jump from sixth to third place in Southeast Asia in terms of GDP, behind only Indonesia and Thailand, boasting a growing middle class and an increasingly number of ultra-rich individuals.

The prestigious newswire attributed Vietnamese economic growth to its strong FDI attraction, noting that the country is becoming a service provider base for international companies in the field of information technology, representing an ideal place for the development of a large number of start-ups.

According to the Business Times, Vietnam currently boasts the most solar power of any Southeast Asian nation today with 16.6 gigawatts of installed capacity as of 2020 following the Government policy of becoming a key driver for this renewable energy transition.

Moreover, the Vietnamese construction industry is set to continue its recovery in the year ahead as several large-scale infrastructure projects move through various stages of development.

Amendments to local construction and investment laws will likely bring further investment into the sector as well, analysts believe, adding that this comes amid companies in other parts of Southeast Asia appearing to be actively exploring opportunities in the Vietnamese market.

Alexander Rogozhin, head of the Group of Economic Problems Staff Member Center for Development and Modernization Studies, said the country has recorded a string of amazing socio-economic development achievements, particularly as the COVID-19 pandemic has dealt a heavy blow to the global economy.

The country’s dynamic and stable economic development can largely be attributed to its effective policy openness coupled with the implementation of a range of free trade agreements signed with other countries.

Additional factors include openness in the Investment Law along with political stability, a highly-skilled, young and cheap workforce, which has served to attract a number of foreign enterprises and capital inflows into the country, he noted.