According to a government report presented at the current NA session, Vietnam’s economy grew 7.08% last year and 6.79% in the first quarter of this year. Vietnam aims to achieve a GDP growth rate of 6.8% this year.

Vietnam’s long-term, stable growth

Bloomberg last week, quoting a DBS Bank, said that if Vietnam’s economy grows by 6-6.5 percent each year over the next 10 years, it will exceed the size of the Singapore economy. The International Monetary Fund says the global economy will grow only 3.5% this year. Data from the US Census Bureau show that imports from Vietnam jumped 40.2 percent year-on-year in the first quarter of this year. Vietnam could leapfrog Italy, France, the UK and India to rank seventh in the top exporters to the US if its pace of growth can be sustained for a full year, Bloomberg said.

As seen in media reports, managers and economists have expressed optimism about Vietnam’s long-term stable growth, which they said would be boosted by Vietnam’s population structure, labor force, improved infrastructure, stable politics, and increased productivity. They said these are the fundamentals that have made Vietnam a top destination for foreign direct investment.

Japan’s Nikkei reported that Vietnam is attracting more foreign investment and technology becoming one of Asia’s top FDI destinations. The movement of global production chains and supply chains to Vietnam prove the attraction of Vietnam’s incentives and stability. The magazine said the flow of FDI to Vietnam will help local businesses entre the global supply chain and pave the way for Vietnamese products to penetrate the US, CPTPP countries, China, and the EU.

Economic growth benefits the people

Economic growth increases Vietnamese people’s incomes and living standard. According to Nielsen, a global market research firm, Vietnam ranked fourth in the world with a Consumer Confidence Index (CCI) of 122 percentage points in the final quarter of 2018, well above the global average of 107 pp and the regional average of 117 pp. Growing incomes are enabling Vietnamese to buy cars, luxury electronics and expensive clothes, and travel more.

This strong economic growth is a result of the government’s wise polices and resolute actions to promote the socialist-oriented market economy, develop the private sector, strengthen administrative reforms, and improve the business environment.