Viet Nam is likely the top-performing Asian economy in 2020 amid the COVID-19 pandemic, according to an article posted on the US-based CNBC website on 28 January.

Viet Nam's import-export turnover exceeds 500 billion USD in 2019 - Illustrative image

The article said that the feat was achieved without a single quarter of economic contraction at a time when many economies globally were weighed down by the pandemic.

Not every Asian economy has reported fourth-quarter and full-year economic numbers. But estimates compiled by CNBC from official sources and institutions such as the International Monetary Fund showed Viet Nam outperforming all its regional peers last year.

The Vietnamese Government data showed that the country’s economy grew by 2.9 percent last year from a year ago.

Bank of America economists are optimistic that the country’s economic growth will accelerate this year.

The bank forecast the Vietnamese economy growing 9.3 percent in 2021 - a much higher growth rate than the 6.7 percent expansion projected by the World Bank.

Vietnam’s manufacturing sector was widely credited for the economy’s outperformance last year, with production growing on the back of steady export demand. That’s a trend that will persist in the coming years, said economists.

According to Fitch Solutions’ December report, there will see large scope for growth in Vietnamese exports in the years to come.

The Southeast Asian country has also inked several new trade agreements - such as with the UK and European Union - which could further boost trade flows, the consultancy said.

Source: VNA