Asia Times on 1 October ran an article saying that the Vietnamese economy will soon recover after COVID-19 pandemic and become one of the best performers in the world.

The World Bank forecasts that Viet Nam’s GDP growth could reach 2.8% in 2020. (Photo: VNA)

“Like its neighboring countries, Viet Nam’s economy has been struggling after months of fighting against the pandemic. It is nonetheless still an outlier given its effective response to the COVID-19 outbreak, with impressive growth. Therefore, its economy is expected to witness positive signals soon after the pandemic is brought under control, which is highly unlikely for those countries that are seriously plagued by COVID-19,” according to the article.

It cited the data as showing that Viet Nam’s GDP growth in the second quarter of 2020 was about 0.4 percent year on year. Although this was the economy’s worst performance in 35 years, it was exceptional compared with its neighbors, some suffering from negative growth.

The World Bank forecasts that Viet Nam’s GDP growth could reach 2.8% in 2020 and will recover to 6.7 percent next year, while S&P Global Ratings expects that Viet Nam will be the second-best performer among Asian economies this year.

The article noted all this indicates that the country is well able to bounce back soon from the crisis. Thus Vietnam should re-emerge quickly in the post-pandemic period, making it one of the best performers in the global economy, as it has been over the past decade.

“Thanks to its stringent lockdown measures to contain COVID-19’s spread months, Viet Nam is now gradually becoming one of the most attractive destinations for foreign investment,” it said.

As noted previously, its efficiency in getting the pandemic under control has turned it into a safe place for international firms to do business during and after the COVID-19 crisis. According to a study released by Hong Kong’s Deep Knowledge Group, Viet Nam is the ninth-safest place in the Asia-Pacific region amid the pandemic. Also noteworthy, according to a report by Goldman Sachs, for many US firms “when asked about top locations for moving out of mainland China, Viet Nam and India are the most mentioned destinations.”

During the COVID-19 crisis, while many countries have been suffering from economic sclerosis, Viet Nam’s economy has continued to take firm steps toward international economic integration.

Notably, on 8 June, Viet Nam ratified a free-trade agreement with the European Union (EVFTA), which took effect from 1 August. As well, it has been working closely with other members of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) with the hope of signing this FTA before 2021.

All of these achievements could be considered exceptional under the current situation, which is inimical to global economic activities, and Viet Nam is expected to gain enormously from these FTAs.

“As long as it can maintain the current momentum, Viet Nam will be a rising star in the global and regional economy, paving the way to becoming a high-income country in 2045 as it is aiming to do,” according to the article.

Source: VNA