The reign of COVID-19 in Viet Nam has been watery and short-lived, in contrast to other countries like Italy or the United States thanks to an unique approach to testing, US-based Borgen Magazine said in a recent article.

Illustrative photo. (Source: VNA)

It is mass-testing which has allowed Vietnamese doctors to practice thorough contact tracing and thus effectively control the spread of cases, the magazine noted.

It went on to say despite the tenure of the novel coronavirus in Vietnam and the world, the Vietnamese government remains optimistic about the country’s economy. “The Vietnam Institute for Economic and Policy Research (VEPR) predicts at least a 5-percent growth in the country’s GDP by the end of 2020, and citizens have already resumed normal economic activities.”

“In the midst of a global pandemic, the spirit of Viet Nam seems unworried about fiscal matters.”

This is due to several governmental factors, it continued; over the past few decades, the poverty rate in Vietnam has fallen drastically as services such as healthcare have become more widely available to citizens.

In 1990, the country’s extreme poverty rate was 50 percent. Today, that figure has fallen to 2 percent. In 2019, 90 percent of Vietnamese citizens have access to health insurance, compared to 59 percent in 2011.

“The governance of Viet Nam in the face of COVID-19 reflects measures that the country has taken against poverty,” Borgen Magazine said, outlining the government’s Resolution 84 which offers incentives and fee reductions to small, private-owned businesses during the time of the global pandemic.

Under this resolution, there is a 15-percent reduction in the renting price for government-owned land. In addition, the resolution includes a 2-percent interest reduction for government loans to small and medium-sized enterprises. “Such fee reductions are potentially conducive to more employment and greater amounts of business.”

It also highlighted that Viet Nam and the EU recently came to an agreement on a free trade deal which would eliminate 99 percent of tariffs on traded goods between the countries. The World Bank estimates that Vietnam’s GDP and exports may be boosted by 12 percent by 2030, thanks to the deal.

“These optimistic projections also benefit the citizens of Viet Nam — many of whom are farmers or producers of exported goods,” it said.

Source: VNA