Vietnam’s 40-year reconstruction cause after its reunification in 1975has been hailed as a success story, with major internationalorganisations and media taking note of the country’s rapidsocio-economic development.
The United Nations said a fterreunification, due to the severe damages caused by many years of war,policy weaknesses and a difficult international environment, Vietnam’seconomy experienced a long period of crisis during the 1970s and 1980s.To overcome these difficulties the Doi Moi (renovation) process wasinitiated in 1986, and on the back of the reforms, the country has seenrapid economic growth.
Since 1990, Vietnam’s GDP nearlytripled based on an average annual GDP growth rate of 7.5 percent - upuntil the global economic crisis in 2008. Growth suffered in 2008 (6.2percent) and 2009 (5.3 percent) and is estimated to remain sluggish in2010. Nevertheless, the percentage of the population living below thepoverty line, estimated at 58 percent in 1993 decreased to under 12percent in 2009. Domestic resources for development have increased andinternational trade and foreign direct investment have dramaticallyexpanded over the past two decades.
The UN said the country’stwo Socio-economic Development Strategies for 1991-2000 and 2001-2010have helped Vietnam advance from a largely poor, agricultural-basedeconomy to a wealthier, market-based and rapidly developing one,increasingly integrated into the regional and global community, and thenew Socio-economic Development Strategy from 2011-2020 aims to establishthe foundation for Vietnam to become a modern, industrialized countryby 2020.
According to the UN, these strategies and collectiveefforts have taken Vietnam from being one of the poorest in the worldonly a few decades ago to a rapidly growing middle income country. Ingeneral, Vietnam’s growth record over the past two decades has beenlargely driven by a combination of steady economic reforms, integrationinto the world economy and a stable macroeconomic environment.
The World Bank also attributed Vietnam’s development success to theDoi Moi , noting that political and economic reforms launched in 1986have transformed the country from one of the poorest countries in theworld, with per capita income below 100 USD, to a lower middle incomecountry within a quarter of a century with per capita income of over2,000 USD by the end of 2014. To date, Vietnam has achieved most and insome cases surpassed a number of the Millennium Development Goals(MDGs), particularly with the goals on poverty reduction, education andgender equality. The percentage of people living in poverty dropped fromalmost 60 percent in the 1990s to under 10 percent today.
TheWB cited figures that showed Vietnam’s growth rate has averaged 6.4percent per year for the last decade, adding that while the growth hasbegun to slow recently, Vietnam has managed to improve macroeconomicstability, with headline inflation falling from a peak of 23 percent inAugust 2011 to about 4.1 percent for 2014. The external sector continuesto be an important engine of growth.
It underlined thecountry’s Socio-Economic Development Strategy (SEDS) 2011-2020 whichgives attention to structural reforms, environmental sustainability,social equity, and emerging issues of macroeconomic stability.
The WB also pointed to the fact that the Vietnamese Government hasrecently paid more attention to improving the business environment, withtwo Resolutions issued in March 2014 and March 2015, setting outconcrete actions to remove obstacles to doing business in Vietnam, with agoal of achieving a business environment comparable to the average ofthe ASEAN-6 group.
The Asian Development Bank highlighted thatVietnam has been among the fastest growing economies in the world since1990, but the pace slowed down during 1998-2003 due to slow structuralreforms and the instability in the global economy.
During avisit to Vietnam in 2014, ADB President Takehiko Nakao said in order tostrengthen the achievements and restore rapid and comprehensive economicgrowth, the country should intensify structural reforms, particularlyin State-owned enterprises and the banking sector, while the governmentshould tighten public debt control through increasing tax revenue andrationalizing public spending.
The ADB President also notedthat the private sector plays an important role in improving thecountry’s competitiveness and avoiding the middle-income trap. Accordingto him, Vietnam should try to optimize benefits from the globaleconomic integration through enhancing trade and investment on the basisof deeper integration into the Association of South East Asian Nations(ASEAN) and free trade agreements.
The bank’s latest report onAsia development outlook in 2015 stressed priority should be placed onstrengthening the banking system and outlining a clear strategy totackle bad debts in short term.
In addition, Vietnam needs tospeed up divestment of state-owned enterprises and accelerate theirequitisation process, according to the report, which also urged thelocal enterprises’ greater participation in global value chain toleverage the fullest growth potential.
Bloomberg recentlyran an article which said Vietnam is - once again -- being tipped foreconomic lift-off, after years of disappointment.
“Moneypouring into the Southeast Asian economy from the likes of manufacturersSamsung Electronics Co. and Intel Corp. is giving Vietnam a second runat becoming Asia’s next tiger economy”, i t said.
The articlequoted PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP as saying that the country has thepotential to become one of the world’s fastest-growing economies overthe period to 2050, adding that the Southeast Asian nation is gainingground as a cheaper manufacturing alternative to neighbouring China, andis also a destination for Japanese firms boosting investment in theregion amid recurring Sino-Japan spats.
The articlenoted that Vietnam’s growing clouts are gathering, citing reports thatin 2014 the country overtook other Association of Southeast AsianNations (ASEAN members to become the biggest exporter to the US, whiledisbursed foreign investment in the country has soared in the past 14years to reach 12.35 billion USD in 2014, up 7.4 percent from 2013 andcompared with 2.4 billion USD in 2000.
It reported theVietnamese government is working on some of the economy’s biggestmillstones, and quoted Dang Quyet Tien, deputy general director of thefinance ministry’s corporate finance department as saying in aninterview March 13 that Vietnam will attempt to sell a record amount ofshares in state-owned companies this year.-VNA
The United Nations said a fterreunification, due to the severe damages caused by many years of war,policy weaknesses and a difficult international environment, Vietnam’seconomy experienced a long period of crisis during the 1970s and 1980s.To overcome these difficulties the Doi Moi (renovation) process wasinitiated in 1986, and on the back of the reforms, the country has seenrapid economic growth.
Since 1990, Vietnam’s GDP nearlytripled based on an average annual GDP growth rate of 7.5 percent - upuntil the global economic crisis in 2008. Growth suffered in 2008 (6.2percent) and 2009 (5.3 percent) and is estimated to remain sluggish in2010. Nevertheless, the percentage of the population living below thepoverty line, estimated at 58 percent in 1993 decreased to under 12percent in 2009. Domestic resources for development have increased andinternational trade and foreign direct investment have dramaticallyexpanded over the past two decades.
The UN said the country’stwo Socio-economic Development Strategies for 1991-2000 and 2001-2010have helped Vietnam advance from a largely poor, agricultural-basedeconomy to a wealthier, market-based and rapidly developing one,increasingly integrated into the regional and global community, and thenew Socio-economic Development Strategy from 2011-2020 aims to establishthe foundation for Vietnam to become a modern, industrialized countryby 2020.
According to the UN, these strategies and collectiveefforts have taken Vietnam from being one of the poorest in the worldonly a few decades ago to a rapidly growing middle income country. Ingeneral, Vietnam’s growth record over the past two decades has beenlargely driven by a combination of steady economic reforms, integrationinto the world economy and a stable macroeconomic environment.
The World Bank also attributed Vietnam’s development success to theDoi Moi , noting that political and economic reforms launched in 1986have transformed the country from one of the poorest countries in theworld, with per capita income below 100 USD, to a lower middle incomecountry within a quarter of a century with per capita income of over2,000 USD by the end of 2014. To date, Vietnam has achieved most and insome cases surpassed a number of the Millennium Development Goals(MDGs), particularly with the goals on poverty reduction, education andgender equality. The percentage of people living in poverty dropped fromalmost 60 percent in the 1990s to under 10 percent today.
TheWB cited figures that showed Vietnam’s growth rate has averaged 6.4percent per year for the last decade, adding that while the growth hasbegun to slow recently, Vietnam has managed to improve macroeconomicstability, with headline inflation falling from a peak of 23 percent inAugust 2011 to about 4.1 percent for 2014. The external sector continuesto be an important engine of growth.
It underlined thecountry’s Socio-Economic Development Strategy (SEDS) 2011-2020 whichgives attention to structural reforms, environmental sustainability,social equity, and emerging issues of macroeconomic stability.
The WB also pointed to the fact that the Vietnamese Government hasrecently paid more attention to improving the business environment, withtwo Resolutions issued in March 2014 and March 2015, setting outconcrete actions to remove obstacles to doing business in Vietnam, with agoal of achieving a business environment comparable to the average ofthe ASEAN-6 group.
The Asian Development Bank highlighted thatVietnam has been among the fastest growing economies in the world since1990, but the pace slowed down during 1998-2003 due to slow structuralreforms and the instability in the global economy.
During avisit to Vietnam in 2014, ADB President Takehiko Nakao said in order tostrengthen the achievements and restore rapid and comprehensive economicgrowth, the country should intensify structural reforms, particularlyin State-owned enterprises and the banking sector, while the governmentshould tighten public debt control through increasing tax revenue andrationalizing public spending.
The ADB President also notedthat the private sector plays an important role in improving thecountry’s competitiveness and avoiding the middle-income trap. Accordingto him, Vietnam should try to optimize benefits from the globaleconomic integration through enhancing trade and investment on the basisof deeper integration into the Association of South East Asian Nations(ASEAN) and free trade agreements.
The bank’s latest report onAsia development outlook in 2015 stressed priority should be placed onstrengthening the banking system and outlining a clear strategy totackle bad debts in short term.
In addition, Vietnam needs tospeed up divestment of state-owned enterprises and accelerate theirequitisation process, according to the report, which also urged thelocal enterprises’ greater participation in global value chain toleverage the fullest growth potential.
Bloomberg recentlyran an article which said Vietnam is - once again -- being tipped foreconomic lift-off, after years of disappointment.
“Moneypouring into the Southeast Asian economy from the likes of manufacturersSamsung Electronics Co. and Intel Corp. is giving Vietnam a second runat becoming Asia’s next tiger economy”, i t said.
The articlequoted PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP as saying that the country has thepotential to become one of the world’s fastest-growing economies overthe period to 2050, adding that the Southeast Asian nation is gainingground as a cheaper manufacturing alternative to neighbouring China, andis also a destination for Japanese firms boosting investment in theregion amid recurring Sino-Japan spats.
The articlenoted that Vietnam’s growing clouts are gathering, citing reports thatin 2014 the country overtook other Association of Southeast AsianNations (ASEAN members to become the biggest exporter to the US, whiledisbursed foreign investment in the country has soared in the past 14years to reach 12.35 billion USD in 2014, up 7.4 percent from 2013 andcompared with 2.4 billion USD in 2000.
It reported theVietnamese government is working on some of the economy’s biggestmillstones, and quoted Dang Quyet Tien, deputy general director of thefinance ministry’s corporate finance department as saying in aninterview March 13 that Vietnam will attempt to sell a record amount ofshares in state-owned companies this year.-VNA
