Economic growth

By 2025, Hanoi envisions becoming a highly competitive city in the region by restructuring the growth model based on technological advancement and innovation. Despite the severe Covid-19 situation, Hanoi continues to set a high gross regional domestic product (GRDP) growth of up to 7.5% during the 2021-2025 period. Hanoi from above. Photo: Pham Hung Given the city’s estimated GRDP growth at around 3.97-4.54% in 2021, this would require Hanoi to achieve an average growth rate of 8.25-8.4% for the 2022-2025 period. This was among two growth scenarios in Hanoi’s socio-economic development plan for the 2021-2025 period, which have been signed off by Secretary of the Hanoi's Party Committee Dinh Tien Dung. In a less optimistic scenario, the city is expected to average economic growth of 6.5-7% during the period. This case is based on the fact that Vietnam could only contain the pandemic in the fourth quarter of 2021 and achieve herd immunity by the second half …

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ADB has reduced its GDP forecast for Vietnam but remains optimistic on its post-pandemic prospects The country’s economy is expected to grow 3.8 per cent this year and 6.5 per cent in 2022, according to the Asian Development Outlook (ADO) 2021 Update . Growth picked up in the first half of 2021, largely because of higher trade volumes, but slowed down in the second half of the year as the fourth wave of the pandemic took a toll on business and the labor market. Inflation will be muted in 2021 and 2022 due to the slower growth. “The prolonged COVID-19 pandemic and extended lockdowns have weakened consumption and investment, hampering Vietnam’s growth prospects," said ADB’s country director for Vietnam Andrew Jeffries. “But the Vietnamese economy will bounce back if the COVID-19 pandemic is brought under control by the end of 2021 and 70 per cent of the country’s population are vaccinated by the second quarter of 2022.” The COVID-19 pandemic is expected to drag down 2021’s …

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Illustrative image (Photo: VNA) Hanoi (VNA) - The ADB has revised down Vietnam's 2021 GDP growth forecast from 6.7 percent to 3.8 percent due to a resurgence of the COVID-19 pandemic that has tightened the labour market, lowered industrial output, and disrupted agricultural value chains, according to a report released by the bank on September 22. At a virtual press conference, ADB country director Andrew Jeffries said the prolonged COVID-19 pandemic and extended lockdowns have weakened consumption and investment, hampering Vietnam’s growth prospects. “But the Vietnamese economy will bounce back if the COVID-19 pandemic is brought under control by the end of 2021 and 70 percent of the country’s population are vaccinated by the second quarter of 2022," he said. ADB remains bullish on the country’s prospects in the medium and long term. Growth could be aided by a revival of domestic demand, an acceleration in the disbursement of public investment, and an expansion to new export …

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The private sector will be integral in Vietnam's recovery from COVID-19. Photo: baodautu.vn The Vietnam Country Private Sector Diagnostic (CPSD) report, by the International Finance Corporation (IFC) and the World Bank, says while the private sector has played a frontline role in Vietnam’s outstanding development in recent years, it is now time to fully exploit the potential of the private sector to boost productivity growth so Vietnam can achieve its goal of becoming a high-income country by 2045. “The private sector has helped propel Vietnam to join the ranks of middle-income economies in just one generation, and the country was preparing for its next economic transformation when the COVID-19 hit,” said Kim-See Lim, IFC regional director for East Asia and the Pacific. “With another wave, it’s all the more imperative for Vietnam to help develop a dynamic, diversified, and innovative private sector for the post-COVID 19 recovery phase, as public resources become scarce.” The …

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Lam Van Thanh, Chairman of Kien Giang Province, where Phu Quoc is located, said that by the end of October, the island would not have ensured necessary conditions to carry out its planned tourism reopening plan. He said only 35.2 percent of people aged 18 and above have got a first shot and just 6.13 percent of residents have been fully vaccinated. The island needs another 250,000-300,000 doses to achieve herd immunity, but recent allocation has also been low, while the stipulated time between two doses of a Covid vaccine is 4 to 8 weeks, depending. Even if the amount of needed vaccine doses was allocated right now, it would take around two months for Phu Quoc to achieve vaccination coverage for 90 percent of its population, Thanh said. He emphasized: "The province will reopen international tourism when pandemic prevention measures are ensured at highest level. It will not sacrifice the health and lives of people for economic growth." Therefore, while local authorities are …

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Illustrative image (Photo: AFP/VNA) Bangkok (VNA) - Thailand has increased the ceiling of its public debt-to-gross domestic product (GDP) ratio to 70 percent from 60 percent, allowing the government to raise more funds to help a struggling economy. The decision was made by the State Monetary and Fiscal Policy Committee chaired by Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha on September 20. The Southeast Asian country is dealing with its biggest COVID-19 outbreak to date and stricter containment measures have hit economic activities although some have been eased from this month. Last year, the government issued its first emergency loan decree last year to authorise it to borrow 1 trillion THB to fund its stimulus schemes to combat the pandemic. A second decree was issued this year to allow the government to borrow an additional 500 billion THB. Last month, Bank of Thailand Governor Sethaput Suthiwartnarueput said the country would need a further 1 trillion THB in fiscal measures to …

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Healthy competition crucial for e-commerce logistics The rapid growth of e-commerce is driving unprecedented demand for e-commerce logistics services in Vietnam. However, the growth of the sector is constrained by regulatory obstacles that impede competition in this industry, reducing efficiency and driving up costs for businesses. Ninja Van, established in Singapore, is one of Southeast Asia’s fastest-growing last-mile logistics companies. After successfully operating in Singapore and Malaysia, Ninja Van entered the Vietnamese market on a trial basis in late 2016 and formally began operations in 2018. The company has quickly scaled up its presence in the country. Despite its success, the group’s Vietnamese CEO Dzung Phan told VIR that the company has encountered a few hurdles related to compliance and following the law in the logistics industry. Some companies provide e-logistics services without registering or registering under a different industry, which causes unfair …

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A Vietjet Air plane (Photo: Vietjet Air) Hanoi (VNA) - Vietjet Aviation Joint Stock Company (HOSE: VJC) has released its half-year audited financial statements for 2021, which saw a bigger post-tax profit of the parent company over its compiled reports. According to the financial statement s audited by PwC, Vietjet as a parent company had its transport revenue reaching 5,022 billion VND (approx. 220 million USD) for the first six months of this year. Its profit after tax was reported at 34.2 billion VND (approx. 1.5 million USD), a year-on-year leap of 102 percent thanks to profits gained from new project investments. The airline’s audited after-tax profit has also increased by 148 percent compared to that in its compiled reports. Vietjet posted its consolidated revenue at 7,556 billion VND (approx. 332 million USD) while the consolidated profit after tax reached 121.8 billion VND (approx. 5.3 million USD), showing a remarkable year-on-year growth of 161 percent. …

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