Automobile manufacturing at Hyundai Thanh Cong factory (Photo: VNA) Hanoi (VNA) – The US independent managementconsultancy Asia Perspective has published a report on the Vietnamese economy,which highlighted that in the fourth quarter of 2020, Vietnam posted rapidgrowth thanks to the recovery of manufacturing.
According to the report, the country’s economic expansion inQ4 was mainly driven by the manufacturing sector which expanded 8.63 percentcompared to the year before.
As the spread of COVID-19 was effectively controlled inVietnam, and the Free Trade Agreement with the European Union came into effect,Vietnam’s manufacturing expanded by 5.82 percent in 2020 which led the way forthe country’s economic growth. Overall, the industrial sector’s added valuegrew 4.8 percent from the previous year, contributing to the country’s GDPgrowth of 2.91 percent in the year, it said.
According to Asia Perspective, merchandise export turnoverin Q4 increased by 13.3 percent year on year and amounted to 78.9 billion USD.Imports expanded by 15.7 percent year on year to 76.4 billion USD. For the fullyear, exports grew 6.5 percent and imports gained 3.6 percent with a tradesurplus of 19.1 billion USD – the highest value recorded since 2016.
Vietnam’s Consumer Confidence Index reached 121 in Q4 2020,indicating a recovery from Q2 when the same number was 117, which was thelowest number recorded since 2017. Effective containment measures ensured theupturn of domestic consumer services, as well as domestic travel and tourism.As a result, total domestic retails and consumer services in Q4 wereapproximately 60.5 billion USD, increasing by 6.4 percent from Q3 2020 and 8.0percent year on year, according to the report.
It pointed out that FDI in Vietnam grew by 1 percent year onyear during Q4 2020. However, the total annual FDI declined by 2 percent fromthe year before. While the Republic of Korea (RoK), Hong Kong, and Singapore were the largestinvestors in 2019, China became Vietnam’s third-largest investor in 2020,joining Singapore and the RoK in the top 3. The manufacturing sectorremained the most attractive for investors, accounting for 47.7 percent of thenewly registered FDI in 2020.
Meanwhile, the Japan Research Institute held that factorshelping Vietnam enhance its advantages and promote growth last year included theshift of production bases by companies and the signing of many positive freetrade agreements. It underlined that export is the factor making the Vietnameseeconomy stable. In 2020, Vietnam posted a 7 percent growth in export, higher thanother ASEAN member countries.
♛ According to JRI, in order to maintain stable growth in themedium and long term, Vietnam should strengthen human resources training inindustrial sectors with high added values, which requires the country to reformits regulations and complete legal corridor on bankruptcy settlement, andcreate favourable mechanism in dealing with shareholders’ disputes./.
