Containers at HCMC Cat Lai Terminal in April 2021. Photo by VnExpress/Quynh Tran
Vietnam is a bright spot on the gloomy global economic scene, said National Assembly Economic Committee Chairman Vu Hong Thanh.
Speaking at a press conference at the Vietnam Socio-Economic Forum 2023 on Sunday, he said the country’s economy was stable this year and inflation was virtually under control at just 3.1 percent during of the first eight months.
Public, foreign and government debts are also under control, and the country’s credit rating has improved, in fact becoming the only Southeast Asian country to have its rating upgraded by Moody’s last year, a he declared.
“Vietnam’s economy remains a bright spot in the gloomy overall picture of the global economy.”
In the second quarter, its GDP increased by 4.14%, or 3.28 percentage points more than in the first, according to the government.
More than 14,000 new businesses were created in August, an increase of 18% year-on-year. For the year to date, that number was 103,700, an increase of 2.3%.
Total retail sales of goods and services increased 7.6% in August.
The Ministry of Planning and Investment also said the economy was recovering, although rapid changes would not be evident in the short term.
Thanh said the economy faces some bottlenecks, such as slowing investment and trade growth, and these need to be addressed.
Access to credit remains difficult, he added.
Nguyen Duc Hien, deputy director of the NA Economic Committee, said some economic goals, such as labor productivity, are unlikely to be achieved this year.
“Growth is a good thing, but in the long term the central element must be labor productivity.”