Vietnam Today

With the potential to develop into a trading and manufacturing hub of the world, Vietnam continues to attract foreign investors, analysts have said. Factors that make Vietnam attractive to foreign investors include strong GDP growth, of 7 per cent a year for two decades prior to Covid-19 and forecast at 7.5 per cent in 2022, and a young workforce fluent in English and possessing other skills.

According to the GSMA’s Digital Society Index released in August, Vietnam ranks seventh among countries in the Asia-Pacific region in terms of digital society, after Australia, South Korea, Singapore, Japan, Thailand, and Malaysia. It also ranked fifth in terms of digital commerce pillars and seventh in terms of digital lifestyles. The Ministry of Information and Communications has said that the total number of users on Vietnamese digital platforms reached over 494 million in August, an increase of 23.56 per cent year-on-year.

The National Assembly (NA) Standing Committee launched its supervisory program for 2023 at its September 27 meeting, chaired by NA Chairman Vuong Dinh Hue. The Standing Committee will supervise many issues of special concern for the people, such as the mobilization, management, and use of resources for the prevention and control of Covid-19; the renovation of general education curricula and textbooks; and the implementation of policies and laws on energy development.

Optimistic about Vietnam’s economy recovering strongly after Covid-19, primarily due to greater exports and the recent return of foreign tourists, the World Bank (WB) has forecast that GDP could grow 7.2 per cent this year. It also forecasts that inflation will come in at 3.8 per cent this year and 4 per cent next.

State President Nguyen Xuan Phuc held talks with Japanese Prime Minister Kishida Fumio on September 26 in Tokyo, as part of his visit to the country to attend the State funeral of late Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. The two leaders agreed to strengthen cooperation in post-Covid-19 economic recovery, boost links between the two countries, consider promoting strategic cooperation in priority areas such as providing new generation official development assistance (ODA) to Vietnam, and developing high-quality human resources.

To promote the development of the science and technology market, the Ministry of Science and Technology (MoST) has proposed establishing three national technology exchanges in the country’s three regions, connected to local technology exchanges and technology exchanges in Asia and the world. Vietnam’s science and technology market is in its infancy and still depends mainly on technology from developing countries. Up to 75 per cent of technology and equipment at Vietnamese enterprises comes from overseas.