Vietnam Today

According to the General Statistics Office, GDP grew 5.03 per cent year-on-year in the first quarter of 2022. The service sector grew handily after many service activities resumed. Financial, banking, and insurance activities increased 9.75 per cent, while transportation and warehousing rose just 0.6 per cent.

According to the “Improving the market economy in Vietnam” report released by the Central Institute for Economic Management (CIEM) on March 28, with support from the German Organization for International Cooperation (GIZ), Vietnam is still in the process of transitioning to a market economy. The fundamental elements have been gradually formed, and private ownership is recognized and has increasingly affirmed its role in the economy. However, strong reforms are needed to further substantively transform Vietnam’s economy into a market economy.

As socio-economic activities enter the “new normal”, prices will increase due to demand-pull factors. The recovery in global supply chains, however, has not been as strong as expected, pushing up prices in many economies based on cost-push factors. The soaring cost of transportation, especially by sea, has triggered a sharp increase in the price of many goods and services. Another shock has been the Russia-Ukraine conflict. Looking at the groups of goods representing a large proportion of the basket for calculating the CPI, such as food, housing, and travel expenses, it will be possible to control inflation in Vietnam.

In the presence of Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh, the National Tourism Year 2022 opened in central Quang Nam province on March 26 with the theme “Quang Nam - A green tourism destination”. With many famous landscapes and monuments, such as Hoi An ancient town, My Son Sanctuary, and the Cu Lao Cham world biosphere reserve islands, Quang Nam’s tourism sector has received hundreds of awards from organizations and prestigious magazines. Hoi An was named “Asia’s Leading Cultural Urban Destination” at the World Travel Awards (WTA) in 2019 and 2021, and was recognized in 2022 by Time Out magazine in the UK as one of the most romantic destinations in the world.

At the opening ceremony on March 26 of the 4th National Entrepreneurship Day, held to promote entrepreneurship among students, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh said it is necessary to reform education on creative entrepreneurship, promote cooperation, and expand domestic and international links to boost innovative startups.

Speaking at a meeting with South Korean enterprises on March 25 in north-central Thanh Hoa province, Permanent Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Nguyen Minh Vu said the country is Vietnam’s largest investor, with 9,223 projects and total capital of $78.6 billion as of the end of December 2021. The two countries are working to increase bilateral trade turnover to $100 billion by 2023 and $150 billion by 2030.