Vietnam"s economy remains resilient in 2023: WB official

Andrea Coppola, World Bank Lead Economist for Vietnam (Photo: WB)

Andrea Coppola, World Bank Lead Economist for Vietnam, has described Vietnam in 2023 as resilient, saying that amid the global economic slowdown, the Southeast Asian nation was still able to sustain a rate of growth that many other countries in the rest of the world can only dream about.

According to Coppola, Vietnam is considered one of the most open economies in the world. Its strong trade relations with the rest of the world are a source of strength and success. Vietnam’s economic performance in 2023 is positive when the very challenging global context is put into consideration.

Economic growth in the US was about 2.5% in 2023, he said, adding that in the European area, economic growth was even weaker at about 0.5%. Despite the global challenges, Vietnam was able to continue growing at relatively fast rates.

The last part of the 2023 showed signs of economic recovery in the country, he said, noting that this recovery is driven by three main factors: a gradual recovery of external demand for Vietnamese exports, increasing public investment, and resilient private consumption.

Vietnam also raised a lot of attention in 2023 as media outlets with global reach have published articles to underscore the country’s performance and potential, he said, stressing that the visits of world leaders to Vietnam also attracted even more the attention of the international community.

According to the economist, Vietnam is an appealing destination for international investors because of its economic and political stability and its capacity to integrate in the global economy.

He stressed that in such a context, it is critical for the country to continue strengthening the business environment and attract private investors’ attention to fully take advantage of impact of global geopolitical developments on international investment and trade.

After the global slowdown experienced in 2023, global economic growth is expected to decelerate further in 2024, including in key trade partners of Vietnam such as the US, Coppola said.

The WB hopes that the demand for Vietnamese exports from the rest of the world will recover in 2024, he said, recommending Vietnam to leverage its internal strength and boost the productivity growth of its domestic economy to transform the challenges provided by the global economic slowdown into an opportunity to further strengthen its economic growth model.

Authorities can play an important role to support the economy through fiscal policy, particularly by accelerating the implementation of transformational public investment and infrastructure projects which are going to strengthen economic growth both in the short term and in the longer term, he said.

According to the expert, Vietnamese people are the greatest source of the country’s internal strength, so he suggested Vietnam continue promoting the private sector development and boosting productivity by upskilling the labour force and physical capital development through public investments in transport and energy infrastructure that can further strengthen the competitiveness of the private sector.

According to Vietnam’s Macro and Poverty Outlook released by the WB in October, Vietnam’s economic growth is expected to slow to 4.7% this year before recovering to 5.5 % in 2024 and 6.0 % in 2025./.