According to the bank, Vietnam’s growth improved and surprised on the upside in the second quarter of 2024, rising 6.9% year-on-year. The recovery in the external sector has started to broaden out beyond consumer electronics, although the pass-through to lifting the domestic sector still remains to be seen.
The manufacturing sector has emerged strongly from last year’s woes. Purchasing Managers' Indexes (PMIs) have registered five consecutive months of expansion, while industrial production has registered a bounce-back in activity for the textiles and footwear industry as well. This has supported robust export growth at double digits, with structural forces, such as expanding market access for Vietnamese agricultural produce, also underway.