The World Bank’s East Asia and Pacific Economic Update in the 3rd quarter of 2018 says Vietnam’s medium-term outlook continues to improve thanks to sustainable revival of the global economy and ongoing domestic reforms. According to the report, the strong economic performance is attributable to the government’s commitment to macro-economic stabilization and the private sector-based growth. Government policies continue to focus on market-oriented reforms to reduce the role of the State in the economy, improve the business environment, and continue to open the economy to attract private investment.
ADB Country Director of Viet Nam, Eric Sidgwick, said that the economic performance was broad-based, driven by vigorous manufacturing expansion, bumper agriculture production, robust performance of services sector, resilient domestic consumption, and strong investment fueled by FDI and domestic enterprises. ADB Economist Nguyen Minh Cuong echoed Mr. Sidgwick’s view: “Vietnam’s economic outlook is rosy with growth rate to reach 7.1%, a high rate for Vietnam and the wide region. ADB’s projection of Vietnam’s growth in 2019 remains 6.8%. Vietnam has achieved comprehensive growth this year. This is an encouraging result.”
The ADB expert said Vietnam’s reduction of administrative procedures is a good signal as it facilitates business, especially small and medium sized and foreign enterprises. The expert added by doing so, Vietnam’s investment climate will improve remarkably.