Vietnam’s economy considered ‘bright spot’ amid regional fluctuations

Vietnam has received many positive reviews from foreign organizations and experts about its economic development prospects.

Business Times (Singapore) recently cited the positive assessment of global economic forecasting and analysis firm Moody’s Analytics as saying that Vietnam’s economy is a “bright spot” amid fluctuations in the region.

Accordingly, Moody’s Analytics explains that Vietnam continues to benefit from investment flows moving from China, and is the only economy in Asia – Pacific with GDP continuing to grow strongly. Moody’s Analytics forecasts Vietnam’s GDP growth in 2022 to reach 8.5% – the highest in the region.

According to the economists of this analysis firm, after Vietnam reopened earlier this year, the economy quickly caught up in the fields of industrial production and export, along with the support of foreign direct investments.

At the end of last month, The Star (Malaysia) newspaper, citing research by experts from the Harvard Growth Lab (Growth Lab, Harvard University, USA), said that Vietnam is forecast to be among the fastest growing economies in the world by 2030.

Specifically, the above study shows that countries diversifying production into more complex sectors such as Vietnam and China are the ones that will experience the fastest growth over the next decade.

It is expected that by 2030, three new growth poles will lead the world, including Asia, East Africa, and Eastern Europe. In particular, the representatives in Asia that are considered to be qualified to promote the fastest growth in the next decade include China, Cambodia, Vietnam, Indonesia, Malaysia and India.

“Education for Development”

Earlier, the World Bank (WB) announced a forecast for Vietnam’s economic growth, estimated at 7.5% in 2022 thanks to the resilient industrial production sector and the strong recovery of the service sector acts as the driving force for the post-pandemic economy.

World Bank data shows that Vietnam’s economy grew by 5.2% in the fourth quarter of 2021, then continued to grow by 5.1% and 7.7% in the first and second quarters of 2022, respectively.

Inflation is forecast to average 3.8% in 2022.

The World Bank report titled “Leveraging Power: Education for Development” highlights the transformation of the higher education system as the key to boosting the country’s productivity and achieving development goals in the context of Vietnam’s post-pandemic recovery in the context of a challenging global environment.

Statistics show that Vietnam’s population has an average number of years of schooling of 10.2, second only to Singapore among countries in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).

However, the skill matching level of Vietnamese university graduates is still low.

A survey on skills and businesses by the World Bank published in 2019 also said that 73% of Vietnamese enterprises participating in the survey said they had difficulty recruiting staff with leadership and management skills, 54% of businesses have problems recruiting employees with social-emotional skills, and 68% of businesses have problems with employees with job-specific expertise.

Focusing on higher and postgraduate education, the World Bank report recommends reforming the education system to improve quality and accessibility, thereby providing workers with the necessary skills.

The World Bank also said reforms to Vietnam’s higher education system could help support development goals.

While efforts to improve the business environment are crucial for job creation, according to the World Bank, policymakers should also take steps to reduce skills shortages and improve the quality of the Vietnamese workforce.

@ Cafef