The Kuwait Times on June 3 ran an article on the bright prospects of the Vietnamese economy. Below is the full text of the article.
As a continuation of the recovery in 2014, Vietnam's economy in the first half of 2015 continued to grow steadily. Financial and real-estate markets are running actively. The industry gained the highest growth rate in three years.
According to the government's statistics of the first 4 months of 2015 compared to the same period in 2014, IIP (index of industrial production) rose sharply (9.4% up). Export turnover reached US$50.1 billion, 8.2% up; in particular, exports of electronic products, computers and components increased 62.9%; telephones and accessories increased by 13.9%; footwear increased by 19.1%. Newly registered businesses rose 9.7% in number and 13.3% in capital. Businesses reoperated increased by 7.7%, showing a positive signal of both the investment environment and opportunities of this economy.
Regarding the country's potential of investment attraction, an economist of international investment fund Dragon Capital in Vietnam judged: "There are two big factors that are helping Vietnam to attract foreign investment. First, Vietnam has made a fundamental improvement in the investment climate thanks to the adjustment of investment law and corporate law as well as tax cuts, interest rate lowering among many other things that help reduce costs for enterprises investment. Second, new opportunities are associated with the FTAs signed and implemented. I believe that smart foreign investors will quickly grasp many opportunities in Vietnam". Statistically, the capital amount for implementation of new FDI projects and for addition to running projects rose more than 5% compared to the same period in 2014, offering empirical evidence.
Vietnam's tourism sector is also developing positively with expected revenue contribution to the national economy of almost US$12 billion. Tourism rankings of Canadian CTV News put Vietnam among the top five tourist attractions in 2015. With many attractive destinations and increasing quality of services, Vietnam is expected to welcome 8.5 million foreign visitors in 2015 and around 9 million in 2016.
In 2015, the country's exports of agricultural, forestry and fishery also gained significant results. Agricultural exports are not only limited to traditional markets but also expanded to new ones including the Middle East countries. According to experts, Vietnam's key products such as rice, seafood are so suitable and qualified for the needs of Middle Eastern people.
Despite some difficulties, economic prospects and potential of Vietnam are positive in general. ADB's report of the Asian growth prospects in 2015 estimates that Vietnam's 2015 GDP growth will reach 6.1% in 2015 and 6.2% in 2016, and rising inflation around 2.5% in 2015 and 4% in 2016. Meanwhile, according to ANZ Bank's report of the Vietnamese economic situation overview announced on April 17 , Vietnam's GDP growth in both 2015 and 2016 will reach 6.5% or even higher.
Along with the achievements of economic growth, the Government of Vietnam has recently been quite proactive in offering incentives for foreign investors to improve the investment environment and to attract investments from new potential markets like the Middle East. This is also a proof for Vietnam government's will in realizing the policy of strengthening trade and investment cooperation with MENA partners. According to the Vietnam government's figures, bilateral trade between Vietnam and some ME partners in 2014 reached billions of dollars, for example: over $5 billion with the UAE, US$1.8 billion with Saudi Arabia and nearly US$900 million with. Heretofore, some big corporations of the Middle East states, including Kuwait, started to invest in to large-scale projects in the areas of real estate, infrastructure, oil and gas in Vietnam. For example, Kuwait International Oil Company invested US$3.5 billion in the Nghi Son oil refinery, Nakheel Group of UAE invested US$550 million into hotel-tourism project in the city of Halong; Dubai ICD Group is studying investment in real-estate projects in Ho Chi Minh City.
Source: NDO
Key words: Vietnam, bright point in ASEAN, economy, first-half, 2015
