Vietnam head-to-head with Philippines in economic growth
Vietnam’s economy grew by 6.28 per cent in the first half of this year, racing along at its fastest pace since 2008, official government figures show. This is slightly above the official growth target for the whole of 2015 of 6.2 per cent GDP growth.
With these figures, Vietnam has kicked off a head-on-head race with the Philippines for the title of being the fastest-growing country among the more developed countries in the ten members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, or ASEAN (ex Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar). The Philippine GDP grew by 6.1 per cent in 2014 and has a set target of reaching 6.2 per cent for the entire year 2015. But growth in the first quarter was a comparably low 5.1 at per cent, and banks such as HSBC have put the full-year forecast at a level as low as 5.6 per cent.
In Vietnam growth was the highest since 2008, according to official statistics by the General Statistics Office said. The country’s central bank has devalued the currency, the dong, twice so far this year, most recently in May, in an effort to boost slowing exports.
“Vietnam appears to be staging a solid economic recovery,” Economist Le Dinh An of research group Capital Economics said in response to the figures. He felt that the growth figures showed Vietnam’s economy was recovering well, adding that it had little to do with the devaluations but more with efforts by the central government and cities in revenue and tax collection, among other factors. The government It is also in the process of easing business regulations and a long-running privatisation drive, which the government hopes will boost the country’s economic outlook. He also said that Vietnam was pointing in the right direction led by increasingly strong manufacturing pitching the country as “a low-cost alternative to China”.
However, challenges remain, according to Minister of Planning and Investment Bui Quang Vinh, who said that the country needs to boost agricultural production and exports and improve the competitiveness of state-owned companies.
[caption id="attachment_25712" align="alignleft" width="300"] Street vendor in Ho Chi Minh City. Vietnam's economy is growing at an impressive speed. © Arno Maierbrugger[/caption] Vietnam's economy grew by 6.28 per cent in the first half of this year, racing along at its fastest pace since 2008, official government figures show. This is slightly above the official growth target for the whole of 2015 of 6.2 per cent GDP growth. With these figures, Vietnam has kicked off a head-on-head race with the Philippines for the title of being the fastest-growing country among the more developed countries in the ten members of the Association...
Vietnam’s economy grew by 6.28 per cent in the first half of this year, racing along at its fastest pace since 2008, official government figures show. This is slightly above the official growth target for the whole of 2015 of 6.2 per cent GDP growth.
With these figures, Vietnam has kicked off a head-on-head race with the Philippines for the title of being the fastest-growing country among the more developed countries in the ten members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, or ASEAN (ex Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar). The Philippine GDP grew by 6.1 per cent in 2014 and has a set target of reaching 6.2 per cent for the entire year 2015. But growth in the first quarter was a comparably low 5.1 at per cent, and banks such as HSBC have put the full-year forecast at a level as low as 5.6 per cent.
In Vietnam growth was the highest since 2008, according to official statistics by the General Statistics Office said. The country’s central bank has devalued the currency, the dong, twice so far this year, most recently in May, in an effort to boost slowing exports.
“Vietnam appears to be staging a solid economic recovery,” Economist Le Dinh An of research group Capital Economics said in response to the figures. He felt that the growth figures showed Vietnam’s economy was recovering well, adding that it had little to do with the devaluations but more with efforts by the central government and cities in revenue and tax collection, among other factors. The government It is also in the process of easing business regulations and a long-running privatisation drive, which the government hopes will boost the country’s economic outlook. He also said that Vietnam was pointing in the right direction led by increasingly strong manufacturing pitching the country as “a low-cost alternative to China”.
However, challenges remain, according to Minister of Planning and Investment Bui Quang Vinh, who said that the country needs to boost agricultural production and exports and improve the competitiveness of state-owned companies.
