Vietnam to be the third fastest growing economy in the region

An attractive investment destination

Vietnam is still a strong economy in the region with economic growth forecast for 2024 reaching 6%. This is the latest report just published by the ASEAN+3 Macroeconomic Research Office (AMRO) based in Singapore.

AMRO's latest report forecasts that Vietnam will achieve a growth rate of 6% this year, ranking third in the ASEAN region after Cambodia and the Philippines. This growth is thanks to the recovery of exports happening in the second half of 2023. Also, thanks to this stronger-than-forecast recovery of exports, AMRO had adjusted Vietnam's growth rate in 2023 to be 5.1%, up from 4.7% given last quarter.

Besides, Vietnam is forecast to continue to be an attractive destination in the trend of shifting investment from China.

"A lot of investors are very optimistic about Vietnam and continue to invest in Vietnam as a destination outside of China. And this investment comes not only from Western multinational companies but also from Chinese companies, partly because costs in China have increased. And they see Vietnam as a very attractive alternative location to diversify their supply chains," said Mr. Hoe Ee Khor, Chief Economist, ASEAN+3 Economic Research Office commented.

With an export-based economy, AMRO also recommends that Vietnam diversify its export markets to avoid external shocks as well as increase the value chain by shifting to exporting increasingly higher value manufactured products.

AMRO also forecast that the general trend of the ASEAN+3 region, which includes 10 ASEAN countries along with China, Korea, and Japan, will continue to recover in 2024 with the overall growth forecast of this region being 4.5% in 2024.

Source: AMRO

Compiled by VBI