VN Breaks Into Moderately Free Category For First Time

The conservative U.S. think tank reported that Viet Nam’s overall score has increased by 2.9 points, primarily because of an improvement in fiscal health.

Viet Nam is ranked 17th among 40 countries in the Asia–Pacific region, and its overall score is above the regional and world averages.

The economy broke into the moderately free category this year for the first time. Its ranking could increase further if the government took additional action to liberalize investment rules and the financial sector. However, the biggest obstacle to greater economic freedom in Viet Nam remains the country’s extremely weak rule of law because of corruption in the subservient judiciary and in the many unreformed and inefficient state-owned enterprises.

Three of the top 10 finishers are Singapore (1st), Ireland (5th), and China's Taiwan (6th). 

Launched in 1995, the Index evaluates countries in four broad policy areas that affect economic freedom: rule of law; government size; regulatory efficiency; and open markets.

There are 12 specific categories, namely property rights, judicial effectiveness, government integrity, tax burden, government spending, fiscal health, business freedom, labor freedom, monetary freedom, trade freedom, investment freedom, and financial freedom. Scores in these categories are averaged to create an overall economic freedom score./.

By Khanh Phuong