Singaporean economists hail Viet Nam’s strong economic recovery

Under tittle, Viet Nam's back in full swing, but supply chain delays, inflation cap growth upside, The Business Times quoted The Business Times John Paul Lech, portfolio manager at Matthews Asia as saying that Viet Nam is a frontier market star.

Viet Nam is one of the best structural growth stories in the developing world, the economist said.

While frontier markets are generally smaller, less liquid and have limited foreign investor access, Viet Nam has bucked the trend.

According to the Singaporean daily, for the first six months of 2022, foreign direct investment (FDI) grew nearly 9 percent to US$ 10.1 billion.

Economist Chua Han Teng from DBS, the largest bank in Singapore, forecast Vietnam's GDP expansion will reach 7 percent this year to meet the set target.

The service sector will continue growing fast when COVID-19 is classified as an endemic disease. The service sector, especially retails, is bouncing back strongly while the number of new businesses is increasing.

He added Viet Nam is emerging as an exporter of information and communications technology, and its market share may develop further.

The United Overseas Bank (UOB) recently upgraded the country's GDP growth forecast for 2022 to 7 percent from 6.5 percent basing on a simulation that there won't be any more serious disruptions caused by the pandemic.

This strong recovery was driven by manufacturing activities which have accelerated for four straight quarters and the rebounded service outputs which have continued regaining its foothold since the last decline in the third quarter of 2021.

However, economist Yun Liu said despite an optimistic growth trend, the energy crisis has begun affecting Viet Nam's growth, recommending the country pay attention to rising growth risks, especially those posed by soaring energy prices./.