Vietnam GDP growth target for 2017 in sight

Vietnam’s National Financial Supervisory Committee has anticipated that its gross economic growth in 2017 will be higher than the official target of 6.7 per cent. Export turnover enjoyed an increase of 19.8 per cent in the first nine months of this year. The Ministry of Industry and Trade said that the improvement of the country’s business and investment environment and the simplification of administrative procedures have aided businesses. In the latest Ease of doing Business Report from the World Bank, Vietnam is ranked at 82 among 190 economies, an improvement from 91 in 2015.

Vietnam has also stepped up its engagement in free trade agreements (FTAs): it has signed agreements with South Korea, Japan and Chile as well as with Australia and New Zealand, China and India through the ASEAN FTAs. It has also launched negotiations with Pakistan and Israel, and the EU-Vietnam FTA is expected to enter into force in 2018. The ongoing negotiations on the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership could further support Vietnam’s integration into pan-Asian supply chains. However, US withdrawal from the Trans-Pacific Partnership might weaken Vietnam’s trade prospects, given that the US is by far its biggest trade partner.

H.E. Tran Quoc Khanh, Vietnam’s Deputy Minister for Industry and Trade, will speak at Asia House’s Signature Conference Asia Trade in the New Global Order on 27 November in Hong Kong.