This year, the country gained an overall score of 18.7 out of 100, up 1.2 points or 7% from the 2023 rankings.
The index is based on eight criteria, namely economic capability, military capability, resilience, future resources, economic relationships, defence networks, diplomatic influence, and cultural influence.
Susannah Patton, Director of the Southeast Asia Programme at the Lowy Institute and the Project Lead for the Asia Power Index, said the rankings aim to compare countries’ comprehensive power. As a middle power in Asia, Vietnam sees the biggest improvements in diplomatic influence and cultural influence.
It performs best in terms of diplomatic influence, up 3.3 points to place 8th, the result of its proactive diplomatic outreach with a diverse set of partners. Its ranking for this measure improved by one place in 2024, according to the report.
In 2023, Vietnam was the only in the region to welcome the top leaders of both the US and China, Patton noted.
As of the end of August, Vietnam had established diplomatic ties with 194 countries, formed economic partnerships with over 230 countries and territories, and signed 16 free trade agreements, including many new-generation ones.
Besides, its scores for cultural influence, future resources, economic relationships, military capability, and economic capability have recorded respective gains of 1.9, 1.8, 1.6, 1.5, and 0.8.
The list is topped by the US and China with respective scores of 81.7 and 72.7, followed by India and Japan.
