The author, Gerhard Feldbauer, noted that while western economies are showing signs of recession, Vietnam's economy is developing well.
The article cited data from the General Statistics Office of Vietnam, which showed that up to 85% of businesses surveyed expressed their optimism in the third quarter of 2022, with only 15% were pessimistic about the coming months.
The author assessed that Vietnam seems to have successfully overcome the difficulties of the world economy caused by the conflict in Ukraine. Its GDP in the second quarter this year expanded by 7.72% over the same period in 2021 and grew sharply from 5.05% in the first quarter. This positive result was mainly due to the strong increase in exports. In June alone, Vietnam's exports jumped by 20% year-on-year.
According to HSBC, Vietnam was among the fastest growing countries in the region because it was one of the few in the world that still attained growth in two consecutive years since the beginning of COVID-19. Vietnam's economy started 2022 on a firm footing. Sticking with a policy to "co-live with the virus," the country has accelerated its vaccination drive and gradually removed local restrictions, fuelling consumer sentiment, leading to an ongoing rebound in local consumption.
HSBC noted that Vietnam's foreign direct investment is also increasing, for example, Samsung recently started building a 220 million USD R&D centre in Hanoi, its largest in Southeast Asia, and is set to expand its plants in northern Bac Ninh and Thai Nguyen provinces. Meanwhile, Apple has also moved 11 factories from Taiwan to Vietnam.
