Vietnam: 2014 growth of 5.9%, a trade surplus and a B+ rating
Vietnam closed 2014 out with macroeconomic indicators confirming significant progress on macroeconomic stabilisation. During the Vietnam Business Forum, Prime Minister Dung was able to confirm that the government had hit its main targets for 2014: growth of 5.9% and inflation brought down to below 5%. Performance that, in the month of November, rewarded the Vietnamese government both on the occasion of the floating of 1 billion dollars in 10-year government bonds, and of a rise in the Fitch agency’s rating from BB- to B+ following a previous analogous move by Standard & Poor’s and Moody’s. Subsequent economic stabilisation plans were accompanied by several major interventions to ensure the Vietnamese business environment’s competitiveness. Direct foreign investments in 2014 levelled off at 20 billion dollars (a slight 6.5% drop compared with 2013, but still above the 17 billion dollar target). In addition to accounting for approximately 20% of GDP, direct foreign investments supported the production of goods for export, consequently contributing significantly to a trade surplus of approximately 2 billion dollars. Of note was the adoption of new business and investment laws approved in the national assembly’s November session. The most qualifying element of the new legislation is the reduction from 51 to 6 of the sectors excluded from private investment (“negative list”), implicitly recognising the possibility to operate in the remaining sectors. The laws also revamped the system of investment incentives, creating a fast track for hi-tech and manufacturing, particularly in the sectors of renewable energy, electronics, apparel, footwear, agriculture and IT.
Source: infoMercatiEsteri
