Vietnam aims for 7-7.5% economic growth in 2025: Prime Minister

The government targets a national economic expansion of 7-7.5% in 2025, 0.5 percentage points higher than the goal set by the National Assembly, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh said on Monday.

Such growth will enable Vietnam’s economy to rank 31st-33rd globally in terms of size, Chinh said while delivering a report at the inauguration of the eighth session of the National Assembly on Monday.

Previously, speaking at a national Party conference on Sunday, Chinh had said Vietnam’s GDP is expected to hit $500 billion in 2025, ranking 33rd worldwide, up from $433 billion and 34th position in 2023 and $346 billion and 37th position in 2020.

By 2030, the national economy is expected to reach $780-800 billion, he added.

This year’s growth is likely to come in at 6.8-7%, higher than the parliament-mandated 6-6.5%, after reaching a higher-than-expected 6.82% in the first three quarters despite the devastating typhoon Yagi, the government leader noted.

Inflation, measured by the consumer price index (CPI), is set to be tamed at 4.5% next year, the same as the goal set for this year. This year, the CPI is likely to increase by less than 4.5%.

Chinh reiterated the message of keeping macroeconomic stability, controlling inflation, and streamlining business conditions.

Regarding infrastructure development, Chinh said the government will strive to accelerate expressway construction toward having 3,000 kilometers of expressways nationwide next year from 2,021 kilometers currently.

In addition, the government will manage to start construction of the Lao Cai-Hanoi-Hai Phong standard-gauge railway next year to connect with China’s extensive railway network for more trade and complete preparing dossiers for the building of a much-awaited transnational high-speed railway.

The Prime Minister informed that between January and September, state budget collections increased 17.9% year-on-year to fulfill 85.1% of the whole-year plan, while nearly VND200 trillion ($7.93 billion) worth of taxes, fees and rents were exempted, reduced and rescheduled.

In the year to October 15, Vietnam’s external trade reached $610.5 billion and posted a trade surplus of $21.24 billion.

Frederic Neumann, chief Asia economist at HSBC, said at an annual seminar last week in Hanoi that Vietnam is projected to grow 7% in 2024 and 6.5% in 2025, the fastest among ASEAN-6 countries.

According to S&P Global, Vietnam can top the chart among emerging markets with annual GDP growth of 6.2% on average from now to 2035.