Vietnam aims to become developed country by 2050

Vietnam is aiming to become a “developing country with upper middle income” by 2030 and a “developed country with high income” by 2050.

The goals are part of a national development master plan for the 2021-2030 period, with a vision to 2050, which was passed by the country’s National Assembly on Monday.

The plan sets out the fast-expanding economy’s future development, with an annual growth rate averaging 7% during the 2021-2030 period, resulting in GDP per capita of $7,500 by 2030.

Meanwhile, the average expansion rate for the 2030-2050 period is set in the range of 6.5-7.5%, with GDP per capita in the $27,000-32,000 range by 2050.

The country’s GDP per capita in 2022 was about $4,100. This means the goal for 2050 is almost an 8-fold increase.

For the 2021-2030 period, the expected economic pattern is the service sector accounting for over 50%, manufacturing and construction over 40%, and agriculture under 10%.

Per the plan, Vietnam would by 2050 become a digitalization-based economy, green economy, and circular economy with science, technology and innovation serving as the key growth drivers.

The master plan groups the country into six social-economic regions based on geographic positions, and four growth engines, namely the north, central, the south, and the Mekong Delta.

In addition, Vietnam would until 2030 prioritize the development of economic corridors such as the North-South key economic corridor, and inter-regional corridors. The country would also develop step by step the Central Highlands-Southeast Region economic corridor.

In terms of financing, the state budget, private sector and overseas loans would pave the way, according to the plan.

With last year’s 8.02% GDP growth, the highest in 12 years, Vietnam was one of Asia’s fastest-growing economies. However, the high growth rate in 2022 is partly derived from the low growth base in the two pandemic years 2020-2021, at 2.91% and 2.58% respectively.